Last year was an amazing one for the film industry, as great movies were released practically in every single month. That being said, one title has long stood out as a frontrunner during awards season. Damien Chazelle's La La Land not only earned some of the best reviews of the year, but in the last couple of months has been scooping up major prizes on the regular. It was basically guaranteed that the movie would perform extremely well at the Academy Awards... and it didn't disappoint. The big screen musical picked up a grand total of 14 Oscar nominations today, which puts it in a three-way tie for most all time.
Pulling in major nominations in all the major categories as well as multiple technical ones, La La Land is everywhere in this year's crop of Oscar hopefuls. With its 14 nods, the movie has tied the two previous films to reach that benchmark, including Joseph L. Mankiewicz's classic 1950 film All About Eve, and James Cameron's legendary box office smash hit Titanic. You can check out the full list of Academy Award nominations for La La Land below:
Best PictureBest Director (Damien Chazelle)Best Actor (Ryan Gosling)Best Actress (Emma Stone)Best Original ScreenplayBest CinematographyBest Costume DesignBest Original Song ("Audition")Best Original Song ("City Of Stars")Best Original ScoreBest Sound EditingBest Sound MixingBest Production DesignBest Editing
A pretty damn impressive list, no? Even more impressive is the fact that La La Land is considered a favorite in a lot of these categories -- including the all-important "Big 5." Obviously it would be a serious challenge to win Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Original Screenplay, but if the film does it, it will be in elite territory. Only three other movies have accomplished that feat, including Frank Capra's It Happened One Night in 1934; Milos Forman's One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest in 1975; and Jonathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs in 1991. This will be a narrative that a lot of people are paying attention to as we get closer to the show.
What makes this news all the better is the fact that La La Land is a great film that legitimately deserves the level of attention that it's getting. Damien Chazelle proved himself a filmmaker to look out for with his brilliant debut Whiplash, but his sophomore effort takes things to another level, and it's just amazing. This is obviously a sentiment that has been repeated many, many times since the movie debuted this past fall, but it's legitimately worth repeating.
Of course, nominations are one thing and winning is another (both 1985's The Color Purple and 1977's The Turning Point received 11 nods but took home zero trophies). Naturally, we'll be keeping a close eye on La La Land throughout Oscar night... which is now just a few weeks away. Be sure to stay tuned for more of our awards coverage here on Cinema Blend, and tune into the big show when it airs on February 26th.
