Since the start of 2017, it was like the musical “La La Land” directed by Damien Chazelle and starring Ryan Gosling, and Emma Stone was a solid and unstoppable contender, winning in The Golden Globes and other awards ceremonies between then and now. With their 14 nominations total for the 89th Academy Awards this Sunday night, it seemed like it was set to perform yet another nomination sweep or close. As it turns out, they made away with less than half their nominations and a major blow in losing out to ‘Moonlight.' But other than that the other awards were just as expected.
Echoes of Steve Harvey
A hiccup occurred during the Oscar presentation for ‘Best Picture’ that was reminiscent of Miss Universe 2015 where emcee Steve Harvey announced Colombia (rather than the actual winner, Miss Philippines; he did better in the latest pageant). In this case, assigned presenters Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were accidentally handed the winner’s card for ‘Best Actress’ (written “Emma Stone, La La Land”), which caused them to say the printed movie title.
As the production heads went to the stage to receive the award, a frenzied accountant ran onstage to explain the flub, eventually leading to “La La Land” producer Jordan Horowitz being a good sport by declaring the actual winner: art-house style stage play adaptation “Moonlight”, directed by Barry Jenkins and starring Trevante Rhodes from A24.
It had ‘Outstanding Drama’ picture back at the 74th Golden Globes while “La La Land” won ‘Outstanding Musical.' This time only one of them got the Academy Award ‘Best Picture’. Host Jimmy Kimmel event went so far as to "blame" Harvey for the mishap, making for an unorthodox climax to Oscar night.
Other victories
While Gosling wasn’t lucky enough for ‘Best Actor’, losing to Ben’s brother Casey Affleck in “Manchester by the Sea” (his first Oscar ever), “La La Land” still got away with the most awards at six, with Emma Stone getting ‘Best Actress’ and Damien Chazelle becoming the youngest 'Best Director’ Oscar awardee.
Another first-time Academy winner was Viola Davis of “Fences” (and “Suicide Squad,” the ‘Best Makeup’ winner). She won ‘Best Supporting Actress.'
In the end, the earlier 2016 Disney film “Zootopia” edged out later 2016’s “Moana” for the ‘Best Animated Feature’ Oscar. There also wasn't much politicking going on with the acceptance speeches either, though host Kimmel made jokes out of President Donald Trump’s Twitter silence during the whole Academy Awards evening.
