By Zoe Ades ’18, Staff Writer 

Last year’s Oscars were described with the notorious hashtag of #OscarsSoWhite, but what’s the deal this year? United Talent Agency, a huge organization, has cancelled their typical Oscar party and will be donating the funds it would have used to the ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union). A rally in support of refugees will take the party’s place two days before the ceremony. The nominations this year have dramatically changed since the backlash on social media platforms. The most exciting category of diversity is the “Actress in a supporting role” where three out of the five nominees are women of color. The categories for actors and actresses in leading roles, however, still need improvement with only one person of color for each category. In comparison to last year, the Academy Awards have shown progress, but is it enough?

To keep up with what should be a groundbreaking Oscars show, you should know the following:

Who: The lovely host Jimmy Kimmel

Where: ABC (and your couch)

When: Sunday, February 26th at 7 pm

Movies by Most Nominations

La La Land (13 nominations)

• Best picture
• Actor in a leading role – Ryan Gosling
• Actress in a leading role – Emma Stone
• Directing – Damien Chazelle
• Cinematography,
• Film editing,
• Production design,
• Sound editing,
• Sound mixing,
• Writing (original screenplay)
• Music original score and
• Original song for “Audition (The Fools Who Dream),” “City of Stars” by Jason Hurwitz

Moonlight (7 nominations)

• Best picture
• Supporting actor – Mahershala Ali
• Supporting actress – Naomie Harris
• Directing – Barry Jenkins
• Film editing,
• Music (original score),
• Writing (adapted screenplay)

Lion (6 nominations)

• Best picture
• Supporting actor – Dev Patel
• Supporting actress – Nicole Kidman
• Cinematography
• Music (original score)
• writing (adapted screenplay)

Manchester By The Sea (6 nominations)

• Best picture
• Actor in a leading role – Casey Affleck
• Supporting actor – Lucas Hedges
• Supporting actress – Michelle Williams
• Directing and writing (original screenplay) – Kenneth Lonergan

Hacksaw Ridge (6 nominations)

• Best picture
• Film editing
• Sound editing
• Sound mixing
• Actor in a leading role – Andrew Garfield
• Directing – Mel Gibson

Fences (4 nominations)

• Best picture
• Actor in a leading role – Denzel Washington
• Supporting actress – Viola Davis
• Writing (adapted screenplay) – August Wilson

Hell or High Water (4 nominations)

• Best picture
• Film editing
• Writing (original screenplay)
• Supporting actor – Jeff Bridges

Hidden Figures (3 nominations)

• Best picture
• Writing (adapted screenplay)
• Supporting actress – Octavia Spencer

Jackie (3 nominations)

• Actress in a leading role – Natalie Portman
• Costume design
• Music (original score)

Moana (2 nominations)

• Animated feature film
• Music (original song) “How Far I’ll Go” – Lin Manuel Miranda (who will be performing)

Florence Foster Jenkins (2 nominations)

• Actress in a leading role – Meryl Streep
• Costume design

Passengers (2 nominations)

• Music (original score)
• Production design

Whether or not the Academy Awards still need improvement or not, one thing is for sure: La La Land will be making a big sweep. There will most likely be many acceptance speeches that protest President Trump, or make a statement about the travel ban or his recent appointments. Putting aside these contentious topics, I think we can all agree that we  hope that Jennifer Lawrence does not fall on the red carpet again this year.