The Oscar nominees were announced last week and…my checklist actually worked! I was able to watch almost every major movie nominated while still in theaters, which was my main goal. And even the couple I missed, I was able to watch at home before the nominations were announced.1

Now, I’m going to try to see just how many of the foreign films and documentaries and short films I can watch before the awards ceremony. If it helps anyone else, I made a list of all the movies and grouped them by their highest-nominated category.

(I was also curious about how closely the experts’ predictions matched up with the actual nominees, so I’ve compared them in the last section below!)


“Major” categories

9 movies nominated in Best Picture (with 59 total nominations between them!):

  • [14] La La Land
  • [8] Arrival
  • [8] Moonlight
  • [6] Hacksaw Ridge
  • [6] Lion
  • [6] Manchester by the Sea
  • [4] Fences
  • [4] Hell or High Water
  • [3] Hidden Figures

6 more movies nominated in Best Actor/Actress:

  • [3] Jackie (Best Actress / Natalie Portman)
  • [2] Florence Foster Jenkins (Best Actress / Meryl Streep)
  • [1] Captain Fantastic (Best Actor / Viggo Mortensen)
  • [1] Elle (Best Actress / Isabelle Huppert)
  • [1] Loving (Best Actress / Ruth Negga)
  • [1] Nocturnal Animals (Best Supporting Actor / Michael Shannon)

2 more movies nominated in Best Original Screenplay:

  • [1] 20th Century Women
  • [1] The Lobster

1 more movie nominated in Best Cinematography:

  • [1] Silence

“Minor” categories

5 more movies nominated in Best Animated Film:

  • [2] Kubo and the Two Strings
  • [2] Moana
  • [1] My Life As a Zucchini
  • [1] The Red Turtle
  • [1] Zootopia

5 more movies nominated in Best Foreign Film:

  • [2] A Man Called Ove
  • [1] Land of Mine
  • [1] Tanna
  • [1] The Salesman
  • [1] Toni Erdmann

5 more movies nominated in Best Documentary:

  • [1] 13th
  • [1] Fire at Sea
  • [1] I Am Not Your Negro
  • [1] Life Animated
  • [1] O.J.: Made in America

Technical categories

14 more movies nominated in technical categories (Best Score / Song / Sound Editing / Sound Mixing / Production Design / Makeup & Hairstyling / Costume Design / Film Editing / Visual Effects):

  • [2] Deepwater Horizon
  • [2] Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
  • [2] Passengers
  • [2] Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  • [1] 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
  • [1] Allied
  • [1] Doctor Strange
  • [1] Hail, Caesar!
  • [1] Jim: The James Foley Story
  • [1] Star Trek Beyond
  • [1] Suicide Squad
  • [1] Sully
  • [1] The Jungle Book
  • [1] Trolls

Short film categories

5 more movies nominated in Best Live Action Short Film:

  • [1] Ennemis Interieurs (28m)
  • [1] La Femme et le TGV (30m)
  • [1] Silent Nights (30m)
  • [1] Sing (25m)
  • [1] Timecode (15m)

5 more movies nominated in Best Animated Short Film:

  • [1] Blind Vaysha (8m)
  • [1] Borrowed Time (7m)
  • [1] Pear Cider and Cigarettes (35m)
  • [1] Pearl (6m)
  • [1] Piper (6m)

5 more movies nominated in Best Documentary - Short Subject:

  • [1] 4.1 Miles (26m)
  • [1] Extremis (24m)
  • [1] Joe’s Violin (24m)
  • [1] The White Helmets (41m)
  • [1] Watani: My Homeland (39m)

By the numbers

There are 24 Oscar categories, with 5 nominees in almost every category (Best Picture has 9 nominees, Makeup & Hairstyling has 3 nominees). That means 122 total nominations. Altogether, there are 47 feature-length films and 15 short films nominated.

Of the 47 feature-length films, if you group them by their highest-nominated category, you’re looking at…

  • 18 “major” category nominees
  • 15 “minor” category nominees
  • 14 technical category nominees
  • 15 short category nominees

So if you want to watch…

  • All the Best Picture nominees: 9 movies.
  • All the BP + major nominees: 18 movies.
  • All the BP + major + minor nominees: 33 movies.
  • All the BP + major + minor + technical nominees (AKA no shorts): 47 movies.

And if you wanted to watch everything…62 movies! Folks like Joe Reid and Todd VanDerWerff try to do this.


How accurate were the experts?

While I was making this list, I started comparing it to the experts’ predictions I compiled in my last 2 posts. How many categories did they get exactly right? (Just one!) Did they miss any nominations entirely? (Yes!) Did they miss every nomination in any category entirely? (Yep!)

Anyways, I thought it was just kinda fun to look back at the predictions, so I’ve copied the original lists by category below and bolded the actual nominees. Remember, these predictions are from late November, before some of the movies were even released.

(Quick reminder about the columns: NOM is how many experts thought that movie would be nominated, WIN is how many experts thought it would win the category, ODDS are Gold Derby’s odds, and PTS is a simple inversion of the odds.)

Best Picture

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land 26 22 9/2 22.22
2 Manchester by the Sea 26 4 13/2 15.38
3 Moonlight 26 0 9/1 11.11
4 Fences 25 0 9/1 11.11
5 Loving 22 1 12/1 8.33
6 Silence 21 0 14/1 7.14
7 Lion 20 0 14/1 7.14
8 Jackie 18 0 16/1 6.25
9 Arrival 15 0 20/1 5.00
10 Sully 14 0 28/1 3.57
11 Hidden Figures 10 0 33/1 3.03
12 Hell or High Water 6 0 50/1 2.00
13 Hacksaw Ridge 7 0 66/1 1.52
14 A Monster Calls 2 0 100/1 1.00
15 Nocturnal Animals 4 0 100/1 1.00
16 Patriot’s Day 1 0 100/1 1.00
17 The Birth of a Nation 4 0 100/1 1.00
18 20th Century Women 1 0 100/1 1.00
19 Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk 2 0 100/1 1.00
20 Passengers 1 0 100/1 1.00
21 Live By Night 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Director

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land (Damien Chazelle) 26 22 17/10 58.82
2 Manchester by the Sea (Kenneth Lonergan) 26 4 4/1 25.00
3 Moonlight (Barry Jenkins) 23 0 6/1 16.67
4 Silence (Martin Scorsese) 14 0 12/1 8.33
5 Fences (Denzel Washington) 14 1 12/1 8.33
6 Jackie (Pablo Larrain) 7 0 33/1 3.03
7 Loving (Jeff Nichols) 5 0 40/1 2.50
8 Arrival (Denis Villeneuve) 4 0 66/1 1.52
9 Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Ang Lee) 2 0 80/1 1.25
10 Lion (Garth Davis) 2 0 80/1 1.25
11 Hidden Figures (Theodore Melfi) 1 0 100/1 1.00
12 Passengers (Morten Tyldum) 1 0 100/1 1.00
13 Sully (Clint Eastwood) 1 0 100/1 1.00
14 Hacksaw Ridge (Mel Gibson) 1 0 100/1 1.00
36 Nocturnal Animals (Tom Ford) 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Actor

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Manchester by the Sea (Casey Affleck) 26 17 2/1 50.00
2 Fences (Denzel Washington) 24 10 14/5 35.71
3 La La Land (Ryan Gosling) 22 0 13/2 15.38
4 Loving (Joel Edgerton) 17 0 9/1 11.11
5 Sully (Tom Hanks) 14 0 14/1 7.14
6 Captain Fantastic (Viggo Mortensen) 5 0 40/1 2.50
7 Hacksaw Ridge (Andrew Garfield) 6 0 40/1 2.50
8 The Founder (Michael Keaton) 3 0 66/1 1.52
9 Silence (Andrew Garfield) 3 0 80/1 1.25
10 Rules Don’t Apply (Warren Beatty) 2 0 100/1 1.00
11 Nocturnal Animals (Jake Gyllenhaal) 2 0 100/1 1.00
12 The Birth of a Nation (Nate Parker) 2 0 100/1 1.00
13 Gold (Matthew McConaughey) 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Actress

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land (Emma Stone) 26 17 21/10 47.62
2 Jackie (Natalie Portman) 25 6 7/2 28.57
3 Loving (Ruth Negga) 23 2 6/1 16.67
4 20th Century Women (Annette Bening) 20 1 7/1 14.29
5 Arrival (Amy Adams) 15 0 14/1 7.14
6 Hidden Figures (Taraji P. Henson) 4 1 25/1 4.00
7 Miss Sloane (Jessica Chastain) 5 0 40/1 2.50
8 Florence Foster Jenkins (Meryl Streep) 4 0 50/1 2.00
9 Elle (Isabelle Huppert) 4 0 66/1 1.52
10 Fences (Viola Davis) 1 0 100/1 1.00
11 Passengers (Jennifer Lawrence) 1 0 100/1 1.00
12 Nocturnal Animals (Amy Adams) 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Supporting Actor

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Moonlight (Mahershala Ali) 24 13 12/5 41.67
2 Manchester by the Sea (Lucas Hedges) 22 4 9/2 22.22
3 Hell or High Water (Jeff Bridges) 18 2 13/2 15.38
4 Lion (Dev Patel) 14 3 9/1 11.11
5 Nocturnal Animals (Michael Shannon) 14 3 9/1 11.11
6 Silence (Liam Neeson) 10 2 12/1 8.33
7 Fences (Stephen Henderson) 5 0 50/1 2.00
8 Florence Foster Jenkins (Hugh Grant) 6 0 50/1 2.00
9 Fences (Jovan Adepo) 4 0 50/1 2.00
10 Denial (Timothy Spall) 2 0 66/1 1.52
11 Bleed for This (Aaron Eckhart) 2 0 100/1 1.00
12 Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Steve Martin) 1 0 100/1 1.00
13 Hell or High Water (Ben Foster) 1 0 100/1 1.00
14 Hidden Figures (Kevin Costner) 1 0 100/1 1.00
15 Manchester by the Sea (Kyle Chandler) 1 0 100/1 1.00
25 Fences (Mykelti Williamson) 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Supporting Actress

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Fences (Viola Davis) 25 19 2/1 50.00
2 Manchester by the Sea (Michelle Williams) 23 8 10/3 30.00
3 Moonlight (Naomie Harris) 24 0 5/1 20.00
4 Lion (Nicole Kidman) 20 0 9/1 11.11
5 20th Century Women (Greta Gerwig) 10 0 20/1 5.00
6 Hidden Figures (Janelle Monae) 8 0 22/1 4.55
7 A Monster Calls (Felicity Jones) 7 0 33/1 3.03
8 The Hollars (Margo Martindale) 2 0 100/1 1.00
9 The Birth of a Nation (Aja Naomi King) 3 0 100/1 1.00
10 20th Century Women (Elle Fanning) 1 0 100/1 1.00
11 Queen of Katwe (Lupita Nyong’o) 1 0 100/1 1.00
12 Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Kristen Stewart) 1 0 100/1 1.00
13 The Founder (Laura Dern) 1 0 100/1 1.00
14 Nocturnal Animals (Amy Adams) 1 0 100/1 1.00
23 Hidden Figures (Octavia Spencer) 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Original Screenplay

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Manchester by the Sea 24 18 2/1 50.00
2 Moonlight 23 5 7/2 28.57
3 La La Land 23 2 9/2 22.22
4 Loving 13 1 11/1 9.09
5 Jackie 15 0 12/1 8.33
6 Hell or High Water 8 0 20/1 5.00
7 20th Century Women 10 0 20/1 5.00
8 Captain Fantastic 2 0 100/1 1.00
9 Zootopia 1 0 100/1 1.00
22 The Lobster 1 0 100/1 1.00

NOTE: Moonlight got switched into Best Adapted Screenplay, but it was indeed nominated, so I’ve bolded it here anyways.

Best Adapted Screenplay

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Fences 21 19 19/10 52.63
2 Arrival 21 2 5/1 20.00
3 Silence 20 2 11/2 18.18
4 Lion 17 1 15/2 13.33
5 Nocturnal Animals 12 1 12/1 8.33
6 Hidden Figures 11 0 16/1 6.25
7 A Monster Calls 6 1 25/1 4.00
8 Hacksaw Ridge 2 0 66/1 1.52
9 Love and Friendship 2 0 80/1 1.25
10 Elle 1 0 100/1 1.00
11 Sully 1 0 100/1 1.00
12 Finding Dory 1 0 100/1 1.00
21 Snowden 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Cinematography

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land 18 14 19/10 52.63
2 Silence 15 2 6/1 16.67
3 Arrival 13 2 6/1 16.67
4 Jackie 13 0 9/1 11.11
5 Moonlight 12 0 9/1 11.11
6 Live By Night 4 0 28/1 3.57
7 Nocturnal Animals 2 1 33/1 3.03
8 Lion 3 0 50/1 2.00
9 The Jungle Book 3 0 50/1 2.00
10 Hail, Caesar! 2 0 66/1 1.52
11 A Monster Calls 2 0 80/1 1.25
12 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 1 0 100/1 1.00
13 Cafe Society 1 0 100/1 1.00
14 Doctor Strange 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Animated Feature

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Zootopia 21 16 15/8 53.33
2 Kubo and the Two Strings 18 2 5/1 20.00
3 Moana 15 2 13/2 15.38
4 Finding Dory 14 0 8/1 12.50
5 The Red Turtle 13 0 11/1 9.09
6 Sing 9 1 14/1 7.14
7 Sausage Party 6 0 28/1 3.57
8 The Little Prince 4 0 40/1 2.50
9 Trolls 2 0 80/1 1.25
10 My Life as a Zucchini 1 0 100/1 1.00
11 Miss Hokusai 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Visual Effects

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Doctor Strange 8 4 3/1 33.33
2 The Jungle Book 6 5 10/3 30.00
3 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 7 1 11/2 18.18
4 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 6 0 9/1 11.11
5 Arrival 4 1 10/1 10.00
6 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children 5 0 20/1 5.00
7 Captain America: Civil War 3 0 25/1 4.00
8 Sully 1 0 50/1 2.00
9 Star Trek Beyond 1 0 66/1 1.52
10 The BFG 1 0 100/1 1.00
11 A Monster Calls 1 0 100/1 1.00
12 Warcraft 1 0 100/1 1.00
13 Deadpool 1 0 100/1 1.00

Nominated, but not in this list: Deepwater Horizon, Kubo and the Two Strings.

Best Film Editing

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land 12 10 2/1 50.00
2 Silence 9 1 11/2 18.18
3 Jackie 9 1 13/2 15.38
4 Hacksaw Ridge 8 0 10/1 10.00
5 Moonlight 6 0 11/1 9.09
6 Sully 1 1 25/1 4.00
7 The Jungle Book 2 1 28/1 3.57
8 Hidden Figures 2 0 28/1 3.57
9 Nocturnal Animals 3 0 28/1 3.57
10 Arrival 3 0 33/1 3.03
11 Deepwater Horizon 2 0 66/1 1.52
12 Lion 1 0 100/1 1.00
13 Manchester by the Sea 1 0 100/1 1.00
14 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 1 0 100/1 1.00

Nominated, but not in this list: Hell or High Water.

Best Score

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land 12 11 9/5 55.56
2 Jackie 10 2 4/1 25.00
3 Silence 9 1 7/1 14.29
4 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 6 0 14/1 7.14
5 Arrival 3 0 14/1 7.14
6 Lion 4 0 22/1 4.55
7 The Jungle Book 5 0 25/1 4.00
8 Nocturnal Animals 3 0 33/1 3.03
9 Hidden Figures 2 0 50/1 2.00
10 Moonlight 1 0 66/1 1.52
11 Florence Foster Jenkins 1 0 66/1 1.52
12 Hacksaw Ridge 1 0 80/1 1.25
13 Live By Night 1 0 100/1 1.00
14 Zootopia 1 0 100/1 1.00
15 Fences 1 0 100/1 1.00

Nominated, but not in this list: Passengers.

Best Sound Editing

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Hacksaw Ridge 9 9 7/4 57.14
2 La La Land 8 2 4/1 25.00
3 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 7 0 13/2 15.38
4 Deepwater Horizon 6 0 12/1 8.33
5 Silence 4 0 14/1 7.14
6 The Jungle Book 4 0 14/1 7.14
7 Arrival 2 0 25/1 4.00
8 Live By Night 1 0 50/1 2.00
9 Doctor Strange 1 0 100/1 1.00
10 Passengers 1 0 100/1 1.00
11 Sully 1 0 100/1 1.00
12 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Sound Mixing

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land 9 11 3/2 66.67
2 Hacksaw Ridge 9 0 4/1 25.00
3 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 8 0 11/2 18.18
4 Silence 5 0 10/1 10.00
5 The Jungle Book 4 0 16/1 6.25
6 Deepwater Horizon 4 0 25/1 4.00
7 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2 0 50/1 2.00
8 Passengers 1 0 100/1 1.00
9 Arrival 1 0 100/1 1.00
11 Star Trek Beyond 1 0 100/1 1.00
12 Sully 1 0 100/1 1.00

Nominated, but not in this list: 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi.

Best Production Design

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 La La Land 11 11 19/10 52.63
2 Jackie 11 0 6/1 16.67
3 Silence 9 0 13/2 15.38
4 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 9 1 15/2 13.33
5 Rules Don’t Apply 5 1 14/1 7.14
6 The Jungle Book 3 1 22/1 4.55
7 Live By Night 2 0 22/1 4.55
8 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 3 0 28/1 3.57
9 Hidden Figures 3 0 33/1 3.03
10 Hail, Caesar! 1 0 66/1 1.52
11 Hacksaw Ridge 1 0 80/1 1.25
12 Florence Foster Jenkins 1 0 100/1 1.00
13 Fences 1 0 100/1 1.00

Nominated, but not in this list: Arrival, Passengers.

Best Costume Design

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Jackie 11 5 11/4 36.36
2 La La Land 10 6 14/5 35.71
3 Silence 7 1 6/1 16.67
4 Florence Foster Jenkins 7 1 8/1 12.50
5 Live By Night 3 0 16/1 6.25
6 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 5 0 18/1 5.56
7 Allied 4 0 28/1 3.57
8 Rules Don’t Apply 3 0 33/1 3.03
9 Captain Fantastic 2 0 50/1 2.00
10 Love and Friendship 2 0 66/1 1.52
11 Hidden Figures 1 0 100/1 1.00

Best Makeup and Hairstyling

NUM NAME NOM WIN ODDS PTS
1 Jackie 11 10 5/4 80.00
2 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 6 1 7/1 14.29
3 Silence 5 0 9/1 11.11
4 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story 3 1 11/1 9.09
5 Florence Foster Jenkins 3 1 11/1 9.09
6 Doctor Strange 1 1 25/1 4.00
7 Deadpool 2 0 28/1 3.57
8 Loving 2 0 33/1 3.03
9 A Monster Calls 1 0 50/1 2.00
10 Hacksaw Ridge 1 0 50/1 2.00
11 Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children 1 0 50/1 2.00

Nominated, but not in this list: A Man Called Ove, Suicide Squad, Star Trek Beyond. (That’s right, the experts missed all 3 nominees entirely!)

  1. Of the 37 feature length films nominated (AKA everything but the docs/shorts/foreign categories), I’ve managed to watch all but 4: The Red Turtle (foreign animated movie which was just released in theaters this week, after nominations were announced), My Life As a Zucchini (foreign animated movie that is still not out in theaters or on home video, as far as I can find), Hail Caesar! (a February movie nominated for Best Production Design), and Jim: The James Foley Story (a documentary with one nomination for Best Song). ↩︎