The nominees for the 89th annual Academy Awards were announced on January 24 via livestream that was available on the Academy’s website. 

Since the announcement people around the globe, including students at Mississippi State University, have reacted to the nominees both positively and negatively.

Nine films were nominated for the coveted Best Picture Oscar this year. The Best Picture nominees are “Arrival,” “Fences,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” “Hell or High Water,” “Hidden Figures,” “La La Land,” “Lion,” “Manchester by the Sea,” and “Moonlight.”

“La La Land” is a favorite among many students, including junior communication major Jackson Magaw.

“I am predicting ‘La La Land’ is going to win Best Picture,” Magaw said.

Freshman Joe Bellamy also views “La La Land” as the most likely winner, although he said he believes many will be unhappy with this decision.

“I think this year is going to be another one where people are divided between what they think will win and what they think should win, in this case ‘La La Land’ and ‘Moonlight’ respectively,” Bellamy said.

Other students, including senior business information systems major Alex Robinson would be happy if “La La Land” were to win the Oscar this year.

“The only one of the nominees I have seen is ‘La La Land’ but I really liked it a lot,” Robinson said.

 “Hidden Figures” was well liked by many MSU students who have seen the film including senior history major Joseph Metz. Many of these students said they hope the film will win the Oscar because they view the film as being of high quality and because of the message they believe “Hidden Figures” winning would send.

“I think that ‘Hidden Figures’ should win because it gives people a look at some of the biggest innovators of the period,” Metz said. “These women did something that no other black women had done and helped the United States achieve one of the most defining moments in American history.”

Secondary education major Lillie Blankenstein has not seen the film but is aware of the buzz around “Hidden Figures.”

“I have not seen any of the nominees yet but I really want to see ‘Hidden Figures’ at some point,” Blankenstein said.

While many students enjoyed the films nominated for Best Picture, some say they feel like one or more deserving films were ignored.

MSU freshman Joe Bellamy and junior secondary education major Isaac Huckaby felt the film “Silence” was more deserving of recognition than some of the chosen nominees.

“I think ‘Silence’ should have at least been nominated and maybe should have been best picture,” Huckaby said.

Bellamy agreed that “Silence” should have been recognized and also believes that at least one of the films nominated was not deserving of the level of recognition being nominated brings.

“The omission of ‘Silence’ is, I think, the only major snub, and the nomination of ‘Arrival’ surprises me because I thought it was good but not Best Picture good,” Bellamy said.

Other students believe the academy should be more broad in the types of films that are recognized by the Oscars. 

Caleb Mooneyham, a junior majoring in music education, said his favorite film of the year was also the best film made last year and wants it to be recognized.

“As far as what I thought the best film of the year was, it was ‘Deadpool’ all the way,” Mooneyham said. “I have seen it four times and have enjoyed it more each time.” 

Senior history major Tyler Powell’s favorite film of the year was “Star Wars: Rogue One,” which he believes was excellent and executed very well.

“It had a strong female lead, tasteful CGI, and it is the first standalone Star Wars sequel since ‘The Empire Strikes Back’. Also, the final sequence of escaping with the plans was thrilling,” Powell said.

The 89th Academy Awards will take place at the Hollywood and Highland Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 26. The event will be hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and will be broadcasted on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. Central Standard Time.