The Hawaii Film Critics Society has once again cast their votes and nominated a broad range of films for their year’s end list. Damien Chazelle’s beloved, Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone-starring musical “La La Land” led the charge with thirteen nominations, more than any other film (in fact, last year’s most nominated title, “Carol,” only received ten). “Moonlight,” the acclaimed art house drama from Barry Jenkins, received seven nominations. A couple of Amy Adams-starring films, the cerebral sci-fi “Arrival,” and the shocking drama “Nocturnal Animals,” tied with eight nominations each. The neo-western “Hell or High Water,” followed with five nominations, while Martin Scorsese’s “Silence” and the Natalie Portman-starring “Jackie” were tied with four nominations each.
The films selected were all over the map. While the Polynesian-themed Disney feature “Moana” received four nominations, so did the bizarre, love-it-or-hate-it art house horror “The Neon Demon.” Other dark horse selections include three nominations for “10 Cloverfield Lane,” three nominations for “The Witch” and two nominations for “Deadpool.” Other out-of-left field picks included two nominations for the Ryan Gosling/Russell Crowe dark comedy “The Nice Guys” and for Park Chan-Wook’s “The Handmaiden.”
In the category for Best Hawaii Film, the nominees are “Moana” and the locally made documentary “Shorebreak: The Clark Little Story.”
The Hawaii-based critics group, which was founded in February 2015, will vote on the nominees selected and publish a list of winners on January 13th, 2017.
Official HFCS 2016 Nominees List
BEST FILM
La La Land
Moonlight
Nocturnal Animals
Hell Or High Water
Silence
BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle/ La La Land
Tom Ford/ Nocturnal Animals
Barry Jenkins/ Moonlight
Denis Villeneuve/ Arrival
Martin Scorsese/ Silence
BEST ACTOR
Casey Affleck/ Manchester by the Sea
Denzel Washington/ Fences
Andrew Garfield/ Hacksaw Ridge
Ryan Gosling/ La La Land
Chris Pine/ Hell or High Water
BEST ACTRESS
Natalie Portman/ Jackie
Viola Davis/ Fences
Amy Adams/ Arrival
Emma Stone/ La La Land
Amy Adams/ Nocturnal Animals
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Shannon/ Nocturnal Animals
Aaron Taylor-Johnson/ Nocturnal Animals
Jeff Bridges/ Hell Or High Water
Mahershala Ali/ Moonlight
Dev Patel/ Lion
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Michelle Williams/ Manchester by the Sea
Naomi Harris/ Moonlight
Lupita N’yongo/ Queen of Katwe
Nicole Kidman/ Lion
Octavia Spencer/ Hidden Figures
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
La La Land
Hell or High Water
20th Century Woman
Manchester by the Sea
The Nice Guys
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Fences
Nocturnal Animals
Moonlight
Arrival
Silence
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
La La Land
Nocturnal Animals
Arrival
Knight of Cups
The Neon Demon
BEST EDITING
La La Land
Hacksaw Ridge
Arrival
Moonlight
Hell Or High Water
BEST ART DIRECTION
Jackie
La La Land
Arrival
Nocturnal Animals
The Handmaiden
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
La La Land
The Neon Demon
Hail Caesar!
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Jackie
BEST MAKE-UP
Silence
Deadpool
Star Trek Beyond
The Neon Demon
X-Men: Apocalypse
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Arrival
La La Land
Kubo and the Two Strings
The Jungle Book
Doctor Strange
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
La La Land
Moonlight
Jackie
The Neon Demon
20th Century Woman
BEST SONG
“Can’t Stop the Feeling” – Trolls
“City of Stars” – La La Land
“Audition (Fools Who Dream)”/ La La Land
“How Far I’ll Go” – Moana
“Drive It Like You Stole It”/ Sing Street
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
Zootopia
The Little Prince
Trolls
BEST DOCUMENTARY
De Palma
OJ: Made in America
Amanda Knox
Life Animated
13th
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Handmaiden (South Korea)
The Wave (Norway)
Seasons (France/Germany)
Neruda (Chile)
Elle (France)
BEST HAWAII FILM
Moana
Shorebreak- The Clark Little Story
BEST NEW FILMMAKER
Robert Eggers/ The Witch
James Schamus/ Indignation
Nicolas Pesce/ The Eyes of My Mother
Dan Trachtenberg/ 10 Cloverfield Lane
Kelly Fremon Craig/ The Edge of Seventeen
BEST FIRST FILM
Indignation
10 Cloverfield Lane
The Witch
The Eyes of My Mother
The Edge of Seventeen
BEST OVERLOOKED FILM
Jane Got A Gun
Little Men
Hell or High Water
Everybody Wants Some!!
The Nice Guys
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR FILM
Ouija: Origin of Evil
Arrival
10 Cloverfield Lane
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
The Witch
BEST STUNTS
Hacksaw Ridge
Deadpool
The Magnificent Seven
Captain America: Civil War
Deepwater Horizon
BEST VOCAL/MOTION CAPTURE PERFORMANCE
Charlize Theron/ Kubo and the Two Strings
Dwayne Johnson/ Moana
Liam Neeson/ A Monster Calls
Rachel McAdams/ The Little Prince
Jeff Bridges/ The Little Prince
WORST FILM OF THE YEAR
Suicide Squad
Fifty Shades of Black
Mother’s Day
Zoolander 2
How To Be Single