(CNN) Always subject to debate and second-guessing, this year's Oscar nominations got it mostly right, while dispensing, first and foremost, with the criticism that produced the hashtag #OscarsSoWhite.

That's not to say there won't be grumbling about oversights and "snubs" on this year's roster, such as how Amy Adams could be overlooked for "Arrival," while the movie nabbed a number of nominations. Others will focus on seemingly uneven expressions of outrage for past sins, with Casey Affleck ("Manchester By the Sea") and "Hacksaw Ridge" director Mel Gibson earning nominations despite past controversies, while Nate Parker's "The Birth of a Nation" was an afterthought.

Finally, those thirsting for a burst of populism in the form of a nomination for a movie like the R-rated superhero movie "Deadpool" were, again, disappointed, as genuine box-office blockbusters, a la "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" and "Dr. Strange," were largely confined to categories like visual effects and animated feature. (Even there, "Finding Dory," 2016's second-highest-grossing movie in the U.S., didn't make the cut.)

Still, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- chastened by past criticism -- produced an inordinately strong lineup of movies, with a central trio of contenders: "La La Land," Damien Chazelle's splashy musical, which garnered a record-tying 14 nominations; "Manchester By the Sea," Kenneth Lonergan's sobering drama; and "Moonlight," Barry Jenkins' searing coming-of-age tale.

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