Amazon steals Netflix's spotlight to be toast of Hollywood

Los Angeles

AMAZON.COM'S strategy of sticking to Hollywood's time-honoured traditions helped deliver a big pay-off that has so far eluded its streaming rival Netflix - the first-ever best picture nomination for an online video service. Manchester by the Sea, a family tragedy set in Massachusetts, was nominated on Tuesday for best picture by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, one of nine movies that will vie for the top honour. The film secured six Oscar nominations in all, including ones for acting, writing and directing. It opens in Singapore on Feb 16.

While Netflix, the streaming leader with almost 94 million subscribers worldwide, has upended entertainment industry traditions, Amazon.com has played more by Hollywood's rules. In the movie business, that means giving motion pictures a serious run in theatres, rather than releasing them simultaneously online, as Netflix often does. "They would both li…