14 DAY TRIAL // They're in: the nominations for the Academy Awards 2012 have just been announced during a live ceremony by Jennifer Lawrence and Tom Sherak. As with every year, there are a few surprises and a few snubs.
Following weeks of speculation and playing the guessing game, the darlings of the awards season have emerged triumphant: Martin Scorsese, the silent film “The Artist,” Brad Pitt and Steven Spielberg.
Scorsese's “Hugo” officially leads all the Oscar contender with no less than 11 nominations, including in the major categories of Best Picture and Best Director.
The silent, black and white film “The Artist,” which proved the film everybody is talking about today, is coming hot on Scorsese's heels, with 10 nominations, including the Best Picture one.
“Moneyball,” Pitt's personal project, and “War Horse,” Spielberg's critically acclaimed war movie, are next, with 10 nods each.
Surprises – more or less pleasant – include just two nominations in the Best Original Song category: “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets,” and “Real in Rio” from “Rio.”
Given the craziness than ensued after the Golden Globes 2012, when Madonna won Best Original Song when Sir Elton John thought he had it nailed, the snub is already generating some harmless jokes in the blogosphere.
Another surprise came with the nominees for Best Actress, which included a nod for Rooney Mara and her role in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
The young actress is going up against the likes of Meryl Streep, Glenn Close, Viola Davis and Michelle Williams, so it's safe to say the competition is pretty tight.
As for the snubs: Leonardo DiCaprio, Tilda Swinton, Michael Fassbender, Ryan Goslin were completely ignored, as also was director David Fincher.
Below is the complete list of nominees. The awards show will take place on February 26, 2012.
Best Motion Picture of the Year: “The Artist” “The Descendants” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” “The Help” “Hugo” “Midnight in Paris” “Moneyball” “The Tree of Life” “War Horse” Achievement in Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist” Alexander Payne, “The Descendants” Martin Scorsese, “Hugo” Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris” Terrence Malick, “The Tree of Life”
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role: Demián Bichir, “A Better Life” George Clooney, “The Descendants” Jean Dujardin, “The Artist” Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role: Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs” Viola Davis, “The Help” Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady” Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role: Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn” Jonah Hill, “Moneyball” Nick Nolte, “Warrior” Christopher Plummer, “Beginners” Max von Sydow, “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role: Bérénice Bejo, “The Artist” Jessica Chastain, “The Help” Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids” Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs” Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year: “A Cat in Paris” “Chico & Rita” “Kung Fu Panda 2” “Puss in Boots” “Rango”
Original Screenplay: “The Artist,” Written by Michel Hazanavicius “Bridesmaids,” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig “Margin Call,” Written by J.C. Chandor “Midnight in Paris,” Written by Woody Allen “A Separation,” Written by Asghar Farhadi
Adapted Screenplay: “The Descendants,” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash “Hugo,” Screenplay by John Logan “The Ides of March,” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon “Moneyball,” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year: “Bullhead” (Belgium) “Footnote” (Israel) “In Darkness” (Poland) “Monsieur Lazhar” (Canada) “A Separation” (Iran)
Original Score: “The Adventures of Tintin,” John Williams “The Artist,” Ludovic Bource “Hugo,” Howard Shore “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy,” Alberto Iglesias “War Horse,” John Williams
Original Song: “Man or Muppet,” The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie “Real in Rio,” Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Achievement in Art Direction: “The Artist” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” “Hugo” “Midnight in Paris” “War Horse”
Achievement in Cinematography: “The Artist” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” “Hugo” “The Tree of Life” “War Horse”
Achievement in Costume Design: “Anonymous” “The Artist” “Hugo” “Jane Eyre” “W.E.”
Best Documentary Feature: “Hell and Back Again” “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” “Pina” “Undefeated”
Best Documentary Short Subject: “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” “God Is the Bigger Elvis” “Incident in New Baghdad” “Saving Face” “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
Achievement in Film Editing: “The Artist” “The Descendants” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” “Hugo” “Moneyball”
Achievement in Makeup: “Albert Nobbs” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” “The Iron Lady”
Best Animated Short Film: “Dimanche/Sunday” “The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” “La Luna” “A Morning Stroll” “Wild Life”
Best Live Action Short Film: “Pentecost” “Raju” “The Shore” “Time Freak” “Tuba Atlantic”
Achievement in Sound Editing: “Drive” “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” “Hugo” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” “War Horse”
Achievement in Sound Mixing: “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” “Hugo” “Moneyball” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” “War Horse”
Achievement in Visual Effects: “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” “Hugo” “Real Steel” “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” “Transformers: Dark of the Moon”