Oscars! – 84th Academy Award Nominations Announced Today

By On 01/24/2012 · 21 Comments · In Events

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Update: Scorsese’s “Hugo” leads the nominations with 11 followed by the “Artist” with 10. “Tree Of Life” was nominated for Best Picture despite several snubs from many other award shows. Pixar has dominated the Animated Feature Film category in the past, but it’s not a big surprise they got left out with their sub-par effort on “Cars II”. Only two songs were nominated this year. It’s the Muppets vs Rio. Despite being the biggest money maker of the year last year, Harry Potter was shut out of all but a few technical awards (Makeup, Art Direction and Visual Effects). Leonardo can’t seem to get nominated whereas George practically has an engraved chair. “Bridesmaids” shows that female comedies not only sell tickets, they can also get nominations.

Today, the 84th Academy Award Nominations are going to be announced. MJ’s always does a snarkalicious live blog of the event, so let’s get the excitement started early. And it is early for us West Coasters. The announcements will be made live HERE (or EW)at 8:30 am EST/5:30 am PST. Come and discuss who you think should win, who will win and who was ROBBED.

There isn’t anybody related to the blog likely to be nominated this year (unless the 3D Glee movie surprises everybody). But in the past, there have been. Jennifer Hudson burst back onto the scene by winning a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in “Dreamgirls”. And, lest we forget, the Oscar winning song that is frequently sung on Idol was performed by Idol judge Steven Tyler (even if Dianne Warren wrote it). Of course, I’m referring to “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing” by Aerosmith from Armageddon (which incidentally starred Ben Affleck who almost married another Idol judge, Jennifer Lopez – but he didn’t win an Oscar for that role (shocking, I know!) – his Oscar, strangely enough, is for writing. I think the Oscars announcements need to start before I start playing 6 degrees of separation).

The Awards Ceremony will be held: Sunday, February 26, 2012

BEST PICTURE
The Artist – Thomas Langmann
The Descendants – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Scott Rudin
The Help Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan,
Hugo – Graham King and Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris – Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum
Moneyball – Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt
The Tree of Life – Nominees to be determined
War Horse – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy

DIRECTING
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants – Alexander Payne
Hugo – Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick

BEST ACTOR
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt – Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS
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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh – My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Christopher Plummer – Beginners
Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”;
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”;
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”;
Janet McTeer (“Albert Nobbs”);
Melissa McCarthy, “Bridesmaids.”

WRITING – 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 Straughan

WRITING – 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

MUSIC – ORIGINAL SONG
“Man or Muppet” from THE MUPPETS – Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from RIO – Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

MUSIC – ORIGINAL SCORE Music
The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams
The Artist – Ludovic Bource
Hugo – Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias
War Horse – John Williams

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
Chico & Rita – Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson
Puss in Boots – Chris Miller
Rango – Gore Verbinski

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth
Hugo – Robert Richardson
The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki
War Horse – Janusz Kaminski

ART DIRECTION
The Artist – Laurence Bennett (Production Design); Robert Gould (Set Decoration)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Stuart Craig (Production Design); Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
Hugo – Dante Ferretti (Production Design); Francesca Lo Schiavo (Set Decoration)
War Horse – Rick Carter (Production Design); Lee Sandales (Set Decoration)

COSTUME DESIGN
Anonymous – Lisy Christl
The Artist – Mark Bridges
Hugo – Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor
W.E. – Arianne Phillips

MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
The Iron Lady – Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Dan Glass, Brad Friedman, Douglas Trumbull and Michael Fink

SOUND EDITING
Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce
Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

SOUND MIXING
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

FILM EDITING
The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants – Kevin Tent
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Belgium, “Bullhead” – Michael R. Roskam, director
Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar” – Philippe Falardeau, director
Iran, “A Separation” – Asghar Farhadi, director
Israel, “Footnote” – Joseph Cedar, director
Poland, “In Darkness” – Agnieszka Holland, director

SHORT FILM – ANIMATED
Dimanche/Sunday – Patrick Doyon
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
La Luna – Enrico Casarosa
A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

SHORT FILM – LIVE ACTION
Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane
Raju – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George
Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witzø

DOCUMENTARY SHORT
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement – Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
God is the Bigger Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad – James Spione
Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Hell and Back Again – Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

 
  • Anonymous

    I was hoping J.G-L would slip in for “50/50,” but that was a long shot. Happy for Nick Nolte & Gary Oldman. Glad to see that comedy is getting its due. It still looks like a clean sweep for “The Artist.”

  • Anonymous

    Bummed Michael Fassbender didn’t get a nom, but the NC-17 rating killed his chances.

  • sd34567

    I have to laugh at Leonardo DiCaprio getting snubbed.  He needs to stop doing these movies where he’s basically begging for an Oscar.

    Glad Gary Oldman got in.  Even though he’s going to lose to Clooney, Academy Award Nominee Gary Oldman sounds awesome.

    Academy Awards Nominee Jonah Hill?  Yeah.

  • http://twitter.com/OneTwoDoseyDoe Roger Kramjet

    Why is it that every year I look at the Oscar nominated films and feel like I haven’t watched any of them.

  • Reflections On Life

    I thought the purpose of doubling the size of the Best Picture slate was to allow room for both good movies and popular movies to get nominated, because with just 5 nominees all that’s nominated are movies no one has seen, and with some popular movies on the slate, that would purportedly boost tv ratings for the show.

    Instead, we just get 10 nominees that no one has seen.

  • jersey

    Actually, this is the first year I’ve seen a bunch of the nominees.  The Help, The Descendants, and Moneyball.  Tomorrow night I’m going to see Extremely Loud. I’m sure The Artist will probably win but I have no desire to see that.  Moneyball was my favorite movie of the ones I’ve seen but it’s not really the type of film that gets rewarded with an Oscar.  Jonah Hill was great in Moneyball!

  • bbf546

    Damnit Glee, thought your movie would at least get a couple nominations.

  • Trina

    Instead, we just get 10 nominees that no one has seen.

    Not me. This is actually the first year where I’m the most familiar with the Best Picture category because I saw most of them. Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close I’m going to see on Friday.

    Rooting for George and Meryl, and Jonah getting a nod for Money Ball and Joseph Gordon Levitt getting snubbed for 50/50 is insanity. JLG was fantastic.

  • Anonymous

    I love Gary Oldman too,  He’s a fabulous actor.  I also loved the descendants and thought Clooney was great in it.  But, of the ones I’ve seen, (if I was an academy voter), Brad Pitt would have my vote.  Moneyball was an excellent movie, and I really thought that was the best performance I’d ever seen Brad give. 

    I love Meryl Streep, but I want Viola Davis to snatch this one from her :).   

  • Anonymous

    I’ve only seen 1 movie on this list — and I’m talking about all the nominations, not just the major ones.

  • sd34567

    I’m seeing a lot of comments across the internet saying that Brad Pitt could win.  I don’t see that.  Even though I would love a Gary Oldman or Brad Pitt win, they’re giving it to Clooney.  Everyone seems to be in love with the guy.

    I want Viola Davis to snatch it, too.  Meryl is probably the sentimental choice since this is her 17th nomination and she hasn’t won since Sophie’s Choice, but what other chance will Viola Davis have?  Give it to her.

  • http://twitter.com/KariannHart Kariann Hart

    I saw “Midnight In Paris” twice in one weekend.  It is a charming, smart film; however, it looks like “The Artist” will take a lot of the awards.  Wood Allen should get the Original Screenplay Oscar.

    I love Meryl Streep but would really like to see atie with Viola Davis.  Both are outstanding actresses.  George Clooney seems like a shoo-in, and Brad Pitt said to give George all the awards he deserves.  Great pals.

    My biggest shock was Leonardo DiCaprio getting snubbed.  To play 40 years of a person’s life and do a terrific job should have been acknowledged.

  • Anonymous

    “The Artist” is a real masterpiece – it’s amazing and Jean Dujardin is fantastic. It’s unlike every other movie I know some people that were put off by the description “silent movie” – it’s so much more. An fully orchestrated so not “silent” at all! 

  • http://twitter.com/Sassycatz Sassycatz

    I’ve seen four of the films nominated. One of them wasn’t Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. When choosing something to see recently, I read some of the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and they were definitely mixed. Even the positive ones had caveats, so I was really surprised to see that film nominated.

  • Anonymous

    Leonardo always gets snubbed…it’s no shock to me!! That is just outright unjust!!! Leonardo has clearly stated in the past that he knows how things work and stuff like this doesn’t bother him. He’s won almost every FAN choice awards and that means more to him i would say…IMO

  • Tess

    Playing a real life person in a biographical movie is always tough…very fine line with being an imitator/impersonator and really bringing a heart and soul to the character.  Over the years these types of roles tend to lead to the big awards but I sometimes find them overdone and more than a little pompous (except for Colin Firth who was amazing).  Meryl Streep is probably the best ever at mimicry…but I find the roles where she sets up a character are much more compelling than the ones where she just copies a well-known figure (oh how I hated her as Julia Childs.)

    My take on the Oscars is more and more that they are tending to believe their own place of importance in the industry and that they overlook big budget blockbusters because the voters just assume that anything the public likes is just fodder come awards time.  I’ve rented enough Oscar winning movies that I couldn’t get past the first 15 minutes (glad they were only a buck) because they may have appealed to the snooty voting wing of the Academy but they sure didn’t appeal to me as Miss Plain Jane Ordinary Viewer.

  • Anonymous

    I wonder if Matthew Morrison knows who Jonah Hill is now.

    And I haven’t and not really interested in watching any of these movies.
    I just watched Moneyball this past weekend on DVD.
    Unless people are tuning in for Billy Crystal, it will be a low rated Oscar show.

  • Anonymous

    I’ve seen most of them too and that’s a lot to say since I live in Mexico and movies get here like two or three months later, so I haven’t seen some of them yet.

    And for those who are not familiar with the best picture nominees… please go and try some of the non-commercial ones, or which movies you would have liked to see nominated?

  • http://twitter.com/KariannHart Kariann Hart

    I have seen 7 of the Best Film nominations, but not “The Artist.”  I am fascinated by what I have heard about “Hugo.”  One picture that is very confusing is “Tree of Life.”  Viewing it the second time made much more sense.  Good selections this year.

  • Anonymous

    Seen Moneyball, The Descendants, War Horse, The Tree of Life, The Help (book better than movie), Midnight in Paris all mediocre to me whereas loved Hugo and The Artist. Also loved Tinker Tailor… I hope Hugo wins a bunch!

  • Allison

    “Instead, we just get 10 nominees that no one has seen.”

    I saw just one, probably the strangest one on the list – “Tree of Life”. After sitting through all the “2001″-type effects with dinosaurs, it was a movie to think about.