The nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards were announced today, and while controversy was not at the same levels as it may have been in the past, some shocks were still contained. Critically acclaimed Drive missed out on any acting nominations at all, claiming only one nomination for Sound editing. Tintin went ignored in the Animated Film category and mixed reactions to J. Edgar also ensured that similarly left empty handed. Margin Call finds it’s screenplay gets a nod at least, but in a category with such awards behemoths as Midnight In Paris and The Artist, it remains very much an underdog.
Hugo sets itself up as the film to beat, with the largest haul of nominations at eleven, while The Artist follows close behind at ten. Michael Fassbender also failed to obtain a nomination, despite many thinking his performance in Shame meant he was a lock. For best actor, Brad Pitt earns his third nomination while Clooney aims for a Lead Actor trophy to match his Supporting Actor one. Gary Oldman, Demián Bichir and Jean Dujardin are all first time nominees, aiming for the big prize.
In Best Actress, Rooney Mara is the first time nominee who gets my vote, but with Glenn Close’s five nominees for Lead or Supporting Actress and no awards, her time may be well overdue. However, it’d be a foolish move to bet against two time winner Meryl Streep, although her last win was all the way back in 1983, and that’s only two wins out of 16 nominations. Prior nominee Viola Davis is nothing to be sniffed at however, nor is twice nominated Michelle Wiliams.
Melissa McCarthy is a rare example of a comedy performer being honoured, gaining a nod in Supporting Actress for her celebrated work in Bridesmaids, while typically comical Jonah Hill is recognised for his work in Moneyball in Supporting Actor. He’ll have to beat likely favourite Christopher Plummer however, who won the Golden Globe in this category for his work in Beginners, as well as three time nominee Nick Nolte, from well received MMA movie Warrior.
Best Motion Picture of the Year.
War Horse (Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy)
The Artist (Thomas Langmann)
Moneyball (Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt)
The Descendants (Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor)
The Tree of Life (To be determined)
Midnight in Paris (Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum)
The Help (Brunson Green, Chris Columbus, Michael Barnathan)
Hugo (Graham King, Martin Scorsese)
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (Scott Rudin)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo)
Viola Davis (The Help)
Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)
Best 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)
Best 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 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)
Best Achievement in Directing
Woody Allen (Midnight In Paris)
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
Martin Scorcese (Hugo)
Terence Malick (The Tree Of Life)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
The Artist (Michel Hazanavicius)
Bridesmaids (Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo)
Midnight in Paris (Woody Allen)
Margin Call (J.C. Chandor)
A Separation (Asghar Farhadi)
Best Writing, Screenplay based on Material Previously Produced or Published
The Descendants (Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash)
Hugo (John Logan)
The Ides of March (George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon)
Moneyball (Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Bridget O’Connor, Peter Straughan)
Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Bullhead (Michael R. Roskam) [Belgium]
Footnote (Joseph Cedar) [Israel]
In Darkness (Agnieszka Holland) [Poland]
Monsier Lazhar (Philippe Falardeau) [Canada]
A Separation (Asghar Farhadi) [Iran]
Best Animated Feature Film of the Year
A Cat in Paris (Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli)
Chico & Rita (Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal)
Kung Fu Panda 2 (Jennifer Yuh)
Puss in Boots (Chris Miller)
Rango (Gore Verbinski)
Best Achievement in 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)
Best Achievement in Editing
The Artist (Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius)
The Descendants (Kevin Tent)
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Angus Wall, Kirk Baxter)
Hugo (Thelma Schoonmaker)
Moneyball (Christopher Tellefsen)
Best Achievement in Art Direction
The Artist (Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan)
Hugo (Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo)
Midnight in Paris (Anne Seibel, Hélène Dubreuil)
War Horse (Rick Carter, Lee Sandales)
Best Achievement in Costume Design
Anonymous (Lisy Christl)
The Artist (Mark Bridges)
Hugo (Sandy Powell)
Jane Eyre (Michael O’Connor)
W.E.(Arianne Phillips)
Best Achievement in Makeup
Albert Nobbs (Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnson, Matthew W. Mungle)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin)
The Iron Lady (Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland)
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (John Williams)
The Artist (Ludovic Bource)
Hugo (Howard Shore)
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (Alberto Iglesias)
War Horse (John Williams)
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song
The Muppets (Bret McKenzie) [“Man or Muppet”]
Rio (Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Siedah Garrett) [“Real in Rio”]
Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Bo Persson)
Hugo (Tom Fleischman, John Midgley)
Moneyball (Deb Adair, Rob Bochar, David Giammarco, Ed Novick)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Peter J. Devlin)
War Horse (Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Stuart Wilson)
Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Drive (Lon Bender, Victor Ray Ennis)
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Ren Klyce)
Hugo (Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Ethan Van der Ryn, Erick Aadahl)
War Horse (Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom)
Best Achievement inVisual Effects
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, John Richardson)
Hugo (Robert Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann, Alex Henning)
Real Steel (Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Danny Gordon Taylor, Swen Gillberg)
Rise of the Planet of the Apes (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, Daniel Barrett)
Transformers: Dark of the Moon (Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew E. Butler, John Frazier)
Best Documentary, Features
Hell and Back Again (Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner)
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front (Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman)
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory (Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky)
Pina (Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel)
Undefeated (Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin, Rich Middlemas)
Best Documentary, Short Subjects
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement (Robin Fryday, Gail Dolgin)
God is the bigger Elvis (Rebecca Cammisa, Julie Anderson)
Incident in New Baghdad (James Spione)
Saving Face (Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy)
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (Lucy Walker, Kira Carstensen)
Best Short Film, Animated
Dimanche (Patrick Doyon)
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore (William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg)
La Luna (Enrico Casarosa)
A Morning Stroll (Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe)
Wild Life (Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby)
Best Short Film, Live Action
Pentecost (Peter McDonald)
Raju (Max Zähle, Stegan Gieren)
The Shore (Terry George, Oorlagh George)
Time Freak (Andrew Bowler, Gigi Causey)
Tuba Atlantic (Hallvar Witzø)
