Movies

2012 Oscar Nominations Announced

Dave Morales

January 24, 2012

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo/The Artist

The nominees list is out for the upcoming Academy Awards.

Both “Hugo” and “The Artist” lead in all categories with the most nominations.

“Hugo” received a total of 11 nominations which included the categories of best art direction, cinematography, costume design, film editing, original music score, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects and adapted screenplay. Martin Scorsese is also nominated for best director.

“The Artist” received nods for best director and original screenplay for Michel Hazanavicius. Other categories include best art direction, cinematography, costume design, film editing and original music score.

A few observations:

1) I did NOT expect to see so many nominations for “Hugo.” Yes, it is a good film. However, TOPS on the nominees list? Really?

2) I DID expect “The Artist” to do well. I hope it translates into wins come Oscar night. If you haven’t seen it- do it now.

3) “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” deserves to be in the best picture category, despite what you may read elsewhere.

4) Not surprised to see “Drive” overlooked. Yes, it was in my top 10 list for 2011. Let me explain- when I made that list I went through SEVERAL drafts of a top 10…it BARELY got the ten spot. I gave it “extra credit” because of the buzz it was getting at the time. That and I thought Albert Brooks did a fantastic job.

5) I am THRILLED “War Horse” made the best picture list. It was my number 1 for 2011. Although I think “The Artist” wins in this category, I’ll scream like a cheerleader if Spielberg wins.

6) Who called “A Better Life” a GREAT movie early on? ME. I’m happy to see the Academy recognizing Demián Bichirin in the best actor category.

While I am not ready to make my predictions just yet, it does appear as if “The Artist” will have a deserved big night next month.

The 84th annual Academy Awards will be presented live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California on Sunday, February 26.

Complete nominees list:

Actor in a Leading Role

Demián Bichirin “A Better Life”
George Clooneyin “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardinin “The Artist”
Gary Oldmanin “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pittin “Moneyball”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Kenneth Branaghin “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hillin “Moneyball”
Nick Noltein “Warrior”
Christopher Plummerin “Beginners”
Max von Sydowin “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Leading Role

Glenn Closein “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davisin “The Help”
Rooney Marain “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streepin “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williamsin “My Week with Marilyn”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Bérénice Bejoin “The Artist”
Jessica Chastainin “The Help”
Melissa McCarthyin “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeerin “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencerin “The Help”

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

Art Direction

“The Artist”Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo”Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris”Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse”Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

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

Costume Design

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

Directing

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

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”Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Pina”Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated”TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

“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

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

“Bullhead”Belgium
“Footnote”Israel
“In Darkness”Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar”Canada
“A Separation”Iran

Makeup

“Albert Nobbs”Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Iron Lady”Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (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

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

Best Picture

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

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

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

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”Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

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)