Oscar nominations: “Hugo” and “The Artist,” love letters to movies, lead nominees
The conventional wisdom that Hollywood loves movies about movies was proven true this morning as nominations for the 2012 Academy Awards were announced.
Martin Scorsese’s first 3-D film, “Hugo,” leads all contenders with 11 nominations, including best picture and best director.
Close behind is the black-and-white mostly silent film “The Artist,” a critical darling that receive 10 nods, including best picture, director for French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius, best actor for Jean Dujardin and supporting actress for Berenice Bejo.
The Academy again tweaked the rules for the number of best picture nominees, allowing anywhere from five to 10 films to earn nods. Nine movies ended with best picture nominations: “Hugo,” “The Artist” (which won the best picture, musical or comedy, at the Golden Globes), “The Descendants” (which won the best picture, drama, Globe), “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” “The Help,” “Midnight in Paris,” Moneyball,” “The Tree of Life” and “War Horse.”
While the Oscar nominations mostly followed expectations, there were a few surprises and more than a few notable, irritating snubs:
- Melissa McCarthy garnered a best supporting actress nomination for her turn in the raunchy comedy “Bridesmaids.” Unfortunately, Carey Mulligan (a 2009 best actress nominee for “An Education”) didn’t get a nomination for either of her great performances in “Drive” and “Shame.” Bérénice Bejo, “The Artist”; Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, “The Help”; and Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs,” round out the category.
- Speaking of “Drive,” director Nicolas Winding Refn’s great neo-noir tale got alarmingly little love, with its sole nomination coming in the sound editing category. The snub is particularly egregious considering how widely celebrated Albert Brooks’ supporting turn as a ruthless mobster has been this season.
- Steven Spielberg’s first motion-capture animated movie, “The Adventures of Tintin,” was snubbed in the best animated film category, even though it won the Golden Globe in the animated category and was a favorite animated pick among many critics’ groups. The Academy continues to show an utter inability to grasp motion-capture animation, which is emerging as an important medium in the art of filmmaking. Not only did “Tintin” get left out of the animated category, Andy Serkis again failed to get any credit for another strong mo-cap performance, this time as Caesar, the chimpanzee leader of the uprising in “Rise of the Planet of the Apes.”
- Although Rooney Mara got a best actress nod for her transformative performance in David Fincher’s “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” Tilda Swinton’s acclaimed turn in the harrowing “We Need to Talk about Kevin” was left out of that race. Fincher also got snubbed for best director despite his excellent work adapting the late Stieg Larsson’s global best-seller.
- Michael Fassbender’s harrowing turn in the sexual addiction drama “Shame” failed to earn him a berth in the best actor competition. Demián Bichir, who hadn’t received much attention this awards season, got a nomination for the immigrant tale “A Better Life.” Also, Gary Oldman received his long-awaited first-ever Oscar nod for his lead turn in the spy saga “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” The other nominees in the category are George Clooney, “The Descendants”; Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”; and Brad Pitt, “Moneyball.”
- Between his writer-director efforts in “The Ides of March” and starring role in “The Descendants,” George Clooney was expected and did reaffirm his status as a Hollywood power broker. But his Shawnee-born pal Brad Pitt also emerged as a power player: Pitt not only earned his third nomination in an acting category, as a producer, he has two movies in the best picture hunt: “Moneyball” and “Tree of Life,” directed by former Bartlesville resident Terrence Malick.
The Oscars will be handed out at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 26 and air live on ABC.
Here is the list of key Oscar nominations. For the full list of nominees, click here.
Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
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
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
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
Actress In a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Animated Feature Film
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Best Cinematography
The Artist
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Directing
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Foreign Language Film
Belgium, Bullhead
Canada, Monsieur Lazhar
Iran, A Separation
Israel, Footnote
Poland, In Darkness
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
-BAM
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