It's Just Movies

— by ADAM POYNTER —

Early this morning, before most people had risen from bed, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences paid homage to the actors, actresses, directors and films that impressed them the most in the past year with the nominations for this year’s Academy Awards.

A surprise at the top of the list is Martin Scorsese’s “Hugo” with 11 nominations, among them Best Picture and Best Director. The film with the second most nominations is “The Artist.” The critic’s favorite scored 10 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

The announcement of nominations went about as expected, but there are some key films and performances that didn’t follow the path of the Golden Globe nominees. Many thought Michael Fassbender for “Shame” and Ryan Gosling for “Drive” would be chosen for Best Actor, along with Tilda Swinton for Best Actress in “We Need to Talk about Kevin.”

Some major films were left out of some of the main awards, including “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” which both should have been considered for the Best Picture award.

Check out the complete list of nominees below and leave a comment telling us what you think of this year’s nominees list and who else you think should be on it. Did all of your favorite films make the list in at least one category or another?

Best Motion Picture of the Year
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir for A Better Life
George Clooney for The Descendants
Jean Dujardin for The Artist
Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt for Moneyball

Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis for The Help
Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh for My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill for Moneyball
Nick Nolte for Warrior
Christopher Plummer for Beginners
Max von Sydow for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo for The Artist
Jessica Chastain for The Help
Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer for The Help

Best Achievement in Directing
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen
The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids: Kristen Wiig, Annie Mumolo
Margin Call: J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris: Woody Allen
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 Animated Feature Film of the Year
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Bullhead: Michael R. Roskam(Belgium)
Footnote: Joseph Cedar(Israel)
In Darkness: Agnieszka Holland(Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar: Philippe Falardeau(Canada)
A Separation: Asghar Farhadi(Iran)

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, Gregory S. Hooper
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
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Iron Lady

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score
The Adventures of Tintin: John Williams
The Artist: Ludovic Bource
Hugo: Howard Shore
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy: Alberto Iglesias
War Horse (2011): 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
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

Best 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

Best Documentary, Features
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

Best Documentary, Short Subjects
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

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, Stefan Gieren
The Shore: Terry George
Time Freak: Andrew Bowler, Gigi Causey
Tuba Atlantic: Hallvar Witzø

. . .

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