It’s that time of year again. The Academy has selected their nominations for the most prestigious film award on the planet. Scorsese’s “Hugo” came out on top with 11 nominations including adapted screenplay, costume design, cinematography, original score, as well as best director and best picture. The best picture category is interesting this year with only nine nominees. Apparently after upping it to 10 from 5, the Academy has devised some sort of system where a film must receive a certain number of first-place votes to be nominated – thus, the odd number of nominees.
While some may be shocked to find Malik's "Tree of Life" in the running for best pic, there aren’t any surprises in the best actor/actress category. Meryl Streep, whose performance was praised in the critically-panned film “The Iron Lady,” is up for her 17th nomination. She has astonishingly only ever won two and the buzz is that Viola Davis (The Help) will take it this year.
Check out the list of nominations for some of the top categories here and then hit the link at the bottom for a full printable list.
BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
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 LEADING ROLE
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
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 Farhad