And the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards are here!

Well the countdown to the biggest night in the film industry’s calendar has officially begun, as actress Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone, The Hunger Games) recently announced the nominations of the 84th Annual Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Awards.

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo and French silent film, The Artist, have surged to the front of the race with 11 and 10 nominations respectively. Trailing behind them is a slew of films all getting the nod between 4 and 6 times: Moneyball, War Horse, The Descendants, The Help, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Midnight in Paris. These are all very valid nominations, with Scorsese being especially deserving. He has been snubbed at the Oscars far too often in the past.

As usual though, the Academy has made a few odd and unexpected choices. The most glaring omission for me is Drive, which was almost universally praised by the critics (us included), yet – with the exception of a sound editing nomination – completely snubbed here. There is also no nomination for Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson’s Adventures of Tintin in the Best Animated Feature Film category. A category it actually won at the recent Golden Globes. Now personally, I feel that Rango is the superior film but Tintin is far too technically impressive to be left out in the cold completely.

One nomination I did not expect, based on how all the other Awards snubbed him, but which I completely agree with, is Nick Nolte for Best Supporting Actor in Warrior. Nolte played about as tragic a character as I have ever seen and every moment of him on screen was just heartbreaking to witness.

Unexpected Best Picture nomination also for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, a film that has certainly not gained any critical buzz and was nowhere to be found on any of the other awards nominations.

The last observation before we get to the full list is a weird one: Despite them being only “technical” categories, Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon has received 3 nominations, which actually means it’s received more attention than Meryl Streep’s critically praised Margeret Thatcher biopic, The Iron Lady, which only has 2 nominations.

Without further ado, here is the full list:

Best Picture

• The Artist
• The Descendants
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
• The Help
• Hugo
• Midnight in Paris
• Moneyball
• The Tree of Life
• War Horse

Best Director

• Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Alexdander Payne, The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese, Hugo
• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
• Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best 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 Actressin a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
• Jessica Chastain, The Help
• Mellisa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
• Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
• Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Demian Bichir, A Better Life
• George Clooney, The Descendants
• Jean Dujardin, The Artist
• Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
• Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best 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

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

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

Foreign Language Film

• Belgium, “Bullhead”, Michael R. Roskam, director
• Canada, “Monsieur Lazhar”, Philippe Falardeau, director
• Iran, “A Separation”, Asghar Farhadi, director
• Israel, “Footnote”, Joseph Cedar, director
• Poland, “In Darkness”, Agnieszka Holland, director

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

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

Art Direction

• The Artist
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• Hugo
• War Horse

Costume Design

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

Documentary Feature

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

Documentary Short

• 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
• The Descendants
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Moneyball

Makeup

• Albert Nobbs
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
• The Iron Lady

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

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
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• War Horse

Sound Mixing

• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
• Hugo
• Moneyball
• Transformers: Dark of the Moon
• War Horse

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

 

So what are your thoughts on the nominees? Is there anything that you felt has zero right to be on this list, or maybe there is something that should have been? Sound off about it in the comments below.

The 84th Academy Awards will take place in the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood on the 26th February, and sees the welcome return of comedian Billy Crystal to hosting duties.

Last Updated: January 24, 2012