Academy Award Nominations

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
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Alexander Payne, The Descandents
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

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

BEST ACTRESS
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

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Artist- Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids- Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Margin Call- J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris- Woody Allen
A Separation- Asghar Farhardi

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Descendants- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
Hugo- John Logan
The Ides of March- George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon
Moneyball- Steven Zailian & Aaron Sorkin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Hell & Back Again
If A Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

BEST FOREIGN FILM
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation

BEST ART DIRECTION
The Artist- Laurence Bennett & Robert Gould
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2- Stuart Craig & Stephenie McMillian
Hugo- Dante Ferretti & Francesca Lo Schiavo
Midnight in Paris- Anne Siebel & Helene Dubreuil
War Horse- Rick Carter & Lee Sandales

BEST 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 COSTUME DESIGN
Anonymous- Lisy Christl
The Artist- Mark Bridges
Hugo- Sandy Powell
Jane Eyre- Michael O'Connor
W.E.- Arianne Phillips

BEST FILM 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 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

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets
"Real in Rio," Rio

BEST MAKE-UP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
The Iron Lady

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Short Subject)
The Barber of Birmingham
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident is the New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

BEST SHORT FILM (Animated)
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

BEST SHORT FILM (Live Action)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

BEST SOUND EDITING
Drive
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

BEST SOUND MIXING
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Nine is the number!  But still quite a lonely number it may be.  Future gripping and musings to come (please join me.)  Hugo leads the field with 11 nominations (despite zero acting nods); The Artist comes in second with 10 nominations.  The only real surprise comes in the (questionable?) inclusion of Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close which may certainly holds the distinction of the lowest critically regarded Best Picture nomination of all time...way to go Stephen Daldry!