The contenders are out! After a very, very good year at the movies, the nominations for the biggest extravaganza in Hollywood has been announced. The Academy Awards will be in it's 85th year, which in the past has recognized films like Casablanca, The Godfather, and Lawrence of Arabia and has dubbed them has the greatest of all time. That time has past. The glitz and glamour of Hollywood is gone, yet the spirit of filmmaking remains. The politics of The Academy Awards is different than it was back in the golden age. Films seemed to get nominated based on performance rather than the spectacle of film, duly because a large percent of the Academy voters are from the acting branch. Yet, despite flaws in the nomination/voting process and knowing this, there's a fascination about giving that little golden guy away to a movie, director, actor, editor, cinematographer, etc. that's just massively appealing.
So here are the nominations - Enjoy discussing them, who should win/will win, who/what got snubbed, etc. It's Oscar season!
BEST PICTURE
- Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Silving Lingings Playbook
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Lincoln
- Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Amour
- Django Unchained
- Argo
BEST DIRECTOR
- David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
- Michael Haneke, Amour
- Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
- Ang Lee, Life of Pi
BEST ACTOR
- Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
- Denzel Washington, Flight
- Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
- Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
- Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
- Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
- Robert De Niro, Silver Linings
- Alan Arkin, Argo
- Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
BEST ACTRESS
- Naomi Watts, The Impossible
- Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
- Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
- Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Emmanuelle Riva, Amour
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Jackie Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
- Helen Hunt, The Sessions
- Amy Adams, The Master
- Sally Field, Lincoln
- Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
- John Gatins, Flight
- Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
- Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
- Michael Haneke, Amour
- Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
- Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Chris Terrio, Argo
- Tony Kushner, Lincoln
- David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
- David Magee, Life of Pi
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
- Frankenweenie
- Wreck-It Ralph
- Paranorman
- Brave
- Pirates: A Band of Misfits
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- Amour
- No
- War Witch
- A Royal Affair
- Kon-Tiki
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Seamus McGarvey, Anna Karenina
- Robert Richardson, Django Unchained
- Claudio Miranda, Life of Pi
- Janusz Kaminski, Lincoln
- Roger Deakins, Skyfall
BEST DOCUMENTARY – FEATURE
- 5 Broken Cameras
- The Gatekeepers
- How to Survive A Plague
- The Invisible War
- Searching for Sugar Man
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
- Inocente
- Kings Point
- Mondays at Racine
- Open Heart
- Redemption
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
- Asad
- Buzkashi Boys
- Curfew
- Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)
- Henry
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
- Adam and Dog
- Fresh Guacamole
- Head over Heels
- Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"
- Paperman
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
- Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
- Alexandre Desplat, Argo
- Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
- John Williams, Lincoln
- Thomas Newman, Skyfall
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
- "Skyfall" - Skyfall
- "Everybody Needs A Friend" - Ted
- "Pi's Lullabye" - Life of Pi
- "Suddenly" - Les Miserables
- "Before My Time" - Chasing Ice
BEST SOUND EDITING
- Argo
- Django Unchained
- Life of Pi
- Skyfall
- Zero Dark Thirty
BEST SOUND MIXING
- Argo
- Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
- Skyfall
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Anna Karenina
- Les Miserables
- Life of Pi
- Lincoln
BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
- Hitchcock
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Les Miserables
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Life of Pi
- The Avengers
- Prometheus
- Snow White and the Huntsman
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
- Anna Karenina
- Les Miserables
- Lincoln
- Mirror Mirror
- Snow White and the Huntsman
BEST FILM EDITING
- William Goldenberg, Argo
- Tim Squyres, Life of Pi
- Michael Kahn, Lincoln
- Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers, Silver Linings Playbook
- Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg, Zero Dark Thirty