2012 Oscars – And the Nominees Are…

CAROLINE: Oh, what a beautiful mornin’! The Oscar nominations are finally here!

RYAN: ‘Tis a momentous occasion for us each year and this round is as exciting as I ever remember!

CAROLINE: I set my DVR, as I do every year, for the occasion, and frantically scrawled down the names of the nominees and gasped with all the surprises there were. Jennifer Lawrence, star of the upcoming Hunger Games, announced at 8:30am. She was nominated last year for Winter’s Bone and she’s looking great.

RYAN: She can read, yes. But honey, let’s cut to the chase! There are some real shocks and upsets this year, which makes it all the more thrilling.

CAROLINE: Completely! Starting with Best Picture:

RYAN: Well, at least we’ve seen them all. Let us note there are 9 of potentially 5 to 10 nominated and I think the shocker is Moneyball.

CAROLINE: I don’t think so – it was nominated for both a GG and Critics’ Choice Award. I was, however, surprised and pleased to see Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close on the list.

RYAN: Me too! In the Best Actress race, I can’t believe, but am so happy, Rooney Mara is there! I wish Dragon Tattoo received even more nominations but this one is awesome.

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

CAROLINE: It was pretty shocking to me that Tilda Swinton didn’t get nominated. I thought for sure Rooney was going to get snubbed, but I totally agree with the nomination. She was amazing!! Tilda was too though; it was a tough competition for the ladies this year.

RYAN: Best Actor sees the upset that Leo DiCaprio isn’t nominated for J. Edgar. And I’ve heard zero buzz about this Demián Bichir.

CAROLINE: I’d read an article about him saying he might get nominated, but it was definitely a surprise to me. Leo must be bummed. Though now it definitely takes the pressure off me to watch J. Edgar, which I haven’t been that psyched about doing.

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

RYAN: I’m surprised by the Gary Oldman nomination too. Love him, but that movie was not all that.

CAROLINE: Yeah, that nom came from left field. But LBH, that movie is based on an old spy novel and most people in the Academy are 60+ so they’re not exactly jibing with the average American moviegoer.

RYAN: Then in Supporting Actor, no Albert Brooks, but there is Jonah Hill. Interesting.

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

CAROLINE: Even more interesting – hello, Nick Nolte?

RYAN: I am glad Max Von Sydow from Extremely Loud is nominated. Viola could have been as well in the Supporting Actress category for that film as well; but her Best Actress nod will have to suffice.

CAROLINE: No huge shocks for Best Supporting Actress other than Melissa McCarthy. She was kind of on the verge of a nod in my eyes, and I’m surprised the über-stodgy Academy picked her. What a year she’s having! Sadly, there’s nowhere to go but down.

Best Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

RYAN: In other categories, the final Harry Potter only got three noms – for Art Direction, Makeup and Effects. And there are only two songs nominated in the Best Song category. What the Elle Fanning is that all about?

CAROLINE: Madonna’s Golden Globe winning tune from W.E. was deemed ineligible. Elton John and David Furnish must be thrilled.

RYAN: That blows. Here are the rest of this year’s nominees:

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

Best Original Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
J.C. Chandor, Margin Call
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Asghar Farhadi, A Separation

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Jim Rash & Nat Faxon, The Descendants
John Logan, Hugo
George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon, The Ides of March
Aaron Sorkin & Steven Zaillian, Moneyball
Peter Straughan & Bridget O’Connor, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Best Animated Film
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Best Foreign Language Film
Bullhead (Belgium)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)

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

Costume Design
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

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
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

Film Editing
The Artist, Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants, Kevin Tent
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
Hugo, Thelma Schoonmaker
Moneyball, Christopher Tellefsen

Makeup
Albert Nobbs, Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Iron Lady, Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

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

Music (Original Song)
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets, Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from Rio, Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett

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

Short Film (Live Action)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

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
Monyeball
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

CAROLINE: Get ready for the show! The Oscars are on Sunday, February 26th on ABC.

RYAN: I’m ready for your Rice Krispies treats!!