Shocks Abound As Oscar Noms Are Announced; 'Hugo' Leads With Eleven, 'Tree Of Life' Gets Picture & Director Nods

nullIt's Oscar nomination morning! You know, like Christmas morning, if you spent most of the rest of Christmas Day bitching that you didn't like your presents. And if your presents were chosen by a group of elderly sound mixers. And if an entire industry developed around guessing what you were going to get. And if, deep down, you didn't really care about Christmas.

Anyway, the announcement of the nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were finally made at 5.30 L.A. time. And, boy, were their some shocks in store. The headliners were as expected: "Hugo" leads the field thanks to a brace of technical nods, with eleven, with "The Artist" just behind with ten. But behind that, a gap, with "Moneyball" taking six nods, alongside "War Horse," which many had written off, which got the same number, including Best Picture. The main category had two big other surprises — "The Tree of Life," which also managed a nomination for director Terrence Malick, and the poorly received "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," which becomes the worst-reviewed film to gain a Best Picture nomination (according to Rotten Tomatoes).

Otherwise, "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo" missed out on the big prizes, other than an unexpected Best Actress nomination for Rooney Mara, and "Bridesmaids" failed to make the leap too, although got Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress (for Melissa McCarthy) nods as a consolation. There were a number of acting category surprises as well — Gary Oldman and Demian Bichir got in in place of Michael Fassbender and Leonardo DiCaprio, while Tilda Swinton couldn't convert her critical love to a nomination either.

"A Separation" snuck into the mainstream categories with a Best Screenplay nomination, Albert Brooks missed out in supporting, animation proved a big shock, with two little-known independent features getting in, and plenty more eyebrow-raisers (not least the Academy highlighting Jessica Chastain's nomination for "The Help" with a picture from "The Tree of Life." It's given the awards season a much-needed shot in the arm, at least for the next twenty-four hours, and we're thankful for that, even if there's the typical number of disappointments in among the pleasant surprises. Stay tuned for more Oscar coverage throughout the day.

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close"
"The Help"
"Hugo"
"Midnight In Paris"
"Moneyball"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

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

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 and 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
Michel Hazanavicius – "The Artist"
Kristin Wiig & Annie Mumulo – "Bridesmaids"
J.C. Chandor – "Margin Call"
Woody Allen – "Midnight in Paris"
Asghar Farhadi – "A Separation"

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

Best Foreign Language Film
"A Separation"
"Bullhead"
"Footnote"
"In Darkness"
"Monsieur Lazhar"

Best Animation
"A Cat In Paris"
"Chico & Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss In Boots"
"Rango"

Best Documentary
"Hell And Back Again"
"If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front"
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
"Pina"
"Undefeated"

Best Cinematography
Guillaume Shiffman – "The Artist"
Jeff Cronenweth – "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"
Robert Richardson – "Hugo"
Emmanuel Lubezki – "The Tree of Life"
Janusz Kaminski – "War Horse"

Best Editing
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazavanicius – "The Artist"
Kevin Tent – "The Descendants"
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall – "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"
Thelma Schoonmaker – "Hugo"
Christopher Tellefsen – "Moneyball"

Best Art Direction
Laurence Bennett – "The Artist"
Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan – "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2"
Dante Ferretti, Dorothee Baussan, Francesca Lo Schiavo – "Hugo"
"Midnight In Paris"
Rick Carter – "War Horse"

Best Costume Design
Lisy Christl – "Anonymous"
Mark Bridges – "The Artist"
Sandy Powell – "Hugo"
Michael O'Connor – "Jane Eyre"
Arianne Philips – "W.E."

Best Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2"
"The Iron Lady"

Best Score
Ludovic Bource – "The Artist"
Alberto Iglesias – "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Howard Shore – "Hugo"
John Williams – "The Adventures Of Tintin"
John williams – "War Horse"

Best Original Song
"Man Or Muppet" – "The Muppets"
"Real In Rio" – "Rio"

Best Sound Editing
"Drive"
"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo""
"Hugo"
"Transformers: The Dark Of The Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Sound Mixing
"The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
"Transformers: The Dark of The Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Pt. 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: The Dark of the Moon"

Best Live-Action Short
"Pentecost"
"Raju"
"The Shore"
"Time Freak"
"Tuba Atlantic"

Best Animated Short
"Dimanche"
"The Fantastic Flying Books Of Mr. Morris Lessmore"
"La Luna"
"A Morning Stroll"
"Wild Life"

Best 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 & The Cherry Blossom"