For Your Consideration: 84th Academy Awards Nominations

©AMPAS

At the crack of dawn this morning in Beverly Hills, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and 2010 Oscar nominee Jennifer Lawrence announced the nominees for the 84th Academy Awards. Putting an end to months of speculation for many film aficionados and movie buffs alike.  Having correctly predicted 71% of the nominees myself, I was pretty pleased with the vast majority of the Academy's selections this year. Considering that there were several films that I knowingly disregarded (i.e. The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo, Midnight in Paris) out of self-denial for them being actual contenders, I am very pleased with that statistic. There really weren't any true surprises to the final list of nominees; however, many an argument can be made about the various omissions. In terms of the number of nominations, Martin Scorsese's Hugo led the pack, scoring 11 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay. Close behind with 10 nominations was Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist. The mass recognition of these two films came as no surprise, since both films have long been considered front runners in several categories since the Oscar race began to take shape last Fall. In all, the Academy recognized 9 films for Best Picture of the year.

The "Big Five" Awards (8)
Best Picture, Director, Leading Actor, Leading Actress & Screenplay (Adapted or Original)
Supporting Actor & Supporting Actress subsequently fall under this classification as well. Think of it like the NCAA's Big 10, which ironically has 12 schools in its conference.

Best Picture Nominees:

1. The Artist -- Thomas Langmann, Producer
2. The Descendants -- Jim Burke, Alexander Payne & Jim Taylor, Producers
3. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Scott Rudin, Producer
4. The Help -- Brunson Green, Chris Columbus & Michael Barnathan, Producers
5. Hugo -- Graham King & Martin Scorsese, Producers
6. Midnight in Paris -- Letty Aronson & Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
7. Moneyball -- Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz & Brad Pitt, Producers
8. The Tree of Life -- Nominees to be determined
9. War Horse -- Steven Spielberg & Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Best Director Nominees:

1. Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris 
2. Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
3. Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
4. Alexander Payne, The Descendants
5. Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Actor Nominees:

1. Demián Bichir, A Better Life
2. George Clooney, The Descendants
3. Jean Dujardin, The Artist
4. Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
5. Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actress Nominees:

1. Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
2. Viola Davis, The Help
3. Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo
4. Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
5. Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Actor Nominees:

1. Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
2. Jonah Hill, Moneyball
3. Nick Nolte, Warrior
4. Christopher Plummer, Beginners
5. Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best Supporting Actress Nominees:

1. Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
2. Jessica Chastain, The Help
3. Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
4. Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
5. Octavia Spencer, The Help

Best Adapted Screenplay Nominees:

1. The Descendants -- Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
2. Hugo -- Screenplay by John Logan
3. The Ides of March -- Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
4. Moneyball -- Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin
5. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Best Original Screenplay Nominees:

1. The Artist -- Written by Michel Hazanavicius
2. Bridesmaids -- Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
3. Margin Call -- Written by J.C. Chandor
4. Midnight in Paris -- Written by Woody Allen
5. A Separation -- Written by Asghar Farhadi

The "Artistic" Awards (5)
Art Direction, Costume Design, Makeup, Original Score & Original Song

Best Art Direction Nominess:

1. The Artist -- Production Design by Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration by Robert Gould
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 -- Production Design by Stuart Craig; Set Decoration by Stephenie McMillan
3. Hugo -- Production Design by Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration by Francesca Lo Schiavo
4. Midnight in Paris -- Production Design by Anne Seibel; Set Decoration by Hélène Dubreuil
5. War Horse -- Production Design by Rick Carter; Set Decoration by Lee Sandales

Best Costume Design Nominees:

1. Anonymous -- Lisy Christl
2. The Artist -- Mark Bridges
3. Hugo -- Sandy Powell
4. Jane Eyre -- Michael O'Connor
5. W.E. -- Arianne Phillips

Best Makeup Nominess:

1. Albert Nobbs -- Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston & Matthew W. Mungle
2. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 -- Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight & Lisa Tomblin
3. The Iron Lady -- Mark Coulier & J. Roy Helland

Best Original Score Nominees:

1. The Adventures of Tintin -- John Williams
2. The Artist -- Ludovic Bource
3. Hugo -- Howard Shore
4. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Alberto Iglesias
5. War Horse -- John Williams

Best Original Song Nominees:

1. "Man or Muppet" from The Muppets -- Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
2. "Real in Rio" from Rio -- Music by Sergio Mendes & Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett

The "Special Film" Awards (6)
Animated Feature, Animated Short, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short, Foreign Language Film & Live Action Short

Best Animated Feature Film Nominees:

1. A Cat in Paris -- Directed by Alain Gagnol & Jean-Loup Felicioli
2. Chico & Rita -- Directed by Fernando Trueba & Javier Mariscal
3. Kung Fu Panda 2 -- Directed by Jennifer Yuh Nelson
4. Puss in Boots -- Directed by Chris Miller
5. Rango -- Directed by Gore Verbinski

Best Animated Short Film Nominees:

1. Dimanche/Sunday -- Directed by Patrick Doyon
2. The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore -- Directed by William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg
3. La Luna -- Directed by Enrico Casarosa
4. A Morning Stroll -- Directed by Grant Orchard & Sue Goffe
5. Wild Life -- Directed by Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby

Best Documentary Feature Nominees:

1. Hell and Back Again -- Directed by Danfung Dennis & Mike Lerner
2. If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front -- Directed by Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman
3. Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory -- Directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky
4. Pina -- Directed by Wim Wenders & Gian-Piero Ringel
5. Undefeated -- Directed by TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay & Richard Middlemas

Best Documentary Short Nominees:

1. The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement -- Directed by Robin Fryday & Gail Dolgin
2. God Is the Bigger Elvis -- Directed by Rebecca Cammisa & Julie Anderson
3. Incident in New Baghdad -- Directed by James Spione
4. Saving Face -- Directed by Daniel Junge & Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
5. The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom -- Directed by Lucy Walker & Kira Carstensen

Best Foreign Language Film Nominees:

1. Bullhead (Belgium) -- Directed by Michael R. Roskam
2. Footnote (Israel) -- Directed by Joseph Cedar
3. In Darkness (Poland) -- Directed by Agnieszka Holland
4. Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) -- Directed by Philippe Falardeau
5. A Separation (Iran) -- Directed by Asghar Farhadi

Best Live Action Short Nominees:

1. Pentecost -- Directed by Peter McDonald & Eimear O'Kane
2. Raju -- Directed by Max Zähle & Stefan Gieren
3. The Shore -- Directed by Terry George & Oorlagh George
4. Time Freak -- Directed by Andrew Bowler & Gigi Causey
5. Tuba Atlantic -- Directed by Hallvar Witzø

The "Technical" Awards (5)
Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing & Visual Effects

Best Cinematography Nominees:

1. The Artist -- Guillaume Schiffman
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Jeff Cronenweth
3. Hugo -- Robert Richardson
4. The Tree of Life -- Emmanuel Lubezki
5. War Horse -- Janusz Kaminski

Best Film Editing Nominees:

1. The Artist -- Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius
2. The Descendants -- Kevin Tent
3. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall
4. Hugo -- Thelma Schoonmaker
5. Moneyball -- Christopher Tellefsen

Best Sound Editing Nominees:

1. Drive -- Lon Bender & Victor Ray Ennis
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- Ren Klyce
3. Hugo -- Philip Stockton & Eugene Gearty
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Ethan Van der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
5. War Horse -- Richard Hymns & Gary Rydstrom

Best Sound Mixing Nominees:

1. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo -- David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce & Bo Persson
2. Hugo -- Tom Fleischman & John Midgley
3. Moneyball -- Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco & Ed Novick
4. Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush & Peter J. Devlin
5. War Horse -- Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson & Stuart Wilson

Best Visual Effects Nominees:

1. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 -- Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler & John Richardson
2. Hugo -- Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman & Alex Henning
3. Real Steel -- Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor & Swen Gillberg
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White & Daniel Barrett
5. Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler & John Frazier

What films were nominated that surprised you? Who wasn't nominated that should have been? If you were the sole person compiling the nominations, what films would make your Best Pictures list? Give me your take on this year's line-up of Oscar nominees..

For Your Consideration: 2011 Oscar Contenders

It's awards season once again and with it comes the prospective best films of the year to earn their weight in gold, namely Oscar® gold. I have assembled my short list of predictions below (more descriptive breakdowns of each category to come) outlining which films I believe to be at the front of the pack and inevitably the most "Oscar® worthy".

A few notes: I do realize that new rules in the Academy will leave a varied number of Best Picture Nominees (anywhere between 5-10) this year, but I went ahead and presented the maximum possible. Which I also held to other categories that also have a variable margin as to its number of nominees, such as Visual Effects and Animated Feature. FFC predictions are listed either alphabetically by film title or by singular nominee's last name. I highlighted my present picks for the winners in gold, which I'm certain will change as the weeks progress and the competition get's deeper into the thick of it all. Also, I included a "plus one" contender to each category as a small precursor to the many hopefuls in consideration this year. The acting awards alone left me muddled for hours trying to narrow it down!..

Best Picture: 

The Artist

The Descendants
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

The Help
Hugo
Midnight In Paris
Moneyball
War Horse
+Bridesmaids
+Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
+The Tree of Life

Best Director: 
Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Steven Spielberg, War Horse
+Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Actor: 

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
+Michael Shannon, Take Shelter

Best Actress: 
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
+Adepero Oduye, Pariah

Best Supporting Actor: 
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Nick Nolte, Warrior
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
+Armie Hammer, J. Edgar

Best Supporting Actress: 
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
+Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids

Best Adapted Screenplay:

The Descendants -- Screenplay by Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton & Jim Rash

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Screenplay by Eric Roth
Hugo -- Screenplay by John Logan
Moneyball -- Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillion & Stan Chervin
War Horse -- Screenplay by Lee Hall & Richard Curtis
+Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughn

Best Original Screenplay:
The Artist -- Written by Michel Hazanavicius
Beginners -- Written by Mike Mills
Margin Call -- Written by J.C. Chandor

Midnight In Paris -- Written by Woody Allen

Win Win -- Written by Thomas McCarthy & Joe Tiboni
+50/50 -- Written by Will Reiser

Best Animated Feature Film: 
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret Unicorn -- Directed by Steven Spielberg
Cars 2 -- Directed by John Lasseter & Brad Lewis
Kung Fu Panda 2 -- Directed by Jennifer Yu

Rango -- Directed by Gore Verbinski

Wrinkles -- Directed by Ignacio Ferreras
+Puss In Boots -- Directed by Chris Miller

Best Animated Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday -- Directed by Patrick Doyon (National Film Board of Canada)

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore -- Directed by William Joyce & Brandon Oldenburg (Moonbot Studios LA, LLC)

La Luna -- Directed by Enrico Casarosa (Pixar Animation Studios)
Magic Piano -- Directed by Martin Clapp (BreakThru Films)
Paths of Hate -- Directed by Damian Nenow (Platige Image)
+Luminaris -- Directed by Juan Pablo Zaramella (JPZtudio)

Best Art Direction:


The Artist -- Production Design by Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration by Austin Buchinsky & Robert Gould

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Production Design by K.K. Barrett; Set Decoration by George Detitta, Jr.
Hugo -- Production Design by Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration by Francesca Lo Schiavo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy -- Production Design by Maria Djurkovic; Set Decoration by Zsuzsa Mihalek
War Horse -- Production Design by Rick Carter; Set Decoration by Lee Sandales
+Anonymous -- Production Design by Sebastian Krawinkel; Set Decoration by Simon-Julien Boucherie

Best Cinematography:
Janusz Kaminski, War Horse
Emmanuel Lubezki, The Tree of Life
Bob Richardson, Hugo
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist 
Hoyte Van Hoytema, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
+Jeff Cronenweth, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Best Costume Design: 

Mark Bridges, The Artist

Wendy Chuck, The Descendants
Jacqueline Durran, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Michael O'Connor, Jane Eyre
Sandy Powell, Hugo
+Sammy Sheldon, X-Men: First Class

Best Documentary Feature Film:

Bill Cunningham New York -- Directed by Richard Press

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front -- Directed by Marshall Curry & Sam Cullman
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory -- Directed by Joe Berlinger & Bruce Sinofsky
Pina -- Directed by Wim Wenders
Project Nim -- Directed by James Marsh
+Buck -- Directed by Cindy Meehl

Best Documentary Short Film: 

The Barber of Birmingham -- Directed by Gail Dolgin & Robin Fryday
God Is the Bigger Elvis -- Directed by Rebecca Cammisa
Incident in New Baghdad -- Directed by James Spione

Pipe Dreams -- Directed by Ben Green
Saving Face -- Directed by Peter James Iengo

+In Tahrir Square: 18 Days of Egypt's Unfinished Revolution -- Directed by Jon Alpert & Matthew O'Neill 



Best Editing:


The Artist 

-- Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius

Hugo --  Thelma Schoonmaker
Midnight In Paris -- Alisa Lepselter
Moneyball -- Christopher Tellefsen
War Horse -- 
Michael Kahn
+Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close -- Claire Simpson

Best Foreign Language Film:
 
Footnote (Israel) -- Directed by Joseph Cedar
In Darkness (Poland) -- Directed by Agnieszka Holland
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada) -- Directed by Philippe Falardeau

A Separation (Iran) -- Directed by Asghar Farhadi

Superclásico (Denmark) -- Directed by Ole Christian Madsen
+Pina (Germany) -- Directed by Wim Wenders

Best Live Action Short Film
Je Pourrais Être Votre Grand-Mère (I Could Be Your Grandmother) -- Directed by Bernard Tanguy
Raju -- Directed by Max Zähle
The Roar of the Sea -- Directed by Ana Rocha Fernandes & Torsten Truscheit
Sailcloth -- Directed by Elfar Adalsteins
Tuba Atlantic -- Directed by Hallvar Witzø
+Time Freak -- Directed by Andrew Bowler

Best Makeup:
 
Albert Nobbs -- Matthew W. Mungle, Lynn Johnston & Martial Corneville

Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life -- Patrick Girault, Gill Robillard & Floris Schuller
The Iron Lady --J. Roy Helland & Eva Miller
+Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- Mark Coulier, Jennifer Hegarty & Lisa Tomblin

Best Original Score:

Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Alexandre Desplat, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 
Alberto Iglesias, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse
+Dario Marianelli, Jane Eyre 

Best Original Song:

"Lay Your Head Down" from Albert Nobbs -- Music & Lyrics by Bryan Bryne & Glenn Close (performed by Sinead O'Connor)
"Star Spangled Man" from Captain America: The First Avenger -- Music & Lyrics by Alan Menken & David Zippel (performed by The Star Spangled Singers)
"The Living Proof" from The Help -- Music & Lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Damon Thomas & Harvey Mason, Jr. (performed by Mary J. Blige)
"The Keeper" from Machine Gun Preacher -- Music & Lyrics by Chris Cornell 
"Pictures in My Head" from The Muppets -- Music & Lyrics by Jeannie Lurie, Aris Archontis & Chen Neeman (performed by Kermit & the Muppets)
+"Where the River Goes" from Footloose -- Music & Lyrics by Zac Brown, Wyatt Durrette, Drew Pearson & Anne Preven (performed by Zac Brown)

Best Sound Editing:
The Adventures of Tintin -- Dave Whitehead & Chris Ward 

Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Chuck Michael & John Morris
Super 8 -- Ben Burtt & Matthew Wood 
Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Ethan Van Der Ryn & Erik Aadahl
War Horse -- Richard Hymns
+Drive -- Lon Bender & Victor Ray Ennis

Best Sound Mixing:
 
Hugo -- John Midgley, Tom Fleischman & Simon Rhodes 
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides -- Lee Orloff, Paul Massey, Chris Boyes & Alan Meyerson
Super 8 -- Mark Ulano, Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson & Dan Wallin

Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Peter J. Devlin, Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers & Jeffrey J. Haboush

War Horse -- Stuart Wilson, Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson & Tom Johnson
+Hanna -- Roland Winke, Christopher Scarabosio, Craig Berkey & Andrew Dudman

Best Visual Effects: 
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 -- Tim Burke, John Richardson, Greg Butler & David Vickery
Hugo -- Rob Legato, Craig Barron, Brandon Bartlett, John Bowers, Matthew Gratzner, Ben Grossmann & Alex Henning

Rise of the Planet of the Apes -- Joe Letteri, Justin Cornish, Daniel Barrett, Jeff Capogreco & Gord Dunick

Transformers: Dark of the Moon -- Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler & John Frazier
The Tree of Life -- Douglas Trumbull
+Real Steel -- Matthew Gratzner, Erik Nash & Olaf Wendt

What films were your favorites? Who deserves Oscar® glory this year? Which movies and/or nominees do you think deserve to be, or not be, on this list? Please do enlighten me.. B-)