This just in: We won’t be seeing Leonardo DiCaprio or Ryan Gosling on the red carpet at the 84th Annual Academy Awards on Feb 26. Instead, we might be seeing Uggie and Rooney Mara sans tattoos and piercings. Here are some quick thoughts on the noms, the snubs and that cute dog from The Artist.

  • Hugo leads with 11 noms with the movie and director Martin Scorsese picking up Best Picture and Best Director noms respectively. But being leader of the pack doesn’t translate into wins. Case in point: True Grit‘s 10 noms last year but went home empty handed.
  • Total of 9 noms for Best Picture, 1 less from the 10 in the previous years thanks to new rules which ensure all noms receive number 1 votes before consideration.
  • Meryl Streep scores a record 17th nomination playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. Streep last won in 1983 for Sophie’s Choice.
  • Surprise inclusion of unknown actor Demián Bichir in Best Actor category for his role in A Better Life alongside heavyweights George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Brad Pitt and Gary Oldman.
  • Actors snubs include Michael Fassbender for Shame, Leonardo DiCaprio for J.Edgar and Ryan Gosling for Drive or even The Ides of March.
  • This one is for the girls! Melissa McCarthy receives Best Supporting Actress nom for Bridesmaids. Unfortunately, the movie didn’t pick up a Best Picture nom.
  • Jonah Hill of Superbad fame is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Moneyball. Rooney Mara, the girl with the dragon tattoo, scores too for Best Actress. Hopefully both noms will resonate with the younger crowd after the terrible drugged-out Franco-Hathaway show last year.
  • The Adventures of Tintin draws a blank in Animated Feature Film. Perhaps voters are confused with its performance capture technique.
  • Cars 2 hits a speed bump missing out on Animated Feature. Does this spell the end of a Pixar-dominated era?
  • Another surprise inclusion of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close in Best Picture. The movie produced by Scott Rudin was extremely quiet on the pre-awards circuit.
  • Early predictions point at a two-way race between Hugo and The Artist for Best Picture where both films centre on the spectacle and magic of movie and film-making.
  • Crowd favourite Billy Crystal, replacing Eddie Murphy, is set to host. We are hoping he pull off a silent-movie sequence.
  • And a shout out to the final Harry Potter film Deathly Hallows for missing a (sentimental) nom for Best Picture. J.K. Rowling, use a spell or something!
  • It remains to be seen if Uggie, the dog from The Artist, will make an appearance at the Oscars. A petition is undergoing on Facebook.

 

Full list of 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 Actor
Demián 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
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

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 FilmA 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