Martin Scorsese’s movie Hugo leads the Academy Award nominations with eleven nods, including Best Picture and Best Director for Scorsese.
The much hyped The Artist was second with ten as it picked up nods in Best Picture, Director, Actor and Supporting Actress.
The Descendants is expected to be the big opposition for The Artist when it comes to Best Picture but the Alexander Payne movie picked up just five nods.
However three of those nominations came in the big categories; Best Picture, Actor for George Clooney and Director for Payne.
There are nine films battling it out for Best Picture this time around Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse making up the list.
Clooney is favourite to scoop the Best actor gong this time around but he will face tough competition from Brad Pitt, Jean Dujardin, Demian Bichir and Gary Oldman.
While Bichir was a surprise inclusion for A Better Life it was great to see Oldman pick up his first nomination for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, which was sadly overlooked for Best Picture.
However there were some notable absentees as Leonardo DiCaprio & Michael Fassbender were both overlooked in Best Actor, despite both picking up a Golden Globe nomination for their central
performances in J. Edgar and Shame.
There was also a surprise in the Best Actress category as Rooney Mara picked up her first nomination for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
She is joined by Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Michelle Williams and Meryl Streep, who is the red hot favourite to walk away with the award.
Golden Globe Octavia Spencer is once again nominated for Best Supporting Actress and she is joined by Berenice Bejo, Jessica Chastain, Melissa McCarthy and Janet McTeer.
There were a couple of surprises in the Best Supporting Actor category as Nick Nolte and Max von Sydow were both included for their roles in Warrior and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.
Kenneth Branagh, Jonah Hill and Golden Globe winners Christopher Plummer were also nominated for My Week With Marilyn, Moneyball and Beginners.
The seasoned filmmaker showed the younger generation how to do it as Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen and Terrence Malick were nominated alongside Alexander Payne and Michel Hazavanicius.
In the Best Animated Feature category there was a surprising overlook of The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn as Puss In Boots, Kung Fu Panda 2, A Cat In Paris, Chico And Rita and Rango.
Full List of Nominees:
- Best actress in a supporting role
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help
-Best actor in a supporting role
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
-Best actress in a leading role
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 actor in a leading role
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball
-Best director
Michel Hazavanicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
-Best original Screenplay
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight in Paris
A Separation
- Best adapted screenplay
The Descendants
Hugo
Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Best foreign language film
Bullhead
Footnote
In Darkness
Monsieur Lazhar
A Separation
- Best animated film
A Cat in Paris
Chico And Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Rango
Puss in Boots
-Best picture
War Horse
The Artist
Moneyball
The Descendants
The Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
-Art direction
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse
-Cinematography
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
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 subject
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsumani and the Cherry Blossom
-Film editing
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
-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
Moneyball
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
-Make up
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The Iron Lady
- Music (original score)
The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
The Artist
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse
- Music (original song)
The Muppets
Rio
-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
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Brad Pitt Leonardo DiCaprio Martin Scorsese Gary Oldman George Clooney Glenn Close Jonah Hill Kenneth Branagh Woody Allen Meryl Streep Michael Fassbender Michelle Williams Nick Nolte Christopher Plummer Rooney Mara Terrence Malick Jessica Chastain Melissa McCarthy Viola Davis Octavia Spencer Jean Dujardin Alexander Payne Berenice Bejo