Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards

The nominations for the 85th annual Academy Awards were announced this morning by the hilariously sarcastic duo of Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone, with attention given to the expected frontrunners Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, as Lincoln leads the pack with a total of twelve nominations.

The nine films in the running for Best Picture are Amour (five nominations), Argo (seven), Beasts of the Southern Wild (four), Django Unchained (five), Les Misérables (seven), Life of Pi (eleven), Lincoln (twelve), Silver Linings Playbook (eight) and Zero Dark Thirty (five).  The nominees for Best Director are Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ang Lee (Life of Pi), Steven Spielberg (Lincoln) and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook).

There were actually some genuine surprises this year, like Benh Zeitlin picking up a Best Director nomination for Beasts of the Southern Wild and the welcome inclusion of The Master in three of the acting categories.  But there were also a couple of shocking omissions, including Ben Affleck and Kathryn Bigelow being left out of the Best Director field for their work behind Best Picture hopefuls Argo and Zero Dark Thirty, and Moonrise Kingdom missing out on an expected Best Picture nomination.  I was also disappointed to see John Hawkes left out of the Best Actor race for The Sessions and The Perks of Being a Wallflower miss out on a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination.

But 2012 was such a strong year for film that there were always going to be movies and performances that just wouldn’t be able to make the cut on nomination morning, and it will be interesting to see what other surprises this awards season has in store for us.  I’m thrilled that Silver Linings Playbook picked up eight wildly deserved nominations, pulling off the almost herculean feat of garnering recognition in all four of the acting categories, including Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro) and Best Supporting Actress (Jacki Weaver).

For the most part, the acting categories are all uniformly strong, including a Best Supporting Actor race made up entirely of previous winners, and a Best Actress category featuring both the oldest and youngest nominees with Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) and Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild).  I’m also happy to see a full field of five for Best Song, with the welcome inclusion of the delightfully jazzy “Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from Ted and Adele picking up a much deserved nod for “Skyfall.”

I’m still wrapping my head around some of the categories, and that’s all I really have to say for now.  But there will be much more commentary to add throughout the rest of the season, and I’m curious to see if things change in terms of finding a frontrunner after the Golden Globes on Sunday night.  The Academy Awards will be handed out on February 24th at a ceremony hosted by Seth MacFarlane, please see below for a complete list of nominees in all of the 24 categories.

-John C.

BEST PICTURE

Amour

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Django Unchained

Lincoln

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST DIRECTOR

Ang Lee, Life of Pi

Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook

Michael Haneke, Amour

Steven Spielberg, Lincoln

BEST ACTOR

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Denzel Washington, Flight

Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables

Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

Joaquin Phoenix, The Master

BEST ACTRESS

Naomi Watts, The Impossible

Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master

Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook

Alan Arkin, Argo

Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Sally Field, Lincoln

Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables

Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook

Helen Hunt, The Sessions 

Amy Adams, The Master

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Brave

Frankenweenie

ParaNorman

The Pirates! Band of Misfits

Wreck-It Ralph

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Amour

Kon-Tiki

No

A Royal Affair

War Witch

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

5 Broken Cameras

The Gatekeepers 

How To Survive A Plague

The Invisible War

Searching for Sugar Man

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Argo

Beasts of the Southern Wild

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Amour

Django Unchained

Flight

Moonrise Kingdom

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Anna Karenina

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Anna Karenina

Les Misérables

Lincoln

Mirror Mirror

Snow White and the Huntsman

BEST FILM EDITING

Argo

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING

Hitchcock

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Miserables

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Anna Karenina

Argo

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Before My Time,” Chasing Ice

“Everybody Needs A Best Friend,” Ted

“Pi’s Lullaby,” Life of Pi

“Skyfall,” Skyfall

“Suddenly,” Les Misérables

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Anna Karenina

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Adam and Dog

Fresh Guacamole

Head Over Heels

Maggie Simpson in “The Longest Daycare”

Paperman

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT

Asad

Buzkashi Boys

Curfew

Death of a Shadow

Henry

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

Inocente

Kings Point

Open Heart

Redemption

Mondays at Racine

BEST SOUND EDITING

Argo

Django Unchained

Life of Pi

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

BEST SOUND MIXING

Argo

Les Misérables

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Life of Pi

The Avengers

Prometheus

Snow White and the Huntsman