2012 Oscar Nominations: ‘The Tree of Life’, ‘Extremely Loud’ Make the Cut; Ryan Gosling Doesn’t
And just when you think you have everything figured out, the Academy brings in a couple nominees out of left field just to spite you. Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close seemed to be dead in the water, but managed to sneak in possibly the biggest surprise of the morning. Not many people were predicting that Demian Bichir would receive a nomination, while two fan favorites Michael Fassbender and Michael Shannon were left nomination-less. The nominations for Animated Feature also made me look like a complete fool, only guessing two of them correctly. Margin Call grabbing a screenplay nod was surprising as well.
Even though we knew it was coming, I couldn’t be happier for Gary Oldman for finally receiving an nomination after all these years. Glad to see Rooney Mara was in there as well. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo managed five nominations, but missed out on Best Picture.
As we expected, Hugo and The Artist are leading the way with 11 and 10 nominations, respectively. Here’s the list:
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
- Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
- Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
- Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
- Alexander Payne, The Descendants
- Martin Scorsese, Hugo
Best Actor
- Demian Bichir, A Better Life
- George Clooney, The Descendants
- Jean Dujardin, The Artist
- Brad Pitt, Moneyball
- Gary Oldman, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Best Actress
- Glen Close, Albert Nobbs
- Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Viola Davis, The Help
- 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
- Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
- Jessica Chastain, The Help
- Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
- Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
- Octavia Spencer, The Help
Best Adapted Screenplay
- The Descendants
- Hugo
- The Ides of March
- Moneyball
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Best Original Screenplay
- The Artist
- Bridesmaids
- Margin Call
- Midnight in Paris
- A Seperation
Best Editing
- The Artist
- The Descendants
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Hugo
- Moneyball
Best Cinematography
- The Artist
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Hugo
- The Tree of Life
- War Horse
Best Art Direction
- The Artist
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- Hugo
- Midnight in Paris
- War Horse
Best Costume Design
- Anonymous
- The Artist
- Hugo
- Jane Eyre
- W.E
Best Makeup
- Albert Nobbs
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
- The Iron Lady
Best Music (Original Score)
- The Adventures of Tintin
- The Artist
- Hugo
- Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
- War Horse
Best Music (Original Song)
- “Real in Rio”, Rio
- “Man or Muppet”, The Muppets
Best Sound Editing
- The Adventures of Tintin
- Drive
- Hugo
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- War Horse
Best Sound Mixing
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Hugo
- Moneyball
- Transformers: Dark of the Moon
- War Horse
Best 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
Best Animated Feature Film
- A Cat in Paris
- Chico and Rita
- Kung Fu Panda 2
- Puss in Boots
- Rango
Best Documentary Feature
- Hell and Back Again
- If a Tree Falls: The Story of the Earth Liberation Front
- Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
- Pina
- Undefeated
Best Foreign Language Film
- Bullhead
- Footnote
- In Darkness
- Monsieur Lazhar
- A Separtion
What were your thoughts on the nominations? Biggest surprise? Biggest disappointment?
37 Comments
There are some interesting nominations here but I’m mostly bummed from the fact that Fassbender didn’t get a nomination since I thought his performance was the best of the year.
I thought Fassbender probably gave the best as well, with Shannon the only other option.
I went about my business getting ready for work and printed out the list to pick up on the way to train.
I just knew I would see Fassbender’s name on the list and was like “what?” when I didn’t. But to each their own. The NC-17 thing probably was a factor. That and the fact that he is young-ish so it is not ‘his turn’ yet.
And as much as I liked the film, Dragon Tattoo, I was a little surprised to see Rooney Mara’s name. I would have swapped it with Tilda Swindon.
But that is just me.
It’s NC-17, but not too much worse than The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as far as being graphic. He’ll get his share of Oscars eventually, though.
I thought Swinton was going to make it, but I love that Mara got in.
Bummed about Albert Brooks’ snub but thrilled with Rooney Mara’s nomination.
I’m not really bummed about Brooks not making it in, it just seemed like he was the main competition for Plummer in that category.
Happy that The Tree of Life got a Best Picture and Best Director nod, and of course a nod for Chivo! One sound editing nod for Drive and nothing else along with no nominations for We Need to Talk about Kevin, Shame, and Take Shelter but a Best Picture nod for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close?
Here’s my response to that: http://youtu.be/a1QCBF3h_tM
Haha, that’s awesome.
Still need to catch Chivo and Kevin, but Shame and Take Shelter not grabbing any nominations is heart breaking.
Gooooo The Artist! I have several quibs, but then again, we’re talking about the Oscars. Who doesn’t?
Also, bummed out to not see Harry Potter get any acting noms.
Films like Potter rarely get acting noms. Lord of the Rings won Best Picture in a year with no acting nods. In fact only McKellen was nominated and that was just for the first film. Between all the Star Wars films only Sir Alec was nominated for the original film in 1977. Not saying any of this is right, but it is pretty predictable.
So true! I was just reading over all the Lord of the Rings noms from earlier a few years back, and I remember reading that Ian McKellen was the only one to get a nom, and that was for Fellowship. Then again, Return of the King took Best Picture as well as the majority of all of the other awards (aside from acting ones) that year. I wish Wood would have gotten more credit for Fellowship and Mortensen would have gotten a nom for Return.
Yeah, the Harry Potter crew didn’t have much of a chance. If Rickman would’ve had more screen time, he could’ve gotten a better shot at it. If it were up to me, he would’ve gotten in.
Agreed! I would have loved to see Rickman get nominated. Sad.
Castor has been saying for a while now that it is a weak year for animation, and when that happens, you tend to get surprise foreign animated films in the mix…. And this year, we got two! I haven’t seen either of them, so can’t say whether they would have gotten in during a stronger year, but on principle I think it proves the point.
Tintin not making it was one of the biggest shockers for me, especially since it received a couple of nominations elsewhere. But yeah, a fairly week year in animation. There are a few good ones to look forward to next year, like Brave or Ernest & Celestine.
Thanks Red for taking care of this!
No problem, man.
Woohoo for The Tree of Life getting Best Picture and Best Director nods! Also awesome to see Midnight in Paris getting in on the fun although it was widely predicted. Very surprised that the Academy went with 9 selections for Best Pic.
Harry Potter only getting two technical nods is disappointing though.
Yeah, had really hoped HP was represented better, especially since the techical aspects of the film were at some pretty elite levels by the last movie.
I’m not shocked so much by 9 selections, but moreso that at least 5% of the voters had EL&IC #1 on their ballots.
‘Warhorse,’ yet no ‘Tinker, Tailor,’ Bichir, yet no Gosling, and no Fassbender what-so-ever. These nominations remind me why the Academy is ultimately pointless. Don’t get me wrong, we all (including myself, quite heavily) get a kick out seeing our favourite films gain some form recognition, but the Academy in my book consistently get many simple decisions wrong…
Very true. It can be frustrating, but at the end of the day, they are the golden standard for which awards show aim to be.
for me it isn’t a ‘real’ Oscars if John Williams isn’t nominated twice…
He’s officially the most-nominated composer now w/ 47 nods!! He shared the record of 45 noms w/ Alfred Newman previously.
Yeah, and also the second most nominated person in history… only behind Walt Disney
Haha, and to think people are complaining about Streep having too many nominations.
I thought The Artist was gonna sweep the nominations this year. I also thought they’d go w/ 8 noms instead of 9.
The movie did very well for itself. But Hugo is knocking on it’s door, and the Best Picture race has essentially become a three horse race. Only without War Horse.
The way they gave out the best pic nominations was weird. Ever other category was alphabetical but BP was not. From their graphic it looked as if 8 nominees would be it, and then at the very end, almost as if they made it up on the spot, in comes EC&IL. Dammit!! Now I am going to have to see the beast.
“Master tricks us.”
I was thinking the same thing. I’m not sure if I’m more upset at the fact that EL&IC was nominated, or that I now have to go watch it as well.
I suppose War Horse is a required viewing now too…*sigh*
War Horse and Extremely Annoying and Incredibly Pointless (OK, just kidding, maybe it’s decent . . . IDK) are the two on the list I don’t want to see. Gah!
I am so gutted for everything and everyone I was hoping to make the cut. Just shows how mainstream and political the whole thing is.
Saying that, I will still be up all night watching it… who is the fool now? Yup me
Shame and Take Shelter going home with nothing hurts me the most. The Academy takes and it gives. It’s an endless cycle, my friend.
Oh yeah – one more snub, Senna. Didn’t make the shortlist.
Still haven’t watched it, but that seems to be the consensus in that field. They’ve changed up the rules a little bit for next year. so we’ll see if that helps. The foreign branch changed theirs up a few years ago after the 4 Months fiasco, and has somewhat payed off.
I am still confused by the new rules frankly. Apparently the docs have to have been reviewed in the LA/NY Times to be considered?
Very disappointed about Senna, Brooks, and Gosling not receiving nominations. Also infuriated about Braidsmaids receiving anything, let alone best original screenplay. Hopefully The Artist will clean up though! Good write up Red! :]
Trackbacks