Oscar Nominations 2012: Hugo and The Artist Top Contenders

The 2012 Oscar nomination have been announced and two beautiful movies honoring the early days of film-making lead the pack in being honored The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Martin Scorsese‘s Hugo received 11 2012 Academy Award nominations, while The Artist received 10 nods. While most of the nominations this year came as no surprise, there were a few notable snubs from the Academy voters.

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo leads the pack for most 2012 Oscar nods, raking in a hefty 11 nominations. Golden Globe winner The Artist runs a very close second with 10 nominations, including nods for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress. Although both films were expected to be highly honored with nominations, it was a surprise to some critics that Hugo managed to squeak out slightly more nominations than The Artist. Strong odds seemed to be in favor that the reverse would be true and The Artist was going to be the top dog at the 2012 Academy Award nominations.

In the Best Actor category, BFFs Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and George Clooney (The Descendants) will battle it out alongside Demián Bichir (A Better Life), Jean Dujardinin (The Artist) and Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy). other favorites for the category, Michael Fassbender (Shame) and Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar), did not fare so well and failed to be nominated.

For Best Actress, Rooney Mara managed to earn a nomination despite the somewhat dismal performance of The Girl With the Dragon tattoo remake in theaters. While the film has received a strong level of critical praise — especially for Mara’s role — the movie has not garnered as much success at the box office as expected. Mara will face off against Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michele Williams (My Week With Marilyn). While Mara may have squeaked into the category, this sadly meant that Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin), didn’t make the cut.

Best Director for the 2012 Academy Awards looks to be a likely battle between Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist and Martin Scorcese for Hugo, with Alexander Payne for The Descendants, Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris and Terrence Malick for the Tree of Life hanging out in the wings hoping for a miracle. David Fincher, unfortunately, did not manage to swing a nomination for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Steven Spielberg also failed to land a Best Director nomination, although his film War Horse was given a nod in the Best Picture category.

In the Best Picture field, War Horse goes up against The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball and The Tree of Life. This is another category where Hugo and The Artist are likely favorites to duke it out for the win. Bridesmaids did not make the list, despite strong support for the comedy film. However, Melissa McCarthy did receive a nod for Best Supporting Actress and the Kirstin Wiig and Annie Mumolo were nominated for Best Original Screenplay.