Hugo and The Artist lead the Oscars'12 poles

There's always something to tell when it comes to the Academy's nominees, although most may not support me on this. There's this bulk of films you obviously know are going to be there, for most of which you might actually be happy, there are the alternatives you build upon faith only and there are truly gratifying surprises - for your own taste or for the industry's. 2011 was one of the greatest movie years I can remember (I wasn't here to witness the disputes of the 40's or the 50's) and thus felt particularly competitive. I had set The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for 10 nominations alongside The Artist, with the first becoming my most shameless missed horse and the second my safest bet. I'm thrilled to have Tree of Life for Best Film (one of those faithful options) and stunned to have Terrence Malick for Best Director. Listing side by side such improbable films as the Sunday-afternoon Bridesmaids and the foreign low-budget drama A Separation in a major category like Best Original Screenplay fuels my joy, as I may also add the two are some of my favorites of the year.

Despite I never saw Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close coming, the title that made my jaw fall lower was Margin Call for the aforementioned prize, a very fine story about the last hours of an American bank before the spawning of the current global financial crisis. I don't recall any of the major analysts (or any others) considering it and I never admitted it myself. This makes it the third Sundance pearl in two consecutive years to be nominated for Best Screenplay (Winter's Bone and The Kids Are All Right made it last year). Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy was another surprise in the writings and threw away the too soon guaranteed The Help. I mourn over the absence of Tilda Swinton, Drive (not even Albert Brooks) and Young Adult (big Charlize and Diablo fan here).

BLUE: Got it wrong.
WHITE: Got it right.
ORANGE: Didn't pick it.


Without alternatives: 67 out of 104 (64,5%)
With alternatives: 84 out of 104 (80,8%)

Most nominated:

1. Hugo (11)
2. The Artist (10)
3. Moneyball (6) and War Horse (6)
5. The Descendants (5) and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (5)
7. Midnight in Paris (4) and The Help (4)
9. Tree of Life (3), Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy (3), Albert Nobbs (3) and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II (3)

BEST FILM

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball

[Alternatives: War Horse, Tree of Life]


BEST DIRECTOR

Alexander Payne ("The Descendants")
David Fincher ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Terrence Malick ("Tree of Life")
Martin Scorsese ("Hugo")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Steven Spielberg ("War Horse"), Bennet Miller ("Moneyball")]


BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Asghar Farhadi ("A Separation")
Diablo Cody ("Young Adult")
J.C. Chandor ("Margin Call")
Kristen Wig and Anna Mumolo ("Bridesmaids")
Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Woody Allen ("Midnight in Paris")

[Alternatives: Will Reiser ("50/50") and Tom McCarthy "Win Win")]

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash ("The Descendants")
John Logan ("Hugo")
Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin ("Moneyball")
Steve Zaillian ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Tate Taylor ("The Help")

[Alternatives: George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willemont ("The Ides of March"), Lynne Ramsay ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")]


BEST ACTOR

Brad Pitt ("Moneyball")
George Clooney ("The Descendants")
Jean Dujardin ("The Artist")
Leonardo DiCaprio ("J. Edgar") Michael Fassbender ("Shame")
Demián Bichir ("A Better Life")
[Alternatives: Gary Oldman ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Ryan Gosling ("Drive")]

BEST ACTRESS

Charlize Theron ("Young Adult")
Meryl Streep ("The Iron Lady")
Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn")
Tilda Swinton ("We Need to Talk About Kevin")
Glenn Close ("Albert Nobs")
Viola Davis ("The Help")

[Alternatives: Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"), Keira Knightley ("A Dangerous Method")]


BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Albert Brooks ("Drive")
Max von Sydow ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close")
Christopher Plummer ("Beginners")
Jonah Hill ("Moneyball")
Kenneth Branagh ("My Week with Marilyn")
Nick Nolte ("Warrior")

[Alternatives: Patton Oswalt ("Young Adult"), Philip Seymor Hoffman ("The Ides of March")]


BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Bérénice Bejo ("The Artist")
Jessica Chastain ("The Help")
Melissa McCarthy ("Bridesmaids")
Octavia Spencer ("The Help")
Shailene Woodley ("The Descendants")

[Alternatives: Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs"), Kate Winslet ("Carnage")]


BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn Cars 2
Chico & Rita A Cat in Paris
Puss in Boots
Rango
Rio

[Alternatives: Arthur Christmas, Kung Fu Panda 2)


BEST FOREIGN FILM

A Separation (Iran)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
Pina (Germany)

[Alternatives: "Omar Killed Me" (Morroco), "Bullhead" (Belgium)]

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Bill Cunningham New York Buck
Hell and Back Again
Paradise Lost 3
Pina
Project Nim

[Alternatives: If a Tree Falls, Undefeated]


BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubetzki ("Tree of Life")
Guillaume Schiffman ("The Artist")
Janusz Kaminski ("War Horse")
Jeff Cronenweth ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")
Robert Richardson ("Hugo")

[Alternatives: Hoyte van Hoytema ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy"), Wally Pfister ("Moneyball")]


BEST EDITING

Alisa Lepselter ("Midnight in Paris")
Anne-Sophie Bion & Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist")
Christopher Tellefsen ("Moneyball")
Dino Jonsäter ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy")
Kirk Baxter & Angus Wall ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Kevin Tent ("The Descendants"), Thelma Schoonmaker ("Hugo")]


BEST ART DIRECTION

The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo The Help
War Horse
Hugo
Midnight in Paris

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Bridesmaids]

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

The Artist
Bridesmaids
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
The Help
My Week with Marilyn
Hugo Anonymous
[Alternatives: W.E., Jane Eyre]


BEST MAKE-UP

Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
The Iron Lady

[Alternatives: The Artist, My Week with Marilyn]


BEST SOUND MIXING

Drive
Fast Five
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Hugo Moneyball
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol]


BEST SOUND EDITING

Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Moneyball Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon Hugo
War Horse

[Alternatives: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II, Hanna]


BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows II
Hugo
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
Tree of Life
Hugo

[Alternatives: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Captain America: The First Avenger]


BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Alexandre Desplat ("Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close")
Alberto Iglesias ("Tinker, Taylor, Soldier, Spy)
Howard Shore ("Hugo")
John Williams (War Horse")
John Williams ("The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn")
Ludovic Bource ("The Artist")
Trent Raznor & Atticus Ross ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo")

[Alternatives: Cliff Martinez ("Drive"), Mychael Danna ("Moneyball")]


BEST ORIGINAL SONG

"Masterpiece" ("W.E.") "The Living Proof" ("The Help") "Life's a Happy Song" (The Muppets")
"Man on Muppet" ("The Muppets") "Real in Rio" ("Rio")

[Alternative: "Pictures in My Head" ("The Muppets"), "Think You Can Wait" ("Win Win")