This Year's Oscar Nominees

We'll get together our annual "Pick the Winners" competition shortly, but here are the 84th Annual Academy Award nominations as announced today (list courtesy the Associated Press and the Herald-Dispatch):

1. Best Picture: "The Artist," "The Descendants," "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "The Help," "Hugo," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Tree of Life," "War Horse."

2. Actor: Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"; George Clooney, "The Descendants"; Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"; Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"; Brad Pitt, "Moneyball."

3. Actress: 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."

4. Supporting Actor: Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"; Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"; Nick Nolte, "Warrior"; Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"; Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

5. Supporting Actress: Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"; Jessica Chastain, "The Help"; Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"; Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"; Octavia Spencer, "The Help."

6. Directing: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"; Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"; Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"; Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"; Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life."

7. Foreign Language Film: "Bullhead," Belgium; "Footnote," Israel; "In Darkness," Poland; "Monsieur Lazhar," Canada; "A Separation," Iran.

8. Adapted Screenplay: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, "The Descendants"; John Logan, "Hugo"; George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"; Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin, "Moneyball"; Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."

9. Original Screenplay: Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"; Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, "Bridesmaids"; J.C. Chandor, "Margin Call"; Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"; Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation."

10. Animated Feature Film: "A Cat in Paris"; "Chico & Rita"; "Kung Fu Panda 2"; "Puss in Boots"; "Rango."

11. Art Direction: "The Artist," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," "Hugo," "Midnight in Paris," "War Horse."

12. Cinematography: "The Artist," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "The Tree of Life," "War Horse."

13. Sound Mixing: "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "Moneyball," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "War Horse."

14. Sound Editing: "Drive," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "Transformers: Dark of the Moon," "War Horse."

15. Original Score: "The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams; "The Artist," Ludovic Bource; "Hugo," Howard Shore; "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias; "War Horse," John Williams.

16. Original Song: "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets," Bret McKenzie; "Real in Rio" from "Rio," Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown and Siedah Garrett.

17. Costume: "Anonymous," "The Artist," "Hugo," "Jane Eyre," "W.E."

18. Documentary Feature: "Hell and Back Again," "If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," "Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," "Pina," "Undefeated."

19. 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 Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom."

20. Film Editing: "The Artist," "The Descendants," "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," "Hugo," "Moneyball."

21. Makeup: "Albert Nobbs," "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," "The Iron Lady."

22. Animated Short Film: "Dimanche/Sunday," "The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," "La Luna," "A Morning Stroll," "Wild Life."

23. Live Action Short Film: "Pentecost," "Raju," "The Shore," "Time Freak," "Tuba Atlantic."

24. 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."

Quite a few surprises and disappointments in that list - it would have been nice to see "Drive" and the final Harry Potter movie get more recognition, and Albert Brooks should have received a Supporting Actor nod - but how can you have a Best Animated Feature that doesn't include "Tintin?" Or even "Cars 2?"