The nominations for the 85th annual Academy Awards were announced earlier today by host Seth MacFarlane and actress Emma Stone, both of whom brought some much-needed humour to the usually dull announcement. Lincoln, Steven Spielberg’s historical biopic about former US president Abraham Lincoln’s endeavours to achieve passage of the constitutional amendment, was revealed as the frontrunner with a total of twelve nominations, with Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty, Life of Pi following closely behind.
Beasts of the Southern Wild proved to be the biggest success story of the day though. The low-budget fantasy-drama picked up four nominations in some of the Academy Awards top categories, including Best Picture, Best Director for Behn Zeitlin and Best Actress for nine year old Quvenzhane Wallis, the youngest ever Best Actress nominee. Emmanuelle Riva, too, defied expectations to pick up a Best Actress nomination for her role in Michael Haneke’s Best Picture nominee Amour.
The Master fared well in the performance categories, with Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams collecting Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress nominations, respectively, but failed to make much of an impression elsewhere. Les Miserables and Django Unchained both scored a handful of nominations each, while Ben Affleck’s political drama Argo scored a Best Picture nomination but regretfully missed out in other areas.
Other noteworthy omissions included Rachel Weisz for Best Actress, The Imposter for Best Documentary and Leonardo DiCaprio for Best Supporting Actor. It was a strong year for animation though, with all the deserving parties – Brave, Frankenweenie, ParaNorman, The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists and Wreck-It Ralph – receiving nominations for the elusive Best Animation award. It seems the sprightly Tinkerbell will have to try again next year.
The full list of nominations is below:
Best Picture:
- Amour
- Beasts Of The Southern Wild
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Les Miserables
- Argo
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Life Of Pi
- Lincoln
- Django Unchained
Best Director:
- Michael Haneke (Amour)
- David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Ang Lee (Life Of Pi)
- Behn Zeitlin (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)
- Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Best Actor:
- Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
- Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
- Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Denzel Washington (Flight)
- Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)
Best Actress:
- Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
- Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
- Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
- Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts Of The Southern Wild)
Best Supporting Actor:
- Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
- Alan Arkin (Argo)
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)
- Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Best Supporting Actress:
- Amy Adams (The Master)
- Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)
- Helen Hunt (The Sessions)
- Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)
- Sally Field (Lincoln)
Best Original Screenplay:
- Moonrise Kingdom
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Amour
- Flight
- Django Unchained
Best Adapted Screenplay:
- Beasts Of The Southern Wild
- Lincoln
- Life Of Pi
- Silver Linings Playbook
- Argo
Best Animated Film:
- Wreck-It Ralph
- ParaNorman
- Frankenweenie
- Brave
- The Pirates! In An Adventure With Scientists
Best Documentary:
- Searching For Sugar Man
- The Invisible War
- The Gatekeepers
- Five Broken Cameras
- How To Survive A Plague
Best Foreign Language Film:
- No
- Amour
- A Royal Affair
- Kon Tiki
- War Witch
Production Design:
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Les Miserables
- Anna Karenina
- Life Of Pi
- Lincoln
Cinematography:
- Skyfall
- Lincoln
- Life Of Pi
- Anna Karenina
- Django Unchained
Costume Design:
- Les Miserables
- Anna Karenina
- Mirror Mirror
- Lincoln
- Snow White And The Huntsman
Editing:
- Argo
- Life Of Pi
- Zero Dark Thirty
- Lincoln
- Silver Linings Playbook
Sound Mixing:
- Argo
- Les Miserables
- Lincoln
- Skyfall
- Life Of Pi
Sound Editing:
- Django Unchained
- Life Of Pi
- Argo
- Skyfall
- Zero Dark Thirty
Visual Effects:
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
- Life Of Pi
- The Avengers
- Snow White And The Huntsman
- Prometheus
Live Action Short Film:
- Asad
- Buzkashi Boys
- Curfew
- Death Of A Shadow
- Henry
Animated Short Film:
- Adam And Dog
- Paperman
- The Longest Daycare
- Head Over Heels
- Fresh Guacamole
Documentary Short:
- Inocente
- King’s Point
- Monday’s At Racine
- Open Heart
- Redemption
Makeup:
- Hitchcock
- Les Miserables
- The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Original Score:
- Argo
- Anna Karenina
- Life Of Pi
- Lincoln
- Skyfall
Original Song:
- “Before My Time” – Chasing Ice
- “Pi’s Lullaby” – Life Of Pi
- “Suddenly” – Les Miserables
- “Skyfall” – Skyfall
- “Everybody Needs A Friend” – Ted
Empty Screens 