Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A year overshadowed by concern for Hollywood’s commercial and technological future seems likely to end with a celebration of its simpler past, after the stage was set for an Academy Awards dominated by two movies inspired by film industry’s golden era.
The Oscar nominations, unveiled today, set up a race which seems likely to be headlined by an intriguing battle between Hugo and The Artist, a pair of films which both set out (in very different ways) to pay homage to the earliest days of cinema.
Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, a hugely-ambitious, motion-capture animation which is short-listed in 11 of the 24 categories, revolves around a heart-felt tribute to the Parisian movie pioneer, George Méliès. It will contest the Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay awards, along with a slew of technical Oscars.
Its nearest rival, The Artist, is a black-and-white silent movie which explores Hollywood’s transition to “talkies.” Made on a tiny budget, it has dominated the 2012 awards season so far, and will now seek ten Academy Awards, including Best Director for its French creator Michel Hazanavicius.
Playing into the nostalgic tone of proceedings is a wider short-list dominated by some of the industry’s most enduring legends. Woody Allen will rub shoulders with Scorsese and Hazanavicius in the Best Directing category, thanks to Midnight in Paris, his first nomination in six years; Steven Spielberg, who was last in the running for an Oscar in 2007, saw his War Horse short-listed in six categories.
The favourite to win Best Actress will once again be Meryl Streep, for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. She is attempting to break a run of twelve straight Oscar defeats, and faces perhaps her stiffest challenge from Glenn Close, another veteran leading lady with blue-chip credentials who is nominated for her lead role in Albert Nobbs.
Leading contenders for the Best Actor crown include George Clooney, who is nominated for The Descendants, a well-made drama which picked-up five nominations and now has an outside shot at Best Picture. His best-known rival will be Brad Pitt, who is seeking a first Academy Award for the baseball film Moneyball.
Underlining his growing creative stature, Clooney is also nominated for a share of a writing award, after The Ides of March - a critically-acclaimed political thriller he co-wrote, co-produced, directed and starred in - was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay. “George is an extraordinarily complete film-maker,” his co-producer Nigel Sinclair told The Independent. “He was disciplined and personable. He showed us the first cut of the film three weeks after shooting wrapped, he came in under budget, and he made an incredible film.”
Today's short-list adds clarity to what has so far been a confusing Hollywood awards season, in which The Artist has picked-up the lion’s share of plaudits without ever gaining sufficient momentum to lend inevitability to its march towards the industry’s most prestigious event.
The film, made for just $15m, would be the first silent, black-and-white movie to win Best Picture since Wings in 1927. It also has a decent shot of landing major acting awards, with previously-unknown stars Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo short-listed for Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress respectively. "I can't believe that a year ago I was learning how to tap dance and today I am nominated for an Academy Award," said Bejo today.
Hugo's dramatic emergence meanwhile came as a surprise. The children’s film, which has a star-studded cast, gained only mixed reviews when it debuted before Christmas, and has so far disappointed commercially, returning only $83 million globally, against a production budget of around $150m.
Scorsese’s backers will now hope that filmgoers take a second look at the title. Producer Graham King today described Hugo as "the movie I'm most proud of in my career,” adding: "I really have to take my hat off to Marty for not just the technical aspect but making a genre-defining film.”
Other intriguing story-lines include the two nominations gained by the summer comedy Bridesmaids – which, though hugely successful, hardly fits the earnest profile of a typical Oscar movie - and the relatively-poor showing by British films and stars.
Whereas last year’s Oscars were dominated by The King’s Speech, this year our leading hopes lie with Gary Oldman, who wins his first ever nomination as Best Actor for Tinker Tailor, Soldier , Spy, and Kenneth Branagh, short-listed for Best Supporting Actor for My Week With Marilyn.
Golden oldies: Nominated again
Martin Scorsese
The 69-year-old received his seventh 'best director' Oscar nomination yesterday for Hugo. Scorsese was nominated five times for the best director prize (the first for Raging Bull in 1980) before finally winning for The Departed in 2007.
Meryl Streep
Up for best actress at this year's awards, the 62-year-old already has two Oscars for her roles in Kramer vs Kramer in 1979 and Sophie's Choice in 1982. She has received 17 Oscar nominations – more than any other actor.
Woody Allen
The 76-year-old yesterday picked up his seventh nomination in the director category for his 41st film Midnight in Paris. He has two Oscars, one for his screenplay of Hannah and Her Sisters in 1987 and one for directing Annie Hall in 1977.
Here is the full list of nominations for the 84th Academy Awards:
Best Picture
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Best actor:
Demian Bichir - A Better Life
George Clooney - The Descendants
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt - Moneyball
Best 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
Supporting actor:
Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill - Moneyball
Nick Nolte - Warrior
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Supporting actress:
Berenice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Adapted screenplay:
The Descendants
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Original screenplay:
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Margin Call
Midnight In Paris
A Separation
Directing:
The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius
The Descendants - Alexander Payne
Hugo - Martin Scorsese
Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen
The Tree of Life - Terrence Malick
Animated feature film:
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango
Art direction:
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse
Cinematography:
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse
Costume design:
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.
Documentary (feature):
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated
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
Film editing:
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Foreign language film:
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)
Make-up:
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady
Music (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
Music (Original Song):
Man or Muppet (The Muppets)
Real in Rio (Rio)
Short film (animated):
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life
Short film (live action):
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic
Sound editing:
Drive
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse
Sound mixing:
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse
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
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments