Of all the ceremonies during the industry awards season, The Academy Awards are seen as the top-tier. Attaching the “Academy Award winning” prefix to an actor’s, actress’, or anyone else’s name who was affiliated with a film can increase their stock and create buzz around the person’s next body of work. For example, after Sandra Bullock won the Best Actress Oscar for her work in The Blind Side last year, all eyes were on her to see what project she’d pick next. Likewise, when Kathryn Bigelow won for Best Director for The Hurt Locker after going up against her ex-husband James Cameron (who was nominated for Avatar), everyone wondered what she’d pick next to direct.
This year, there’s been plenty of talk about which films and stars would nab the coveted Oscar nominations, and now that they’ve been announced, we can see that The King’s Speech is this year’s golden child, with 12 nominations. Also up for a handful of awards are True Grit, The Social Network, and Black Swan, which have 7, 6, and 5 nominations, respectively. In the “Best Documentary Feature” category, the film Exit Through The Gift Shop is nominated, which means I should probably get to watching it (my Netflix queue, remember?)
After the jump, the full list of nominees for the top 13 categories. Who you think will win? More importantly, who do you think SHOULD win (nominated or not!)?
Best Motion Picture of the Year
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Best Actor
Javier Bardem – Biutiful
Jeff Bridges – True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
James Franco – 127 Hours
Best Supporting Actor
Christian Bale – The Fighter
John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner – The Town
Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech
Best Actress
Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman – Black Swan
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams – The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo – The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld – True Grit
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom
Best Animated Feature Film
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
Best Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit
Achievement in Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
Achievement in Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit
Achievement in Directing
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
Best Documentary Feature
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land
Best Documentary Short Subject
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang
Achievement in Film Editing
Black Swan
The Fighter
TheKing’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful
Dogtooth
In a Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)
Achievement in Makeup
The Way Back
The Wolfman
Achievement in Music for a Motion Picture
How to Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Best Original Song for a Motion Picture
“Coming Home” – Country Strong
“I See The Light” – Tangled
“If I Rise” – 127 Hours
“We Belong Together” – Toy Story 3
Best Live Action Short Film
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143
Achievement in Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable
Achievement in Sound Mixing
Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit
Achievement in Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
Best Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Best Original Screenplay
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech