2011 Oscar Nominations

The nominees for the 83^rd Annual Academy Awards have been announced. The King's Speech led the pack with 12 nominations. True Grit followed with 10 nominations while early favorite The Social Network racked up eight. Most of the nominees were easy to predict. While I'm not surprised that John Hawkes (Winter's Bone), Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone), and Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) nabbed acting nominations, I'm happy they were recognized for their work. I'm also ridiculously happy that Exit Through the Gift Shop picked up a nod for Best Documentary.

As far as snubs go, the biggest one has to be Christopher Nolan for Inception. While he picked up the DGA nomination, the Academy chose to go with Joel and Ethan Coen for True Grit. As someone who loved the hell out of True Grit, it's hard for me to complain.

Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominees along with my commentary. Winners will be announced on February 27^th. James Franco and Anne Hathaway are set to host the awards ceremony.

BEST FILM

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

[Matt's note: Absolutely no surprises here, although I suppose you could argue that The Town got snubbed]

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David O. Russell - The Fighter
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
David Fincher - The Social Network
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen - True Grit

[These five films are the real nominees and actually, the contest at this point is really between The King's Speech and The Social Network. I wouldn't be surprised if Fincher ends up winning Best Director but The King's Speech takes home Best Picture]

BEST ACTOR

Javier Bardem - Biutiful
Jeff Bridges - True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours

[Oscar writers are masturbating furiously about all the jokes they can make since host James Franco is also a nominee]

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

[Again, no real surprises but nice to see Lawrence in the mix. However, at this point, the race looks like a contest between Natalie Portman and Annette Bening]

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

[From now on, you can say Oscar nominee John Hawkes. That's amazing]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld - True Grit
Jackie Weaver - Animal Kingdom

[Very happy that the Academy recognized Weaver's tremendous performance in Animal Kingdom even though the film barely saw a release in the U.S.]

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech

[It's tough to see The King's Speech not winning this although I think these are all worthy films, although I would have liked to seen Black Swan pick up a nomination]

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter's Bone

[This is Aaron Sorkin's award to lose.]

BEST ANIMATED FILM

How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

[And the award for Best Toy Story 3 in Best Toy Story 3 goes to...]

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Biutiful
Dogtooth
In a Better World
Incendies
Outside the Law

[There are a lot of Dogtooth fans out there that are very happy this morning since the film didn't seem likely to receive a nomination. I personally haven't seen the film yet, but it's been on my list for a while now]

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

[Banksy is now not only one of the world's most popular street artists. He's an Oscar nominee. Also, the second biggest snub has to be not nominating Waiting for "Superman". Why does the Academy hate children?!]

BEST EDITING

Black Swan
The Fighter
The King's Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

[Very surprised Inception didn't get nominated in this category. The editing in that film is so crucial to the storytelling. In 127 Hours, it's fine, but slightly abrasive]

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Black Swan
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The King's Speech

[This is a tough category, but it's one of the few where Black Swan could take home the prize]

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

[Two major surprises in this category: First, there are five nominees when usually there are only three. Second, Hereafter? Really? For what? Afterlife blur effects? Yeah, the tsunami scene is cool, but it doesn't hold a blurry candle to the entirety of how Edgar Wright used effects in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World]

BEST MAKEUP