Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane rose early this morning to announce the Oscar Nominations. The banter between them was great-  could this mean that this year’s awards ceremony, which will be hosted by first time Oscar host, MacFarlane, may actually be fun and entertaining?!

This really is a year of firsts for MacFarlane. Not only is this his first time hosting the Oscars, this is also his first time attending the show. Now he can add first time Oscar Nominee to the list. His song from Ted, Everybody Needs A Best Friend, received a Best Original Song nod. That said, I don’t think he will change that to Oscar winner as he is up against Adele (whose surname is Adkins – didn’t know that until this afternoon!) and her powerful song Skyfall for the Bond film of the same name.

It’s great to see that 3 Aussies are in the Oscars race this year – Hugh Jackman (Supporting Actor – Les Misérables), Naomi Watts (Lead Actress – The Impossible) and Jacki Weaver (Supporting Actress – Silver Linings Playbook). That’s a great feat for all 3, but more so for Weaver – considering that only a couple of years ago, not many people outside of Australia knew who she was, and now this is her second Oscar nomination in less than 5 years!

Daniel Day Lewis is flying the flag for the Irish (along with Fodhla Cronin O Reilly and Seamus Mc Garvey, nominated for Best Short Film Animated – Head Over Heels), getting a nod for his performance as President Lincoln, in the film of the same name. Joining Day-Lewis and Jackman in the Lead Actor category are, Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master), and Denzel Washington (Flight).

In the lead actress category, history has been made. At 85, Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) is the oldest ever actress to be nominated in this category and 9 year old Quevenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild), is the youngest. Joining the ladies in this category are Naomi Watts (The Impossible), Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), and Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook).

Giving an Oscars acceptance speech isn’t going to be a first time experience for any of the actors who win in the Supporting Actor category, as they all already have a gold statuette at home. These actors are Alan Arkin (Argo), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained), Phillip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Robert DeNiro (Silver Linings Playbook).

Best Supporting Actress has recognised the work of the following actresses, Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook), Sally Field (Lincoln), Amy Adams (The Master), Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables), and Helen Hunt (The Sessions).

Even though there are 10 places available in the Best Picture category, only 9 films were nominated. They are, Argo, Lincoln, Life of Pi, Les Misérables, Zero Dark Thirty, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Amour (this has also been nominated for Best Foreign Film), Django Unchained and Silver Linings Playbook. 

The Best Director category was a bit of surprise. It was no surprise that Steven Spielberg (Lincoln), Ang Li (Life of Pi) and David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) were nominated. However, it was very surprising that both Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) Ben Affleck (Argo) were not. Instead, Ben Zeitling (Beasts of the Southern Wild)  and Michael Haneke (Amour) were recognised.

Below is the full list of the Nominees:

BEST PICTURE
Zero Dark Thirty
Silver Linings Playbook
Lincoln
Les Misérables
Life Of Pi
Amour
Django Unchained
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhane Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Emmanuelle Riva, Amour

BEST ACTOR
Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln
Denzel Washington, Flight
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Sally Field, Lincoln
Jacki Weaver, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Amy Adams, The Master

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert DeNiro, Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
David O Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Michael Haneke, Amour
Behn Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Argo
Life of Pi
Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty
“Django Unchained”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
Amour
“Flight”

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Frankenweenie
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
Wreck-It Ralph
Paranorman
Brave

BEST FOREIGN FEATURE
Amour
“A Royal Affair”
“Kon-Tiki” 
“No”
War Witch

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Life of Pi
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Avengers
Prometheus
Snow White and the Huntsman

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Skyfall
Anna Karenina
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Mirror Mirror
Snow White and the Huntsman

BEST DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
“Searching for Sugar Man”
“How to Survive a Plague”
“The Gatekeepers
5 Broken Cameras
The Invisible War

BEST DOCUMENTARY (SHORT)
Open Heart
Inocente
Redemption
“Kings Point
“Mondays at Racine

BEST FILM EDITING
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Life of Pi
Argo
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST MAKEUP
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
Les Misérables
Hitchcock

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
Mychael Danna , Life of Pi
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
John Williams, Lincoln
Thomas Newman, Skyfall

BEST MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
Before My Time –  Chasing Ice (Music and Lyric by J. Ralph)
Everybody Needs A Best Friend –  Ted (Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane)
Pi’s Lullaby –Life of Pi (Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri)
Suddenly –Les Misérables (Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil)
Skyfall – Skyfall (Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth)

BEST SOUND EDITING
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST SOUND MIXING
Argo
Les Misérables
Life of Pi
Skyfall
Lincoln

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Curfew
Death of a Shadow
Henry
Buzkashi Boys
Asad

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Head Over Heels
Fresh Guacamole
Paperman
Maggie Simpson in The Longest Daycare
Adam and Dog”

Here’s Stone and MacFarlane’s entertaining read of this year’s Oscar nominees

The 85th Annual Academy Awards, hosted by Seth MacFarlane will be handed out at the famous Kodak Theatre on Sunday 24th February.

That’s Entertainment!
Sarina 🙂