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“The Descendants,” a movie written and directed by Omaha native Alexander Payne, snagged five Academy Award nominations Tuesday morning, including two for Payne.
With its nods for best picture, director, actor, adapted screenplay and editing, the drama about a Hawaiian family in crisis is a top-tier contender to win the best-picture trophy.
Payne was nominated for director and adapted screenplay (the latter shared with Nat Faxon and Jim Rash). George Clooney, who plays the beleaguered father in “The Descendants,” is a front-runner to win best actor.
Payne isn't the only Omaha native nominated this year. Nick Nolte is a contender in the supporting-actor category for his turn as the father of competing martial-arts brothers in “Warrior.”
It's Nolte's third Oscar nomination, after “The Prince of Tides” in 1991 and “Affliction” in 1988. Payne now has five Academy Award nods, including two for “Sideways” in 2005 and one for “Election” in 2000.
In addition to “The Descendants,” the strongest competitors for best picture appear to be “Hugo,” with 11 nominations, and “The Artist,” with 10. Both films deal with early movie history, “Hugo” in Paris and “The Artist” in Hollywood. Movies about moviemaking remain a popular Academy subject.
Other best-picture nominees, and their nomination totals: “Moneyball,” 6; “War Horse,” 6; “Midnight in Paris,” 4; “The Help,” 4; “The Tree of Life,” 3; and “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” 2.
Two surprises in the best-pic field: “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” made the cut. And nine nominees were more than most prognosticators expected this year. New rules required that at least 5 percent of Academy voters give a movie their top pick for it to earn a best-picture nomination.
Most predictions put “Bridesmaids” or “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” ahead of “Extremely Loud” in the best-picture field, but that's not the way it turned out.
The fact that Tate Taylor was not among best-director or screenplay nominees diminishes the chances that “The Help” will score a best-picture win. Terrence Malick's director nod for “The Tree of Life” probably nosed out David Fincher for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” Hollywood powerhouse Steven Spielberg also failed to snag a director nod for “War Horse.” The category is loaded with veterans: Martin Scorsese for “Hugo,” Woody Allen for “Midnight in Paris,” Terrence Malick for “The Tree of Life” and Payne. The exception: Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist.”
Among best-actor nominees, the omission of Leonardo DiCaprio for “J. Edgar” was notable, along with the inclusion of Demian Bichir for “A Better Life” and Gary Oldman for “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” Oddsmakers had favored Michael Fassbender for “Shame,” along with DiCaprio. Nominees Brad Pitt, for “Moneyball,” and Jean Dujardin, for “The Artist,” were considered shoo-ins.
Other surprises in the acting categories: No nomination for Tilda Swinton as best actress for “We Need to Talk About Kevin.” She scored both Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild nods. Rooney Mara, for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” and Glenn Close, for “Albert Nobbs,” made the cut ahead of Swinton, along with the expected trio of Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”; Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”; and Viola Davis, “The Help.”
Streep again shattered her own record with a 17th acting nomination for “The Iron Lady,” far outdistancing second-place Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson on the all-time list with 12.
Streep and Davis are widely considered front-runners for the best-actress trophy.
Another academy record broken: Woody Allen, tapped for “Midnight in Paris,” as the most honored screenwriter with 15 nods. Billy Wilder once held that title with 12.
Melissa McCarthy's rare comedy supporting-actress nomination for “Bridesmaids,” along with Jessica Chastain's for “The Help,” were probably what edged out Shailene Woodley for “The Descendants.” Other nominees — Octavia Spencer for “The Help,” Berenice Bejo for “The Artist” and Janet McTeer for “Albert Nobbs” — were expected.
While supporting-actor nominations for Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”; Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”; and Jonah Hill, “Moneyball” were predicted, Max von Sydow's for “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” was not. He likely edged out Albert Brooks, who played a ruthless mob killer in “Drive.”
A category not known for shockers — best animated feature — had a couple this year: While “Rango” and “Puss in Boots” made the cut as expected, Spielberg's “The Adventures of Tintin” did not. It was widely touted as the strongest rival to “Rango” for the prize. A couple of relative unknowns, “A Cat in Paris” and “Chico & Rita,” displaced more expected fare such as “Arthur Christmas,” “Rio” and “Tintin.”
Also notable: “Cars 2” failed to make the cut, a rare disappointment for animation giant Pixar.
Other snubs? Will Reiser's original screenplay for “50/50” was expected to score a nod but didn't. Same for Tom McCarthy's “Win Win.” Steve Zaillian missed with the adapted screenplay for “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” but can console himself for a co-nomination with Aaron Sorkin for “Moneyball.” Grant Heslov and George Clooney were a bit of a surprise snagging a nod for the adapted screenplay of “The Ides of March.”
A key nomination that keeps “The Descendants” a viable contender for best picture: Kevin Tent's editing nod. In recent decades, movies without editing nominations have almost never won best picture.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1269, bob.fischbach@owh.com
Here's the list of nominees for the 84th Academy Awards:
Best Picture
“The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
“The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
“Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
“The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
“Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
“Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
“Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
“The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
“War Horse” Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
Directing
“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Alexander Payne
“Hugo” Martin Scorsese
“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick
Actor in a Leading Role
Demián Bichir in “A Better Life”
George Clooney in “The Descendants”
Jean Dujardin in “The Artist”
Gary Oldman in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”
Brad Pitt in “Moneyball”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Kenneth Branagh in “My Week with Marilyn”
Jonah Hill in “Moneyball”
Nick Nolte in “Warrior”
Christopher Plummer in “Beginners”
Max von Sydow in “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”
Actress in a Leading Role
Glenn Close in “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis in “The Help”
Rooney Mara in “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep in “The Iron Lady”
Michelle Williams in “My Week with Marilyn”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer in “The Help”
Animated Feature Film
“A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
“Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
“Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
“Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
“Rango” Gore Verbinski
Art Direction
“The Artist” Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
“Hugo” Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
“Midnight in Paris” Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
“War Horse” Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
Cinematography
“The Artist” Guillaume Schiffman
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Jeff Cronenweth
“Hugo” Robert Richardson
“The Tree of Life” Emmanuel Lubezki
“War Horse” Janusz Kaminski
Costume Design
“Anonymous” Lisy Christl
“The Artist” Mark Bridges
“Hugo” Sandy Powell
“Jane Eyre” Michael O'Connor
“W.E.” Arianne Phillips
Documentary (Feature)
“Hell and Back Again” Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
“If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front” Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
“Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory” Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
“Pina” Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
“Undefeated” TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
Documentary (Short Subject)
“The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement” Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
“God Is the Bigger Elvis” Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
Incident in New Baghdad”James Spione
“Saving Face” Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
“The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom” Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
Film Editing
“The Artist” Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
“The Descendants” Kevin Tent
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
“Hugo” Thelma Schoonmaker
“Moneyball” Christopher Tellefsen
Foreign Language Film
“Bullhead” Belgium
“Footnote” Israel
“In Darkness” Poland
“Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
“A Separation” Iran
Makeup
“Albert Nobbs” Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Iron Lady” Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
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” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
“Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett
Short Film (Animated)
“Dimanche/Sunday” Patrick Doyon
“The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore” William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
“La Luna” Enrico Casarosa
“A Morning Stroll” Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
“Wild Life” Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
Short Film (Live Action)
“Pentecost” Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
“Raju” Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
“The Shore” Terry George and Oorlagh George
“Time Freak” Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
“Tuba Atlantic” Hallvar Witzø
Sound Editing
“Drive” Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” Ren Klyce
“Hugo” Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“War Horse” Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
Sound Mixing
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
“Hugo” Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
“Moneyball” Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
“War Horse” Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
Visual Effects
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
“Hugo” Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
“Real Steel” Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon” Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
“The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
“Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
“The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
“Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
“Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan
Writing (Original Screenplay)
“The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
“Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
“Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
“Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
“A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi
This year's Oscar ceremony takes place on Sunday 26th February from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
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