Yesterday's announcement of the 2011 Oscar nominations brought few surprises, with The King's Speechand True Grittopping the charts, writes DONALD CLARKE
THERE WERE few turn-ups when the nominations for 2011 Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles yesterday. As expected, The King's Speech, Tom Hooper's study of King George VI's struggles with a speech impediment, headed the chart with 12 nominations. Coming up late on the rails, True Grit, the Coen brothers' western, which has been a surprise box-office hit in the US, came in second place with an impressive 10 mentions. That film, a remake of a much-loved John Wayne adventure from 1969, did not receive a single nomination at the recent Golden Globes.
David Fincher's The Social Network, the story of Facebook, which has taken most of the best film prizes during the increasingly busy awards season, only managed eight nominations, but still (just about) retains its position as favourite for the best picture prize.
Ireland continued its impressive run of form in the shorts categories. Michael Creagh’s The Crush, a first-class comedy concerning a schoolboy’s infatuation with his teacher, was one of the five nominees in the best live-action short competition.
This follows recent nominations for such domestic shorts as Six Shooter, The Door, Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beautyand Fifty Percent Grey.
When, last year, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences increased the number of best picture finalists from five to 10, it was supposed to trigger a few surprises on nomination day. As things have worked out, Oscar watchers had all 10 eventual nominees pencilled in for months.
Winter's Bone, an excellent gritty thriller set in the Ozarks, took the spot informally reserved for an independent release. The inclusion of Christopher Nolan's Inception, a hugely complex metaphysical thriller, ensured that a live-action blockbuster was in the running. Pixar Animation, long Oscar favourites, made it into the race with Toy Story 3, the most financially successful release of 2010.
It is, however, reasonable to assume that the eventual winner will come from the list of five pictures that secured a nomination for best director: True Grit, The Social Network, The King's Speech, David O Russell's boxing drama The Fighterand Darren Aronofsky's powerful ballet picture Black Swan.
Colin Firth, currently unbackable at 1/12 with the bookies, will take some beating in the competition for best actor. Oscar likes true stories set in the pretty past and has always had a soft spot for performances that hang around disabilities. Fellow nominees such as James Franco, impressive as a trapped climber in Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, and Jesse Eisenberg, introverted as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network, will have to go some way to catch up with the admired English actor.
Film enthusiasts searching for eccentricities should look towards the best supporting actress category. Hailee Steinfeld's performance in True Grithas been much admired and certainly deserves a mention. It is, however, odd to find the 14-year-old, who appears in virtually every scene, listed as a supporting, rather than a lead, actress.
Paramount Studios, aware that juvenile actors generally end up in this category, had been urging Academy members, who can vote performers into the race of their choice, to list her in the less prestigious race. The voters defied logic and obliged.
And the nominees are . . .
Best leading actor
Javier Bardem –
Biutiful
Jeff Bridges –
True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg –
The Social Network
Colin Firth –
The Kings Speech
James Franco –
127 Hours
Best supporting actor
Christian Bale –
The Fighter
John Hawkes –
Winters Bone
Jeremy Renner –
The Town
Mark Ruffalo –
The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush –
The Kings Speech
Best leading actress
Annette Bening –
The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman –
Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence –
Winters Bone
Natalie Portman –
Black Swan
Michelle Williams –
Blue Valentine
Best supporting actress
Amy Adams –
The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter –
The Kings 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
Achievement in directing
Darren Aronofsky –
Black Swan
David O. Russell –
The Fighter
Tom Hooper –
The Kings Speech
David Fincher –
The Social Network
Joel Coen –
True Grit
Best motion picture
Black Swan– Fox Searchlight
The Fighter– Paramount
Inception– Warner Bros
The Kids Are All Right– Focus Features
The Kings Speech– The Weinstein Company
127 HoursFox – Searchlight
The Social Network– Sony Pictures Releasing
Toy Story 3– Walt Disney
True Grit– Paramount
Winters Bone– Roadside Attractions
Best foreign language film
Biutiful– Mexico
Dogtooth– Greece
In a Better World– Denmark
Incendies– Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)– Algeria
Best live action short film
The Confession– Tanel Toom
The Crush– Michael Creagh
God of Love– Luke Matheny
Na Wewe– Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143– Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
The Academy Awards will be announced at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 27th
