Today the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees for this year’s Academy Awards show. Leading the pack is The King’s Speech with 12 nominations, followed by True Grit with 10. In addition for being up for Best Picture, The King’s Speech is also being recognized for its actors (Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, and Helena Bonham Carter are up for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress, respectively) director (Tom Hooper), and screenwriter (David Seidler). True Grit is also up for Best Picture, Best Director (Joel & Ethan Coen), and Best Adapted Screenplay (the Coens). Actors Jeff Bridges and the young but brilliantly talented Hailee Steinfeld nabbed Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor nods, respectively. 127 Hours, Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, and Winter’s Bone round out the coveted Best Picture category.
Time to talk snubs. First up: Christopher Nolan, the man behind Inception. Though the fantastical mind trip nabbed 8 nods (including Best Picture and Screenplay), Nolan was not recognized for his superb direction. Next: Andrew Garfield (The Social Network) and Mila Kunis (Black Swan) are noticeably absent from the Best Supporting Actor/Actress category. Then there’s the Best Animated Feature category; though Toy Story 3 is locked for the win, Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me deserves a spot there amongst TS3 and How to Train Your Dragon. As critically acclaimed as Ben Affleck’s The Town was this past year, the flick only picked up a nod for Best Supporting Actor (Jeremy Renner). And finally there’s Tron: Legacy; it’s one thing not to nominate Daft Punk’s wonderfully electric score, but it’s quite laughable that the Academy did not nominate the movie for Best Visual Effects.
Look after the break to see the full rundown of all 24 award categories. The 83rd Annual Academy Awards, hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway, airs live Sunday February 27 at 8PM on ABC.