“Hugo,” “The Artist” lead list of 84th Annual Academy Awards

“Hugo,” director Martin Scorsese’s loving look at the early history of film, leads all nominees in the race for Oscar gold.  The film received 11 total nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.
Close behind is “The Artist,” a silent, black and white film that includes Best Picture among its 10 nods.  “War Horse” and “Moneyball” followed with 6 nominations each, including Best Picture.
A total of nine films were nominated for Best Picture.  Last year, in an attempt to quell the outrage that “The Dark Knight” did not grab a Best Picture nod, the Academy increased the number of picture nominees from 5 to 10.  This year the rule was changed to nominate up to 10 films, based on membership voting.  To be eligible for a Best Picture nomination a film must be listed as first on at least 250 membership ballots.  Other nominees for Best Picture:  “The Descendants,” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close,” “The Help,” “Midnight in Paris” and “The Tree of Life.”
Besides Scorsese, director nominations went to Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist,” Alexander Payne for “The Descendants,” “Woody Allen for “Midnight in Paris” and Terrence Malick for “The Tree of Life.”
Best Actor nominees:  Demian Bechir – “A Better Life,” George Clooney – “The Descendants,” Jean Dujardin – “The Artist,” Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and Brad Pitt – “Moneyball.”
Best Actress nods went to Glenn Close – “Albert Nobbs,” Viola Davis – “The Help,” Rooney Mara – “The Girl in the Dragon Tattoo,” Meryl Streep – “The Iron Lady” and Michelle Williams – “My Weekend With Marilyn.”
Best Supporting Actor nominees include Kenneth Branagh – “My Weekend With Marilyn,” Jonah Hill – “Moneyball,” Nick Nolte – “Warrior,” Christopher Plummer – “Beginners” and Max von Sydow – “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close.”
Best Supporting Actress choices include Berenice Bejo – “The Artist,” Jessica Chastain – “The Help,” Melissa McCarthy – “Brodesmaids,” Janet McTeer – “Albert Nobbs” and Octavia Spencer – “The Help.”
Look for a special “Behind the Screen” later this week when I give my thoughts on this years nomines.
Here is a complete list of nominees:

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

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

Directing

“The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius

“The Descendants” Alexander Payne

“Hugo” Martin Scorsese

“Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen

“The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

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”

“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

“Sailcloth” starring Oscar nominee John Hurt, selected for 2012 Academy Short Film Award consideration

“Sailcloth” starring Oscar® nominee John Hurt, selected for 2012 Academy Short Film Award consideration
SAILCLOTH – starring world-renowned actor John Hurt – is a heartfelt story of an elderly gentleman who disappears from a nursing home. The 18-minute non-dialogue film, written and directed by Elfar Adalsteins, is already an award winning film having picked up the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at the Rhode Island International Film Festival to a standing ovation. Subsequently, the film has gone on to get a recommendation for the 2012 Academy Short Film Awards.

Sailcloth shares the poignant story of an elderly widower, played by Hurt, as he sets in motion a series of events to hide his disappearance from a nursing home. After gathering necessities he heads to the local pier where a beloved companion awaits him – ready to take their last great journey.

John Hurt, one of the UK’s most legendary actors, stars in this emotional film portraying the widower with a natural ease that effortlessly pulls you into. Hurt, a two time Academy® Award Nominee, has won countless accolades during his extensive career, including three BAFTA’s and a Golden Globe.

This Oscar worthy film is written and directed by Elfar Adalsteins (www.elfaradalsteins.com) and produced by his company Berserk Films. Elfar’s began his career as a producer, working on feature films such as ‘Country Wedding’, the Oscar® longlisted ‘Mamma Gógó’ and ‘Black Rabbit Summer’ he developed in collaboration with Ruby Films. Elfar’s directorial feature film debut is currently in the final stages of development and is scheduled to move into production in 2012.

With John’s wonderful portrayal of the widower and Elfar’s expertly realized vision, it is no wonder that this emotional story of love and courage is causing such an Oscar Buzz.

 

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Oscar Worthy Award Winning Film “The Sea Is All I Know” starring Academy Award Winner Melissa Leo

Oscar worthy Award winning film ‘The Sea Is All I Know’ starring Academy Award Winner Melissa Leo

‘The Sea Is All I Know’ stars Oscar Winner Melissa Leo (The Fighter) and Peter Gerety (The Wire) and encompasses the controversial subject of assisted suicide.  Through this extraordinary journey the film shares a story of love in the face of death.

This wonderful picture has already won awards from Palm Springs International Film Festival ‘Best of Festival’ and the Rhode Island International Film Festival where Melissa won the ‘Grand Prize for Best Actress’.  Not surprisingly ‘The Sea Is All I Know’ is already receiving rave reviews; Darryl MacDonald, Executive Director of Palms Springs International ShortFest calls it “An Oscar Best Bet” and an “incredibly moving tale of family and faith” while praising the performances “Melissa Leo gives a heart-wrenching, typically brilliant performance.”   Jessica Gardner from BackStage praises the director Jordan Bayne saying she “allows the viewer to get pulled into the     characters’ inner conflict” as well as the stand out performance from Melissa “Leo’s raw, jaw-dropping performance can take an audience’s breath away” and Peter “Gerety is so perfectly cast, he turns in an outstanding and multilayered performance”.

‘The Sea Is All I Know’ is an honest portrait of a family coming to terms with their relationship to death. When estranged couple, Sara [Melissa Leo] and Sonny [Peter Gerety], come to the aid of their dying daughter, the experience sends them spiraling into spiritual crisis and brutal heartbreak. In the end, an act of selfless love, renews their lives, transcends their loss of faith, even death itself.

Jordan Bayne wrote, directed and produced this heartfelt film. Through excellent casting and classic story telling she has created an Oscar worthy unconventional love story  ‘The Sea Is All I Know’.

Official Website: www.seathefilm.com