Several nods to Pittsburgh in Oscar nominations
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Jean Dujardin as George Valentin and Berenice Bejo as Peppy Miller in Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist." -
Asa Butterfield portrays Hugo Cabret in a scene from "Hugo."
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Silence may be golden, literally, for "The Artist," one of nine movies nominated for best picture for the 84th Academy Awards.
In addition to the black-and-white homage to Hollywood's early years, other movies in the running for the top Oscar: "Hugo," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Descendants," "The Help" "War Horse," "The Tree of Life" and "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close."
This marks the first year since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tweaked its rules to allow anywhere from five to 10 best picture nominees. That followed an expansion to 10 best picture contenders for the 82nd and 83rd Oscars.
Front-runner "The Artist" scored 10 nominations, just behind the 11 for Martin Scorsese's magical 3-D "Hugo."
Even if TV watchers haven't seen many of the nominated nine, they certainly are familiar with George and Brad. And Billy Crystal returns as host of the Oscars Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
Pittsburghers had a couple of reasons to cheer this morning's announcements: Nick Nolte is in the running for his supporting actor turn in the filmed-in-Pittsburgh drama "Warrior" and Rooney Mara finds herself in the storied company of Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Glenn Close and Michelle Williams in the leading actress race.
George Clooney, who owns a supporting Oscar for "Syriana," is front-runner in the best actor race for "The Descendants." He faces off against Brad Pitt as Oakland A's general manager Bill Beane in "Moneyball," Frenchman Jean Dujardin as a matinee idol in career collapse in "The Artist," Demian Bichir as an undocumented immigrant in "A Better Life" and Gary Oldman as spy George Smiley in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."
Mr. Oldman came in from the cold and Leonardo DiCaprio, an expected nominee for "J. Edgar" (a Clint Eastwood movie that received lukewarm response) was left out in the cold. Also snubbed were Michael Fassbender as a sex addict in "Shame" and Michael Shannon who embodied anxiety and intensity in "Take Shelter."
For the third year in a row, it's a two-woman race for lead actress with Ms. Davis from "The Help" looking for her first Oscar and Ms. Streep looking for her first since 1982's "Sophie's Choice."
Prior to that, "The Iron Lady" star won a supporting Oscar for "Kramer vs. Kramer" but has been shut out 14 other times, losing to the likes of Katharine Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine, Kathy Bates and Sandra Bullock. This time around, she transforms herself into Margaret Thatcher as the grocer's daughter who became prime minister and, later, lapsed into dementia.
Ms. Davis, a two-time Tony Award winner for August Wilson plays who also spent time in Pittsburgh last year filming "Won't Back Down," plays a woman who has raised one son of her own and 17 children belonging to other women in "The Help."
In some of the movie's signature scenes, she's seen trying to plant a seed of goodness in 3-year-old Mae Mobley, who gets precious little love or attention from her mother. "You is kind. You is smart. You is important" is what the maid Aibileen tenderly tells the girl.
No one should count out Ms. Williams as Marilyn Monroe in "My Week With Marilyn," Ms. Mara (who has her own cheering section in Pittsburgh thanks to her family's Steeler ties) as "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" and Ms. Close as a woman masquerading as "Albert Nobbs" to work and survive in 19th century Ireland.
The inclusion of Ms. Mara meant no nomination for Tilda Swinton for "We Need to Talk About Kevin."
Although anything can happen between now and Feb. 26, Octavia Spencer from "The Help" and Christopher Plummer from "Beginners" should have speeches tucked into purses or pockets for likely wins in the supporting categories.
Ms. Spencer, who plays a housekeeper in the 1960s South, was nominated along with Berenice Bejo as a rising actress in "The Artist," Janet McTeer as a cross-dressing house painter in "Albert Nobbs," Melissa McCarthy as the bride's future sister-in-law who steals "Bridesmaids" and Jessica Chastain as a sexy housewife and outcast in "The Help."
Octogenarian Plummer is certainly one of the most senior actors in contention for any award. Or, truth be told, work.
In "Beginners," he plays a former museum director who announces late in life that he's gay. The race pits him against Kenneth Branagh as Sir Laurence Olivier in "My Week With Marilyn," Jonah Hill as a stats geek in "Moneyball," Mr. Nolte as a Pittsburgher whose sons battle it out in a mixed martial arts cage in "Warrior" and Max von Sydow as a mysterious, mute tenant in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."
Months ago, it seemed as if Albert Brooks would get nominated for his villainous turn in "Drive" but likely was edged out by Mr. von Sydow.
Directing nominees: Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist," Alexander Payne for "The Descendants," Mr. Scorsese for "Hugo," Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris" and Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life."
Writing kudos: In contention for original screenplay are the writers of "The Artist," "Bridesmaids," "Margin Call," "Midnight in Paris" and the Iranian film, "A Separation." On the adapted side of the ledger, nominees represent "The Descendants," "Hugo," "The Ides of March," "Moneyball" and "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy."
Ab-solutely ... not: Not even abs that looked Photoshopped or a triple play of "Crazy, Stupid, Love," "Drive" and "The Ides of March" could swing Ryan Gosling an Oscar nomination.
No monkeying around: Despite clever and undoubtedly expensive ads on the cover of Variety reminding readers Andy Serkis was the actor behind the lead chimp in "Rise of the Planet of the Apes," he was left in the cold once more.
Mr. Serkis and others who do performance-capture work are in a no-man's land, caught between actors' unions and producers' alliances and yet to be recognized by awards voters. Like Joey the "War Horse," he may need enemy combatants to lay down their weapons and work for a common good.
More Pittsburgh ties: Joe Letteri of Aliquippa was nominated for the visual effects for "Rise of the Planet of the Apes." In the past decade, he won Oscars for the visual effects of the second and third installments of "The Lord of the Rings" along with "King Kong" plus a Scientific and Technical Award.
Timing is everything and nothing: The Oscar nominations came three days after the Producers Guild of America honored "The Artist" as its equivalent of best picture and "The Adventures of Tintin" as its top animated movie. But "Tintin" wasn't among the five nominees for animated picture, "A Cat in Paris," "Chico & Rita," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and "Rango."
First Published January 24, 2012 12:00 am
