# 2011 Oscar nominations **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 24, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497 "2012-01-24T14:41:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/1 "2012-01-24T14:41:17Z")
**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” 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 **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 **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 ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/2 "2012-01-24T15:11:52Z")
_sigh_ Last year (2010) I was so good about seeing movies; I’d managed to see all 10 BP nominees before the ceremony. This year has been busy and I’m only 1/9. Got to see how many I can manage in the next few weeks, at least the ones that are available on video or PPV. Unfortunately _The Artist_ is only playing at one theater within 75 miles of here as far as I can tell. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/3 "2012-01-24T15:26:00Z")
Eddie Murphy must be smiling- with THAT list of nominees, NOBODY is going to be watching. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/4 "2012-01-24T15:41:09Z")
I am happy to see _The Artist_ get so many nominations, though I have no expectations it will win any major awards–too foreign, too quirky. I do not approve of its costume design nomination, though: women did \*not \*wear 1920s flapper clothes in 1932! I hope the _Albert Nobbs_ crew wins an Oscar for making Glenn Close look exactly like the Keno Brothers from _Antiques Roadshow._ ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Cheech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Mister\_Cheech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Cheech)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/5 "2012-01-24T15:44:09Z")
Surprises: No “Tintin” for best animated. No Albert Brooks for “Drive.” No Michael Fassbender for “Shame.” “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” for Best Picture. WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Kiros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/439d5e/32.png) [@Kiros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiros)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/6 "2012-01-24T15:48:25Z")
Obvious Oscar-bait movies are nominated for Best Picture. News at 11. (I mean that sincerely, rather than in a thread-shitting sort of way. I saw more movies this year than I ever have before, and I have a very robust personal top 10 of Movies That Deserve Awards rather than Big Budget Popcorn Movies for probably the first time in my life; of the 9 nominees, I think I’d have Tree of Life in that top 10, and that’s about it. Haven’t seen The Artist yet.) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/7 "2012-01-24T16:01:06Z")
Cars 2 is the first Pixar movie not to be nominated since the Best Animated award was instituted. I hope they learned their lesson. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/8 "2012-01-24T16:02:34Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I am happy to see _The Artist_ get so many nominations, though I have no expectations it will win any major awards–too foreign, too quirky.] I thought The Artist was the oddsmakers favorite to win best picture. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/9 "2012-01-24T16:03:49Z")
I was too busy formatting the list to actually read it: _Nick Nolte??_ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/10 "2012-01-24T16:08:23Z")
Extremely bad and incredibly boring. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/11 "2012-01-24T16:09:14Z")
Nolte’s actually a good actor. Crazy, but good. I’m really rooting for Gary Oldman as Best Actor. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/12 "2012-01-24T16:16:55Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Nolte’s actually a good actor. Crazy, but good. > > I’m really rooting for Gary Oldman as Best Actor. Although I was slightly disappointed with _The Descendants_, I think the Actor award is Clooney’s to lose. ---
**Author:** ![DxZero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DxZero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DxZero)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/13 "2012-01-24T16:41:33Z")
If I’m doing my math right, Clooney now has seven total Oscar (Directing, Writing, Acting) nominations in the last 6 years. ---
**Author:** ![Small\_Hen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ad7895/32.png) [@Small\_Hen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Small_Hen)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/14 "2012-01-24T16:42:55Z")
Only two nods for best song? huh. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/15 "2012-01-24T16:49:21Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > Only two nods for best song? huh. They’ll probably not have either musical number in the show. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/16 "2012-01-24T17:03:40Z")
Been busy on Twitter pouring out all sorts of unnatural Oscar Trivia from these nods. Pull up the hashtag #OscarTrivia to see me in all my perverse glory. #Filmatelist I don’t have a dog in the hunt though I’m particularly happy for _Tree_ and Oldman. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/17 "2012-01-24T17:07:36Z")
I wish _Harry Potter_ had been nominated. The whole point of going to more Best Picture Nominees was to give recognition to more popular fare. It was a superb movie that deserved the recognition in my mind. I was pleasantly surprised to see Nick Nolte, _Warrior_ is actually an excellent film, not some cheesy MMA fight movie. I could have easily seen it as a Best Picture nominee. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/18 "2012-01-24T17:25:14Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > Cars 2 is the first Pixar movie not to be nominated since the Best Animated award was instituted. > > I hope they learned their lesson. They cancelled Gary Rydstrom’s directorial effort _Newt_, so maybe that was a case of “Not Good Enough”. I’m sure the suits a Disney pushed _Cars 2_, and they probably think everything is fine - it made money, didn’t it? And sold a lot of toys, bedspreads and footie pajamas, which is all that counts. ---
**Author:** ![randwill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@randwill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/randwill)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/19 "2012-01-24T17:33:38Z")
WHAA? Where’s “Arriety” in Best Animated Feature Film? ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497/20 "2012-01-24T17:34:24Z")
Here’s the real shocker: 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 The Sarah Palin documentary? The one that got horrible reviews and did no business? Did they stick the right-wing doc on to balance the ELF one? I’m on the Megabus, and for some bizarre reason IMDB is blocked, so I can’t search the names. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/2011-oscar-nominations/610497.md?page=2)