MONTREAL – Director Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed picture Incendies has been nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Foreign Language Film.
Villeneuve’s film, about a pair of siblings who return to their Lebanese homeland to unravel a family mystery, will compete against the following movies in the category: Biutiful (Mexico); Dogtooth (Greece); In a Better World (Denmark) and Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) (Algeria).
But overall, The King’s Speech – a historical drama with the Oscar-friendly theme of a man overcoming his disability – is the darling of the 2011 Academy Awards.
The film, about the true story of how King George VI dealt with his stutter, was nominated Tuesday for 12 Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and a Best Actor nomination for the likely winner, Colin Firth.
True Grit, the Coen Brothers remake of a 1969 John Wayne film, was second with 10 nominations. The film, entirely overlooked by the Golden Globe Awards, also flew under the radar of critics’ awards and is just one of several major surprises in this year’s Oscar list.
The Facebook film The Social Network, the early front-runner, and the sci-fi mind-twister Inception, tied with eight nominations each.
Among the other major stories in this year’s nominations:
Javier Bardem was nominated for best actor for his role in the Mexican drama Biutiful – another foreign film candidate – taking a spot that was thought to be a toss-up between two Canadian-connected actors: Ryan Gosling for his performance as a troubled husband in Blue Valentine, and Paul Giamatti as the hard-drinking ladies’ man in the Canada-Italy co-production of Barney’s Version.
Winter’s Bone, a low-budget indie movie about a girl hunting for her father in the secretive Ozarks that hadn’t been given much chance at Oscar glory, won four nominations, including best picture, best actress (for Jennifer Lawrence as the young woman) and best supporting actor (for John Hawkes as Teardrop, a dangerous mountain man she encounters.)
Toy Story 3 was for nominated for best animated film and best picture. It tied the critical favourite Black Swan with five nominations overall.
In the best supporting actress category, the academy nominated 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld for her role as the feisty young girl who hires gunslinger Jeff Bridges in True Grit. Steinfeld is in almost every scene of the film, but her studio campaigned for a supporting actress nomination rather than a leading actress. Her competition includes little-known Australian actress Jacki Weaver for her role in the crime drama Animal Kingdom.
The surprise inclusions make for surprise snubs as well: In the supporting actor category Andrew Garfield, who was expected to be nominated for his role as the co-creator of Facebook in The Social Network; as best supporting actress, Mila Kunis as Natalie Portman’s rival in Black Swan; Julianne Moore didn’t join her The Kids Are All Right co-star Annette Bening in the best actress category; in the directing category, Christopher Nolan for Inception.
The hot-buzz documentary Waiting For Superman didn’t make the list, but in the foreign film category, the academy included the Greek film Dogtooth – a surreal story about a man who keeps his children locked in the house and unaware of the true nature of the world – which reportedly had a disastrous screening for the selection committee.
The 83rd Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 27. Below is a partial list of nominees. For a complete list of nominations, visit http://www.oscars.org/awards/academyawards/83/nominees.html
Best Picture:
The King’s Speech
The Fighter
True Grit
The Social Network
Inception
Toy Story 3
Black Swan
The Kids Are All Right
Winter’s Bone
127 Hours
Best Actor:
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Best Actress:
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine
Best Supporting Actor:
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Best Supporting Actress:
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom
Best Director:
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Best Adapted Screenplay:
127 Hours, Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network, Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3, Michael Arndt
True Grit, Joel and Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone, Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini
Best Original Screenplay:
Another Year, Mike Leigh
The Figher, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson
Inception, Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are Alright, Lisal Cholo-Denko and Stuart Blumberg
The King’s Speech, David Seidler
Best Animated Feature:
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Foreign Language Film:
In A Better World (Denmark)
Biutiful (Mexico)
Incendies (Canada)
Dogtooth (Greece)
Outside the Law (Algeria)
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