Below are all the nominees for the 84th Academy Awards which will be held on February 26th.
In terms of numbers, Hugo (11) and The Artist (10)  lead the field, but there is an interesting cross section of films below them with Moneyball (6), War Horse (6), The Descendants (5), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (5) and The Help (4).
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)
BEST DIRECTOR
- The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
- The Descendants – Alexander Payne
- Hugo – Martin Scorsese
- Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
- The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick
BEST ACTOR
- DemiĂĄn Bichir in âA Better Lifeâ
- George Clooney in âThe Descendantsâ
- Jean Dujardin in âThe Artistâ
- Gary Oldman in âTinker Tailor Soldier Spyâ
- Brad Pitt in âMoneyballâ
BEST ACTRESS
- Glenn Close in âAlbert Nobbsâ
- Viola Davis in âThe Helpâ
- Rooney Mara in âThe Girl with the Dragon Tattooâ
- Meryl Streep in âThe Iron Ladyâ
- Michelle Williams in âMy Week with Marilynâ
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Kenneth Branagh in âMy Week with Marilynâ
- Jonah Hill in âMoneyballâ
- Nick Nolte in âWarriorâ
- Christopher Plummer in âBeginnersâ
- Max von Sydow in âExtremely Loud & Incredibly Closeâ
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- BĂ©rĂ©nice Bejo in âThe Artistâ
- Jessica Chastain in âThe Helpâ
- Melissa McCarthy in âBridesmaidsâ
- Janet McTeer in âAlbert Nobbsâ
- Octavia Spencer in âThe Helpâ
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
- The Descendantsâ Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
- âHugoâ Screenplay by John Logan
- âThe Ides of Marchâ Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
- âMoneyballâ Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin Story by Stan Chervin
- âTinker Tailor Soldier Spyâ Screenplay by Bridget OâConnor & Peter Straughan
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
- âThe Artistâ Written by Michel Hazanavicius
- âBridesmaidsâ Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
- âMargin Callâ Written by J.C. Chandor
- âMidnight in Parisâ Written by Woody Allen
- âA Separationâ Written by Asghar Farhadi
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
- âA Cat in Parisâ (Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli)
- âChico & Ritaâ (Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal)
- âKung Fu Panda 2âł (Jennifer Yuh Nelson)
- âPuss in Bootsâ (Chris Miller)
- âRangoâ (Gore Verbinski)
ART DIRECTION
- âThe Artistâ Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
- âHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2â Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
- âHugoâ Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
- âMidnight in Parisâ Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: HĂ©lĂšne Dubreuil
- âWar Horseâ Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales
CINEMATOGRAPHY
- âThe Artistâ Guillaume Schiffman
- âThe Girl with the Dragon Tattooâ Jeff Cronenweth
- âHugoâ Robert Richardson
- âThe Tree of Lifeâ Emmanuel Lubezki
- âWar Horseâ Janusz Kaminski
COSTUME DESIGN
- âAnonymousâ Lisy Christl
- âThe Artistâ Mark Bridges
- âHugoâ Sandy Powell
- âJane Eyreâ Michael OâConnor
- âW.E.â Arianne Phillips
DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
- âHell and Back Againâ Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
- âIf a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Frontâ Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
- âParadise Lost 3: Purgatoryâ Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
- âPinaâ Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
- âUndefeatedâ TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
- âThe Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movementâ Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
- âGod Is the Bigger Elvisâ Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
- âIncident in New Baghdadâ James Spione
- âSaving Faceâ Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
- âThe Tsunami and the Cherry Blossomâ Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
EDITING
- âThe Artistâ Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
- âThe Descendantsâ Kevin Tent
- âThe Girl with the Dragon Tattooâ Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
- âHugoâ Thelma Schoonmaker
- âMoneyballâ Christopher Tellefsen
SOUND EDITING
- âDriveâ Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
- âThe Girl with the Dragon Tattooâ Ren Klyce
- âHugoâ Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
- âTransformers: Dark of the Moonâ Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
- âWar Horseâ Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
SOUND MIXING
- âThe Girl with the Dragon Tattooâ David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
- âHugoâ Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
- âMoneyballâ Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
- âTransformers: Dark of the Moonâ Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
- âWar Horseâ Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
VISUAL EFFECTS
- âHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2âłÂ Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
- âHugoâ Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
- âReal Steelâ Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
- âRise of the Planet of the Apesâ Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
- âTransformers: Dark of the Moonâ Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
- âBullheadâ Belgium
- âFootnoteâ Israel
- âIn Darknessâ Poland
- âMonsieur Lazharâ Canada
- âA Separationâ Iran
MAKEUP
- âAlbert Nobbsâ Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
- âHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2âłÂ Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
- âThe Iron Ladyâ Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
- âThe Adventures of Tintinâ John Williams
- âThe Artistâ Ludovic Bource
- âHugoâ Howard Shore
- âTinker Tailor Soldier Spyâ Alberto Iglesias
- âWar Horseâ John Williams
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
- âMan or Muppetâ from âThe Muppetsâ Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
- âReal in Rioâ from âRioâ Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
- âDimanche/Sundayâ Patrick Doyon
- âThe Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmoreâ William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
- âLa Lunaâ Enrico Casarosa
- âA Morning Strollâ Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
- âWild Lifeâ Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
- âPentecostâ Peter McDonald and Eimear OâKane
- âRajuâ Max ZĂ€hle and Stefan Gieren
- âThe Shoreâ Terry George and Oorlagh George
- âTime Freakâ Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
- âTuba Atlanticâ Hallvar WitzĂž
In June Academy President Tom Sherak announced that there would be changes to the following categories:
- Best Picture: The final nominees can now range from anywhere between 5 and 10. The nomination voting process will be the same (through preferential balloting) but now only films that receive a minimum of 5% of total number one votes are eligible for Best Picture nominations.
- Best Animated Feature: This is now a permanent competitive category, and no longer requires annual ‘approval’. It was only introduced in 2001, so there was perhaps an anxiety that there wouldn’t be enough animated films of sufficient quality, but clearly the last decade has seen a massive change in mainstream animation. There has also been increased flexibility in how many individuals can be nominated.
- Best Documentary Feature: Here the eligibility period has been modified. Prior to this year, documentaries that screened theatrically between September 1 and August 31 of the following year were eligible. Now that period has changed to match the calendar year from January 1 to December 31. (As a transition, this year documentaries will be eligible if they were released between September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011)
- Best Visual Effects: Before there were 7 shortlisted VFX contenders announced several weeks before the official nominations announcement, but this now been expanded to 10 to coincide with last year’s enlargement of the category from 3 to 5 nominees.
My predictions as to what will ultimately win on February 26th are:
- Best Picture: The Artist
- Best Director:Â Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
- Best Actor: George Clooney – The Descendants
- Best Actress: Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
- Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer – Beginners
- Best Supporting Actress: BĂ©rĂ©nice Bejo – The Artist or  Octavia Spencer – The Help
>Â Official Oscars site
> The 84th Academy Awards at Wikipedia
> Analysis at Awards Daily and Hitfix