January 25, 2011 
>The nominations for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced in L.A. this morning by Academy president Tom Sherak and Oscar-winner Mo’Nique.
The King’s Speech dominated the field with 12 nominations, followed closely by True Grit (10 nods), The Social Network (8 nods) and Inception (8 nods). Many pundits consider this to be a two-horse race, between long-time favourite The King’s Speech (which recently picked up the weighty Best Film prize from the PGA) and The Social Network (which has dominated the guild awards for much of the past two months).
Aussies Jacki Weaver, Nicole Kidman and Geoffrey Rush were all recognised in the acting categories, while Freo-born Shaun Tan’s animated short The Lost Thing also scored a nomination. (UPDATE: Inside Film remind us that Aussies Ben Snow and Kirk Baxter also scored nominations, for Visual Effects on Iron Man 2 and Editing The Social Network respectively).
Check out the full list of nominees below:
Best Picture
127 Hours
Black Swan
Inception
The Fighter
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
David O. Russell – The Fighter
Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
David Fincher – The Social Network
Joel Coen, Ethan Coen – True Grit
Best Actor
Javier Bardem – Biuiful
Jeff Bridges – True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King’s Speech
James Franco – 127 Hours
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
John Hawkes – Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner – The Town
Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech
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 Original Screenplay
Another Year
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King’s Speech
Best Adapted Screenplay
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone
Best Animated Film
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3
Best Cinematography
Black Swan
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit
Best Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit
Best Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit
Best Film Editing
127 Hours
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Best Makeup
The Way Back
The Wolfman
Best Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part One
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2
Best Original Score
127 Hours
How To Train Your Dragon
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
Best Song
‘Coming Home’ – Country Strong
‘I See The Light’ – Tangled
‘If I Rise’ – 127 Hours
‘We Belong Together’ – Toy Story 3
Best Sound Editing
Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable
Best Sound Mixing
Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit
Best Documentary Feature
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Wasteland
Best Documentary Short
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang
Best Short Film – Animated
Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, a Journey Diary
Best Short Film – Live Action
The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143
The winners will be revealed at a ceremony hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway on the 27th February, 2011.
Discuss: Your thoughts on this year’s batch of nominations?
Quickflix 
>I have to say, although I'm saddened by the absence of The Social Network stars in the supporting categories (Rooney Mara, Armie Hammer and Andrew Garfield), this is a satisfying batch of nominees.Ecstatic to see Winter's Bone and Dogtooth (both in my top 10 of 2010) get so much love.
>Good to see:The Town NOT get nominated for best pictureJennifer Lawrence and John Hawkes get nominationsMichelle Williams get a nomination for Blue ValentineJackie Weaver get a supporting actress nodHow To Train Your Dragon get recognition for it’s amazing scoreNotable ommissions:Nolan for director (obviously) – should easily have knocked out either Hooper or O. RussellRyan Gosling for actingAt least one if not all three of the supporting turns in The Social Network (most notably Garfield, but arguably also Timberlake and Armie Hammer)Inception for editingand the biggest snub in my opinion…Tron: Legacy for Daft Punk’s original scoreOh yeah, and Shutter Island for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Cinematography, Editing, Costume and Sound.
>Finally Jackie Weaver is getting recognised for her body of work. She is a legend she deserves this so much. Jackie a huge amount of your fellow australians are giving you 100% support. And if they aren't they need to get on board and celebrate a stellar career. GO JACKIE WEAVER if they are looking for a talented woman you will WIN!