The 2012 Academy Awards were announced last week and as expected, mega-director Steven Spielberg was right out in front with his rich, historical drama “Lincoln.” The film picked up 12 nominations including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
“Lincoln” lead Daniel Day- Lewis is thought by many to be a shoe-in for Best Actor and Sally Field, who has gone from the beaches of Malibu in “Gidget” to the red carpet, could snag her third Oscar for her portrayal as Mary Todd Lincoln. The 66-year old vet also received the coveted acting prize for 1979’s “Norma Rae” and “Places in the Heart,” which was released in 1984.
Co-star Day-Lewis has had two previous Oscar wins as well. The versatile actor won Best Actor trophies for the 1989 biopic “My Left Foot” and for 2007’s “There Will be Blood.”
With the highly acclaimed “Lincoln,” Spielberg earns his seventh nomination for Best Director. He also won for the 1993 Holocaust drama “Schindler’s List” and for the 1998 World War II epic “Saving Private Ryan.”
As expected, Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi” about a shipwrecked young man and a tiger wasn’t far behind “Lincoln,” with 11 nominations, including Best Picture.
Other Best Picture nominees include “Amour,” “Argo,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” “Django Unchained,” “Les Miserables” and “Silver Linings Playbook,” with “Zero Dark Thirty” rounding out the list.
Several critics expressed their dismay over those who were left off the list. The academy passed over three important director contenders — “Zero Dark Thirty”’s Kathryn Bigelow, “Argo”’s Ben Affleck and “Les Miserables”’ Tom Hooper. Instead of the obvious, the academy went off script choosing Benh Zeitlin for the Louisiana coming-of-age story “Beasts of the Southern Wild” and Michael Haneke for the French film “Amour.”
The nominations were announced by bewildered host Seth MacFarlane, who was wondering what he was doing up at 5 a.m.
“Why can’t they do this in the morning?” he quipped.
Still, the surprises made it worth setting the alarm clock. At 85, Emmanuelle Riva of “Amour” is up for the Best Actress award for playing an elderly woman who suffers a debilitating stroke. She is the oldest to receive the honor and will go up against the youngest. Her competition is Quvenzhané Wallis of “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” who is just nine.
Other Best Actress nominees include Jessica Chastain for her role as a young CIA operative searching for Osama bin Laden in “Zero Dark Thirty,” Jennifer Lawrence for “Silver Linings Playbook” and Naomi Watts for “The Impossible.” It’s also a mixed bag for lead actor. In addition to Day-Lewis, there’s Bradley Cooper in “Silver Linings Playbook,” Hugh Jackman in “Les Miserables,” Joaquin Phoenix in “The Master” and Denzel Washington for “Flight.”
The Oscars take place on Feb 24.
In the meantime, red carpet watchers will be following the Golden Globes and other critic awards for trends. Last Sunday at the Globes in Beverly Hills, “Argo” director Ben Affleck exacted a measure of revenge for his Oscar snub, taking home both Best Picture and Best Director. “Les Miserables” won for Best Picture in the musical or comedy category. Malibu’s Robert Downey Jr. gave Jodie Foster the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award. “Zero Dark Thirty”’s Jessica Christian and “Silver Linings Playbook”’s Jennifer Lawrence brought home Best Actress awards while “Lincoln’s” Day-Lewis and Jackman got the Best Actor awards.
A combination of surprises and sure bets is what the award season is made of.
So even though many say the Globes give a good insight to the Oscars, the race still seems wide open. Stay tuned.