The King's Speech and True Grit Lead Oscar Nominations
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
Jan 26, 2011
True Grit and The King's Speech led the Oscar nominations announced Tuesday, but there were also plenty of nods for the highly touted The Social Network, The Fighter and Inception.
The King's Speech, a lavish and poignant British drama about King George VI's struggle with his stammer on the eve of World War II, earned 12 nominations, while the western adventure True Grit earned 10.
Both films will compete in the best picture category along with psychosexual thriller Black Swan, boxing drama The Fighter, sci-fi blockbuster Inception, lesbian family tale The Kids Are All Right, survival story 127 Hours, Facebook drama The Social Network, animated sequel Toy Story 3 and crime thriller Winter's Bone.
Sci-fi thriller Inception and The Social Network both received eight nominations.
The wide net cast by the Oscars promises that the awards could be the most open in years. With 10 films competing for the best picture prize, up from the usual five, there are a greater number of box office hits vying for the ultimate movie prize.
Together with the casting of popular young actors Anne Hathaway and James Franco as hosts of the February 27 show, producers are hoping that the awards ceremony will reverse a long-term ratings decline.
The King's Speech received recognition for actors Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter as well as for director Tom Hooper. It also earned nominations in cinematography, art direction, costume design and film editing.
"This story has struck such a rich resonant chord with audiences of all ages, which is very exciting - to have your work honoured by your industry peers is even better," Rush said in a statement.
"I am absolutely overwhelmed by the 12 Oscar nominations," said Hooper. "This is a day I will remember for the rest of my life."
True Grit had been overlooked in many early awards shows, but was lauded by Oscar voters, who nominated Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld in the acting categories. The film's creators, Joel and Ethan Coen, were nominated directing, screenwriting and producing awards.
Joining Bridges and Firth in the best actor category were Javier Bardem for Biutiful, James Franco for 127 Hours and Jesse Eisenberg for his portrayal of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
Competing for best actress are Golden Globe winner Annette Bening for The Kids Are All Right, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan and Michelle Williams for Blue Valentine.
The supporting actor nominees are Christian Bale in The Fighter, John Hawkes in Winter's Bone, Jeremy Renner in The Town, Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right and Geoffrey Rush in The King's Speech.
The contenders for the supporting actress Oscar are Amy Adams in The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter in The King's Speech, Melissa Leo in The Fighter, Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit and Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom.
The best director nominees are Darren Aronofsky for Black Swan, David O Russell for The Fighter, Tom Hooper for The King's Speech, David Fincher for The Social Network and the Coen brothers for True Grit.
The three films competing for best animated feature film are How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist and Toy Story 3.
The nominees for the best foreign language film are Biutiful, Mexico; Dogtooth, Greece; In a Better World, Denmark; Incendies, Canada; and Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi), Algeria.
----
Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion
Copyright 2011 by Deutsche Presse-Agentur
