The 84th Annual Academy Awards: Surprises, Snubs and Disappointments

Each year, it’s always fun to see who the Academy has decided to snub for this most prestigious award. Of course, some of Hollywood’s elite will feel that the decisions are completely personal, but there’s usually a surprise or two in the mix, as well. There are 24 categories for the Academy Awards and the nominations always bring out the best and worst in people. On Tuesday morning, the announcements were made by Tom Sherak and Jennifer Lawrence. One of the standouts was “Hugo” by Martin Scorsese. “Hugo” scored an impressive 11 nominations, just one more than “The Artist.” There’s new voting procedure this year and for the first time, the nominations for Best Picture were not given out in alphabetical order.

There are nine films up for Best Picture: War Horse, Extremely Lou & Incredibly Close, The Artist, Hugo, Moneyball, The Help, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, and The Tree of Life. Best Actress nominations include Glenn Close, Michelle Williams, Rooney Mara, Meryl Streep, and Viola Davis. Best Actor nominations include Brad Pitt, Demian Bichir, Gary Oldman, George Clooney, and Jean Dujardin. Best Director Nominations include Terrence Malick, Michel Hazanivicus, Woody Allen, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese. Best Animated Feature nominations include Rango, A Cat in Paris, Puss in Boots, Chico and Rita, and Kung Fu Panda 2.

The Academy Awards are handed out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is one of the oldest award ceremony in film industry and the other equivalent film awards were fashioned after the Oscars. The Academy was originally conceived by Louis B. Mayer, who was part owner in Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The first award was handed out on May 16, 1929 in Hollywood at the Hotel Roosevelt. A sealed envelope has been used to reveal the winners’ names since 1941. Before then, newspapers were privy to the results the night before the ceremony, but the Los Angeles Times announced who won before the ceremony in 1940. It is considered the most prestigious award in the motion picture industry.

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