Whenever I see the somewhat canned-sounding thank-you-to-the-Academy quotes that are rushed to press immediately after the Oscar nominations are announced, I can't help but think of Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest—poised at her front door, her hair "just so", ready with her prepared quote for the waiting cameras.
But there was one quote this morning that totally charmed me. This thank you shines with its old-fashioned sincerity—like a thank you note that your mother taught you to write. Acclaimed Swedish actor Max von Sydow sent the following handwritten note to the Academy when he heard about his Best Supporting Actor nomination for Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close...
Here is the complete list of the 2012 Oscar nominees! (Get the full scoop at Oscars.com)
The 84th annual Academy Awards will be held on February 26, 2011, live on ABC at 5pm(PST) / 8pm(ET).
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
LEAD ACTOR
Demián Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"
LEAD ACTRESS
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"
BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week with Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Bérénice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
"The Descendants," Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
"Hugo," John Logan
"The Ides of March," George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
"Moneyball," Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
"The Artist," Michel Hazanavicius
"Bridesmaids," Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
"Margin Call," J.C. Chandor
"Midnight in Paris," Woody Allen
"A Separation," Asghar Farhadi
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"A Cat in Paris," Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
"Chico & Rita," Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
"Kung Fu Panda 2," Jennifer Yuh Nelson
"Puss in Boots," Chris Miller
"Rango," Gore Verbinski
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Bullhead," Belgium
"Footnote," Israel
"In Darkness," Poland
"Monsieur Lazhar," Canada
"A Separation," Iran
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
"Hell and Back Again," Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front," Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory," Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
"Pina," Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
"Undefeated," TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement," Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
"God Is the Bigger Elvis," Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
"Incident in New Baghdad," James Spione
"Saving Face," Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom," Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"Dimanche/Sunday," Patrick Doyon
"The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore," William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
"La Luna," Enrico Casarosa
"A Morning Stroll," Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
"Wild Life," Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Pentecost," Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
"Raju," Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
"The Shore," Terry George and Oorlagh George
"Time Freak," Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
"Tuba Atlantic," Hallvar Witzø
ART DIRECTION
"The Artist," production design: Laurence Bennett; set decoration: Robert Gould
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," production design: Stuart Craig; set decoration: Stephenie McMillan
"Hugo," production design: Dante Ferretti; set decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
"Midnight in Paris," production design: Anne Seibel; set decoration: Hélène Dubreuil
"War Horse," production design: Rick Carter; set decoration: Lee Sandales
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Guillaume Schiffman, "The Artist"
Jeff Cronenweth, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"
Robert Richardson, "Hugo"
Emmanuel Lubezki, "The Tree of Life"
Janusz Kaminski, "War Horse"
COSTUME DESIGN
Lisy Christl, "Anonymous"
Mark Bridges, "The Artist"
Sandy Powell, "Hugo"
Michael O'Connor, "Jane Eyre"
Arianne Phillips, "W.E"
FILM EDITING
"The Artist," Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
"The Descendants," Kevin Tent
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"Hugo" Thelma Schoonmaker
"Moneyball," Christopher Tellefsen
MAKEUP
"Albert Nobbs," Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2," Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
"The Iron Lady," Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource
"Hugo," Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse" John Williams
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
"Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets," music and lyrics by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio," from "Rio," music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; lyrics by Siedah Garrett
SOUND EDITING
"Drive," Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Ren Klyce
"Hugo," Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon," Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
"War Horse," Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom
SOUND MIXING
"The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
"Hugo," Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
"Moneyball," Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon," Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
"War Horse," Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson
VISUAL EFFECTS
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2" Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
"Hugo," Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
"Real Steel," Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes," Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon," Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier
Beverly Hills, CA (November 18, 2011) – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 84th Academy Awards®. One hundred twenty-four pictures had originally qualified in the category.
The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:
"Battle for Brooklyn" (RUMUR Inc.)
"Bill Cunningham New York" (First Thought Films)
"Buck" (Cedar Creek Productions)
"Hell and Back Again" (Roast Beef Productions Limited)
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front" (Marshall Curry Productions, LLC)
"Jane's Journey" (NEOS Film GmbH & Co. KG)
"The Loving Story" (Augusta Films)
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory" (@radical.media)
"Pina" (Neue Road Movies GmbH)
"Project Nim" (Red Box Films)
"Semper Fi: Always Faithful" (Tied to the Tracks Films, Inc.)
"Sing Your Song" (S2BN Belafonte Productions, LLC)
"Undefeated" (Spitfire Pictures)
"Under Fire: Journalists in Combat" (JUF Pictures, Inc.)
"We Were Here" (Weissman Projects, LLC)
The Documentary Branch Screening Committee viewed all the eligible documentaries for the preliminary round of voting. Documentary Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 15 titles on the shortlist.
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.