The Oscar nominations came out this morning and there’s at least one acknowledgement of a nuanced gay role: Christopher Plummer is up for Best Supporting Actor for his charming turn as a gay septuagenarian in Mike Mills’ Beginners. It’s not his first nomination but remarkably could be the first win for this 82-year-old actor.
Also of LGBT interest is Glenn Close’s nomination as a female servant who spends her life in disguise as a man in Albert Nobbs (ditto for Janet McTeer) and Rooney Mara as a bisexual spy/investigator in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Fan fave Melissa McCarthy got a surprise nod for Best Supporting Actress, a bit of a shock since she’s in a comedy in which she literally loses her—well, you know.
For Best Picture, there were 9 nominees out of a possible 10, with a surprise nod for the 9/11-themed film Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, starring Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock. The Help got a nomination too but the film’s out director, Tate Taylor, was snubbed in the Best Director category. He was in good company though as Steven Spielberg, whose War Horse received a nomination, was missing from the Best Director list too. Also in the Best Picture lineup was Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, which got the most nominations of any film this year.
Below are the nominees in the top fields. For the full list of Oscar nods, go here. And be sure to watch the Oscars February 26 on ABC (like we had to tell you).
BEST PICTURE
- War Horse
- The Artist
- Moneyball
- The Descendants
- The Tree of Life
- Midnight In Paris
- The Help
- Hugo
- Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
BEST ACTOR
- Demian Bichir, A Better Life
- George Clooney, The Descendants
- Jean Dujardin, The Artist
- Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
- Brad Pitt, Moneyball
BEST 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 SUPPORTING ACTRESS
- Jessica Chastain, The Help
- Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
- Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
- Octavia Spencer, The Help
- Berenice Bejo, The Artist
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
- Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
- Jonah Hill , Moneyball
- Nick Nolte, Warrior
- Christopher Plummer, Beginners
- Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close
BEST DIRECTOR
- Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
- Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
- Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
- Alexander Payne, The Descendants
- Martin Scorsese, Hugo
loafersguy
Filmed in black and white? Yep. Silent? That too. Nevertheless, the Academy Award for Best Picture this year will go to “The Artist” and deservedly so.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2s9ZlenQm8
Red Meat
This year’s nominations are just really terrible. Midnight in Paris, The Descendants, and Extremely Loud incredibly close really do not deserve ANY nominations.
I liked War Horse, The Help, Hugo, and TTSS. Hugo deserves best picture. I haven’t seen The Artist or the two Brad Pitt movies so I’ll reserve my judgement on those.
Streep probably gave the best performance but will lose (AGAIN). If George Clooney wins, I will have to stop watching the Oscars right there, lucky for them they always do that one at the end.
I know everyone wants Plummer to win SA, but Nick Nolte in Warriors deserves the Oscar imo.
I really think Eastwood was robbed from a nomination for J. Edgar, the progression and time splits in that film were excellent.
Franco
Yay Glenn Close. I’m very happy to see her on the list. I adore her.
brixi
i suppose, if anyone deserves this nomination its chris plummer! what a hell of an actor since 60 (!) and never won an oscar so far- that`s a shame? why is pitt among the nominees? what a strange choice….
perdeep
How on earth is WAR HORSE nominated for an Oscar???
Beginners was really good, though.
Atlas
Why aren’t there any mentions for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’s nominations? There were gay characters in that as well, and it was actually a good movie unlike the boring Albert Nobbs.
Also, Red Meat is crazy. Midnight in Paris was great while War Horse was a steaming pile of crap.