The 2012 Oscar nominations have been Announced!

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The 2012 Oscar nominations are OUT!

Oscar nominations were unveiled today shortly after 8:30 a.m. EST. So what films, directors and actors have the most momentum going into the big dance at the Academy Awards

"The Artist" took home top laurels from the Producers Guild of America on Saturday night, and now leads in the overall Heatmeter scoring in the best picture category. "The Descendants" is second.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year is adopting a new system for the best picture race –- there may be anywhere between five and 10 best picture contenders

In the best actor category, Jean Dujardin, who won the Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy as a silent-era star whose career goes kaput with the arrival of talking pictures, will be up against Globe dramatic actor winner George Clooney for “The Descendants,” in which the Oscar-winning superstar plays a dad trying to hold his Hawaiian family together after a boating accident puts his wife in a coma.

Other best-actor contenders are: Demian Bichir as an immigrant father in “A Better Life”; Gary Oldman as British spymaster George Smiley in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”; and Brad Pitt as Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane in “Moneyball.”

As for best actress, Viola Davis has been nominated for Best Actress for her riveting role in The Help. She's up against friend Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady, Rooney Mara for Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Michelle Williams for A Week With Marilyn, and Glenn Close.

And the other star of The Help, Octavia Spencer, nabbed the Best Supporting Actress nomination. Her good friend, the hilarious Bridesmaids star Melissa McCarthy, was also nominated in the category.

In the best director category, Martin Scorsese is in the lead for his 3-D children's movie "Hugo," followed closely by "The Artist's" Michel Hazanavicius, Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life," Alexander Payne for "The Descendants" and Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris." Clooney ("The Ides of March") and David Fincher ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo") go into the noms as underdogs.

There were some surprising SNUBS too;Albert Brooks was not nominated for “Drive,” which is s a shame in the Best Supporting Actor category. His spot went to Max von Sydow in “Extremely.” Another big shock — “Tintin” was not nominated for Best Animated Feature. This is actually shocking. Leonardo DiCaprio was not nominated for “J Edgar” in Best Actor–his spot went to Damien Bachir in “A Better Place.”

However it would have been nice to see Pariah nominated but it did get 7 NAACP noms! My take on the ladies is this. I believe Meryl Streep will hget Best Actress over Viola and Octavia will win Best Supporting Actress! Just sayin'


For the full list go here

The 84th Annual Academy Awards air live on ABC, Sunday, February 26th at 7p ET.

Congrats to the nominees!

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