Some surprises in Oscar nomination list

Martin Scorsese's Paris adventure "Hugo" leads the Academy Awards with 11 nominations, among them best picture and the latest director slot for the Oscar-winning filmmaker.

Also nominated for best picture Tuesday: the silent film "The Artist"; the family drama "The Descendants"; the Sept. 11 tale "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"; the Deep South drama "The Help"; the romantic fantasy "Midnight in Paris"; the sports tale "Moneyball"; the family chronicle "The Tree of Life"; and the World War I epic "War Horse."

The nominations set up a best-picture showdown between the top films at the Golden Globes: best musical or comedy recipient "The Artist" and best drama winner "The Descendants."

"The Artist" ran second with 10 nominations.

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Few expected "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" to make the best-picture list.

Because of a rule change requiring films to receive a certain number of first-place votes, the best-picture field has only nine nominees rather than the 10 that were in the running the last two years.

The best actress nominees are: 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."

Two-time Oscar winner Streep padded her record as the most-nominated actress, raising her total to 17 nominations, five more than Katharine Hepburn and Jack Nicholson, who are tied for second-place.

Streep went two-for-four on her first nominations, winning supporting actress for 1979's "Kramer vs. Kramer" and best actress for 1982's "Sophie's Choice." But she has lost her last 12 times, and the Globe win for her spot-on personification of Thatcher looks like her best chance yet to break that losing streak.

The best actor nominees are George Clooney, "The Descendants"; Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"; Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"; Jean DuJardin, "The Artist," and Demian Bichir, "A Better Life." Bichir's nomination all but came out of nowhere, as his film has not been widely seen.

The best supporting actor nominees are: Kenneth Branagh, "My Week with Marilyn"; Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"; Nick Nolte, "Warrior"; Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"; Max von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."  Nolte and von Sydow's nominations were probably the most surprising there.

The best supporting actress nominees are: Octavia Spencer, "The Help"; Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"; Jessica Chastain, "The Help"; Janet McTeer ("Albert Nobbs"); and Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids." McCarthy's nomination surprised many.

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Nominees for best foreign-language film are "Bullhead," by Belgium's Michael R. Roskam, "Footnote" by Israel's Joseph Cedar, "In Darkness" by Poland's Agnieszka Holland,  "Monsieur Lazhar," from Canada's Philippe Falardeau and "A Separation," from Iranian writer-director Asghar Farhadi. "A Separation" has already won the Golden Globe for best foreign language film.
The Oscars will be presented Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Billy Crystal and broadcast live on ABC.

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