So main Oscar nominations have been announced, & can we all just take this chance to say…what a load of BOLLOCKS. Not only did Michael Fassbender or Carey Mulligan get no nominations for Shame, Nicolas Winding Refn’s incredible Drive - named practically everywhere as Film of the Year – only got one nomination. For bloody sound editing. I don’t know what the hell they were thinking, but take solace in the fact that that’s the only nomination Fight Club got back in the day too, so hopefully Drive will enjoy the enduring cult classic status of that film – though it deserves a hell of a lot more. And just to really piss me off, Spielberg’s goddawful, sentimental, orchestrated piece of TRIPE Warhorse got a best picture nomination? Are you f*cking KIDDING me? Reviews everywhere (bar one Irish paper, who bizarrely seem to have been drinking the Disney Kool-Aid) gave it bad to mediocre reviews -but hey, we’re not all friends with Spielberg, unlike, ooh, I dunno, the Academy?
Literally the two saving graces of the nominations were the nod to Nick Nolte’s amazing turn in Warrior, that had me (& everyone else in the cinema) sobbing like a little girl the three times I went to see it, & the nom for the gorgeous jazz love story Chico & Rita – it was out here over a year ago, but hey, better late than never.

Oh, & finally – if Jonah Hill gets an Oscar I’m going to bite each & every member of the Academy. I just watched The Sitter, so I may be biased, but seriously. I’ll bite. Hard.

BEST PICTURE
The Artist
War Horse
Moneyball
The Descendants
The Tree of Life
Midnight in Paris
The Help
Hugo
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, Hugo (pictured)
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

BEST ACTOR
George Clooney, The Descendants
Demian Bachir, A Better Life
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

BEST ACTRESS
Meryl Streep, Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Viola Davis, The Help

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Max Von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Nick Nolte, Warrior

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Octavia Spencer, The Help
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Jonah Hill, Moneyball

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
oneyball, Aaron Sorkin & Steve Zaillian
The Descendants, by Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne, and Jim Rash
Hugo, by John Logan
The Ides of March, by George Clooney and Grant Heslov
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, by Bridget O’Connor and Peter Straughan

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Artist, by Michel Hazanavicius
Midnight in Paris, Woody Allen
Bridesmaids, Kristen Wiig & Annie Mumolo
Margin Call, J.C. Chandor
A Separation, Asghar Farhadi

BEST ANIMATED FILM
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango