The 2013 Oscar Nominees
It wasn’t Lincoln‘s field-topping twelve nominations nor Silver Linings Playbook‘s sudden ascension from “happy to be nominated” to “genuine Best Picture threat” that dominated headlines today.


No, it was the genuinely stunning absence of Argo‘s Ben Affleck and Zero Dark Thirty‘s Kathryn Bigelow from the Academy’s eclectic Best Director lineup that rocked Oscar watchers’ world. The two had been widely viewed as sure things (alongside Lincoln‘s Steven Spielberg—the category’s presumed frontrunner now), and the two films now take a step back in the Best Picture race in favor of the 11-times-nominated Life of Pi and the aforementioned Silver Linings Playbook.


And how about Beasts of the Southern Wild? Yours truly nearly fainted when Seth MacFarlane—alongside Emma Stone this morning—called out Benh Zeitlin’s name fifth among the Best Director nominees (which also include Silver Linings Playbook‘s David O. Russell and Amour‘s Michael Haneke). The film also managed nominations for Best Picture, Best Actress (Quvenzhane Wallis is now the category’s youngest nominee in history. A hearty congratulations, young lady), and Best Adapted Screenplay.


The Best Picture lineup is filled out mostly with the usual suspects: Amour, Argo, Beasts, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, and Zero Dark Thirty. The field might not contain a film as visionary as last year’s (The Tree of Life), nor is it as blockbuster heavy as 2011’s lineup (Inception, Toy Story 3), but this diverse group of titles represents some of last year’s finest filmmaking.


Silver Linings Playbook dominated the acting categories with four nominations—one each in Best Actor (Bradley Cooper), Best Actress (Jennifer Lawrence), Best Supporting Actor (Robert De Niro), and Best Supporting Actress (Jacki Weaver), respectively. That last one was the closest thing to an acting “surprise” that we saw today. Curiously, The Master earned three acting nods for Joaquin Phoenix, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams, but the film was noticeably absent in Best Original Screenplay and most of the below-the-line categories.


Daniel Day-Lewis should be considered the heavy favorite in Best Actor where he’ll compete alongside Cooper, Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables), Phoenix, and Denzel Washington (Flight). Best Actress still looks like a competition between Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) and Lawrence.


The Best Supporting Actor lineup is populated exclusively with former Oscar winners. Joining Hoffman and De Niro are Alan Arkin (Argo), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), and Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained). Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) picked up a Best Supporting Actress nomination and is widely expected to take home the trophy over Adams, Sally Field (Lincoln), Helen Hunt (The Sessions), and Weaver.


You can see the full list of nominations below. I’ll be attempting to analyze these categories and predict winners for the next 45 days, so keep coming back. The Oscar ceremony takes place February 24, 2013 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.
Best Picture
“Amour”
“Argo”
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“Django Unchained”
“Les Miserables”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Zero Dark Thirty”
Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Daniel Day-Lewis – “Lincoln”
Hugh Jackman – “Les Miserables”
Joaquin Phoenix – “The Master”
Denzel Washington – “Flight”
Actress in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain – “Zero Dark Thirty”
Jennifer Lawrence – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Emmanuelle Riva – “Amour”
Quvenzhané Wallis – “Beasts of Southern Wild”
Naomi Watts – “The Impossible”
Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin – “Argo”
Robert De Niro – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Philip Seymour Hoffman – “The Master”
Tommy Lee Jones – “Lincoln”
Christoph Waltz – “Django Unchained”
Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams – “The Master”
Sally Field – “Lincoln”
Anne Hathaway – “Les Miserables”
Helen Hunt – “The Sessions”
Jackie Weaver – “Silver Linings Playbook”
Animated Feature Film
“Brave”
“Frankenweenie”
“ParaNorman”
“The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
“Wreck-It Ralph”
Directing
“Amour” – Michael Haneke
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” – Benh Zeitlin
“Life of Pi” – Ang Lee
“Lincoln” – Steven Spielberg
“Silver Linings Playbook” – David O. Russell
Writing – Original Screenplay
“Amour” – Michael Haneke
“Django Unchained” – Quentin Tarantino
“Flight” – John Gatins
“Moonrise Kingdom” – Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
“Zero Dark Thirty” – Mark Boal
Writing – Adapted Screenplay
“Argo” – Chris Terrio
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” – Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
“Life of Pi” – David Magee
“Lincoln” – Tony Kushner
“Silver Linings Playbook” – David O. Russell
Music – Original Song
“Before My Time” from “Chasing Ice,” music and lyrics by J. Ralph
“Everybody Needs a Best Friend” from “Ted,” music by Walter Murphy, lyrics by Seth MacFarlane
“Pi’s Lullaby” from “Life of Pi,” music by Mychael Danna, lyrics by Bombay Jayashri
“Skyfall” from “Skyfall,” music and lyrics by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
“Suddenly” from “Les Miserables,” music by Claude-Michel Schönberg, lyrics by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil
Foreign Language Film
“Amour” (Austria)
“Kon-Tiki” (Norway)
“No” (Chile)
“A Royal Affair” (Denmark)
“War Witch” (Canada)
Cinematography
“Anna Karenina”
“Django Unchained”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Skyfall”
Costume Design
“Anna Karenina”
“Les Miserables”
“Lincoln”
“Mirror Mirror”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
Documentary – Feature
“5 Broken Cameras”
“The Gatekeepers”
“How to Survive a Plague”
“The Invisible War”
“Searching for Sugar Man”
Documentary – Short
“Inocente”
“Kings Point”
“Mondays at Racine”
“Open Heart”
“Redemption”
Film Editing
“Argo”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
“Zero Dark Thirty”
Makeup And Hairstyling
“Hitchcock”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Les Miserables”
Music – Original Score
“Anna Karenina”
“Argo”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Skyfall”
Production Design
“Anna Karenina”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Les Miserables”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
Short Film – Animated
“Adam and Dog”
“Fresh Guacamole”
“Head over Heels”
“Maggie Simpson in ‘The Longest Daycare'”
“Paperman”
Short Film – Live Action
“Asad”
“Buzkashi Boys”
“Curfew”
“Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)”
“Henry”
Sound Editing
“Argo”
“Django Unchained”
“Life of Pi”
“Skyfall”
“Zero Dark Thirty”
Sound Mixing
“Argo”
“Les Miserables”
“Life of Pi”
“Lincoln”
“Skyfall”
Visual Effects
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“Life of Pi”
“Marvel’s The Avengers”
“Prometheus”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
