The King's Speech leads the pack with 12 Academy Awards nominations with True Grit following closely with 10 nods. From one surprise Best Actress nominee to Ben Affleck's snub, see who else is in the running for Hollywood's top honor. Plus, Newsweek's Oscar Roundtable, featuring Colin Firth, Natalie Portman, Annette Bening, Nicole Kidman, James Franco, and Michelle Williams.
Gallery: Oscar Nominations 2011
Phones were ringing early Tuesday morning for those members of Hollywood associated with The King’s Speech and True Grit, nominated for 12 and 10 Academy Awards respectively. For the majority of the Oscars’ key categories, voters picks went as expected, with The Social Network coming in a close third with eight nominations.
As last year’s Best Supporting Actress winner for Precious, Mo’Nique announced this year’s Best Actress contenders from Beverly Hills, some were surprised to hear Michelle Williams’ name for Blue Valentine. As for the male talent, there were hoots and hollers in the room when she revealed Javier Bardem’s somewhat unexpected nomination for Biutiful, which is also a nominee in the Foreign Feature Film category. The supporting categories were more predictable and include this year’s youngest nominee, True Grit’s 14-year-old breakout star Hailee Steinfeld.
But for every pleasantly surprised nominee, there are others this morning who were likely disappointed. While one middle-schooler’s dream is coming true, The Kids Are All Right’s Julianne Moore was left out of the running while her co-stars, Annette Bening and Mark Ruffalo will be competing for awards. Some believe Ben Affleck’s The Townâ€"for which Jeremy Renner (who was a Best Actor nominee for Hurt Locker last year) is up for Actor in a Supporting Roleâ€"was unfairly left out of the Best Picture and Directing categories. Also missing from the latter list was the man behind the summer blockbuster Inception, Christopher Nolan. The film is, however, up for Best Picture. But perhaps the most shocking was the fact that Davis Guggenheim's Waiting for Superman, a documentary about the failure of America's public schools, was nowhere to be seen in the list of nominees.
Tune into the live ceremony on Feb. 27, co-hosted by Anne Hathaway and James Franco, who is also up for an award for his arm-hacking performance in 127 Hours.
Plus: Check out more of the latest entertainment, fashion, and culture coverage on Sexy Beastâ€"photos, videos, features, and Tweets.
Like The Daily Beast on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for updates all day long.
For inquiries, please contact The Daily Beast at editorial@thedailybeast.com.