84th Academy Awards

The 84th Academy Awards will be held on February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, California. The ceremony will honor the best films, directors, actors, etc. and will be televised in the U.S. on ABC. It will be Billy Crystal's ninth time hosting the Oscars. He stepped up for duty following the drop-out of Eddie Murphy as host, who bailed when Brett Ratner resigned as producer in the wake of a PR fallout for using a gay slur.

Best Picture
See also: Best Picture
 * Nominees
 * The Artist &mdash; Thomas Langmann
 * The Descendants &mdash; Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
 * Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close &mdash; Scott Rudin
 * The Help &mdash; Brunson Green, Chris Colombus, Michael Barnathan
 * Hugo &mdash; Graham King, Martin Scorsese
 * Midnight in Paris &mdash; Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum
 * Moneyball &mdash; Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz, Brad Pitt
 * The Tree of Life &mdash; Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill
 * War Horse &mdash; Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy

Best Director
See also: Best Director
 * Nominees
 * The Artist &mdash; Michel Hazanavicius
 * The Descendants &mdash; Alexander Payne
 * Hugo &mdash; Martin Scorsese
 * Midnight in Paris &mdash; Woody Allen
 * The Tree of Life &mdash; Terrence Malick

Best Actor
See also: Best Actor
 * Nominees
 * The Artist &mdash; Jean Dujardin
 * A Better Life &mdash; Demián Bichir
 * The Descendants &mdash; George Clooney
 * Moneyball &mdash; Brad Pitt
 * Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy &mdash; Gary Oldman

Best Actress
See also: Best Actress
 * Nominees
 * Albert Nobbs &mdash; Glenn Close
 * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo &mdash; Rooney Mara
 * The Help &mdash; Viola Davis
 * The Iron Lady &mdash; Meryl Streep
 * My Week with Marilyn &mdash; Michelle Williams

Best Supporting Actor
See also: Best Supporting Actor
 * Nominees
 * Beginners &mdash; Christopher Plummer
 * Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close &mdash; Max von Sydow
 * Moneyball &mdash; Jonah Hill
 * My Week with Marilyn &mdash; Kenneth Branagh
 * Warrior &mdash; Nick Nolte

Best Supporting Actress
See also: Best Supporting Actress
 * Nominees
 * Albert Nobbs &mdash; Janet McTeer
 * The Artist &mdash; Bérénice Bejo
 * Bridesmaids &mdash; Melissa McCarthy
 * The Help &mdash; Jessica Chastain
 * The Help &mdash; Octavia Spencer

Best Original Screenplay
See also: Best Original Screenplay
 * Nominees
 * The Artist &mdash; Michel Hazanavicius
 * Bridesmaids &mdash; Annie Mumolo, Kristen Wiig
 * Margin Call &mdash; J.C. Chandor
 * Midnight in Paris &mdash; Woody Allen
 * A Separation &mdash; Asghar Farhadi

Best Adapted Screenplay
See also: Best Adapted Screenplay
 * Nominees
 * The Descendants &mdash; Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
 * Hugo &mdash; John Logan
 * The Ides of March &mdash; George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon
 * Moneyball &mdash; Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin
 * Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy &mdash; Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughan

Best Animated Feature
See also: Best Animated Feature
 * Nominees
 * A Cat in Paris &mdash; Alain Gagnol, Jean-Loup Felicioli
 * Chico & Rita &mdash; Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal
 * Kung Fu Panda 2 &mdash; Jennifer Yuh Nelson
 * Puss in Boots &mdash; Chris Miller
 * Rango &mdash; Gore Verbinski

Best Foreign Language Film
See also: Best Foreign Language Film
 * Nominees
 * Bullhead from Belgium &mdash; Michaël R. Roskam
 * Monsieur Lazhar from Canada &mdash; Philippe Falardeau
 * A Separation from Iran &mdash; Asghar Farhadi
 * Footnote from Israel &mdash; Joseph Cedar
 * In Darkness from Poland &mdash; Agnieszka Holland

Best Documentary Feature
See also: Best Documentary Feature
 * Nominees
 * Hell and Back Again &mdash; Danfung Dennis, Mike Lerner
 * If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front &mdash; Marshall Curry, Sam Cullman
 * Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory &mdash; Joe Berlinger, Bruce Sinofsky
 * Pina &mdash; Wim Wenders, Gian-Piero Ringel
 * Undefeated &mdash; TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay, Richard Middlemas

Best Documentary Short
See also: Best Documentary Short
 * Nominees
 * The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement &mdash; Robin Fryday, Gail Dolgin
 * God is the Bigger Elvis &mdash; Rebecca Cammisa, Julie Anderson
 * Incident in New Baghdad &mdash; James Spione
 * Saving Face &mdash; Daniel Junge, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
 * The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom &mdash; Lucy Walker, Kira Carstensen

Best Live Action Short
See also: Best Live Action Short
 * Nominees
 * Pentecost &mdash; Peter McDonald, Eimear O'Kane
 * Raju &mdash; Max Zähle, Stefan Gieren
 * The Shore &mdash; Terry George, Oorlagh George
 * Time Freak &mdash; Andrew Bowler, Gigi Causey
 * Tuba Atlantic &mdash; Hallvar Witzø

Best Animated Short
See also: Best Animated Short
 * Nominees
 * Dimanche/Sunday &mdash; Patrick Doyon
 * The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore &mdash; William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg
 * La Luna &mdash; Enrico Casarosa
 * A Morning Stroll &mdash; Grant Orchard, Sue Goffe
 * Wild Life &mdash; Amanda Forbis, Wendy Tilby

Best Score
See also: Best Score
 * Nominees
 * The Adventures of Tintin &mdash; John Williams
 * The Artist &mdash; Ludovic Bource
 * Hugo &mdash; Howard Shore
 * Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy &mdash; Alberto Iglesias
 * War Horse &mdash; John Williams

Best Song
See also: Best Song
 * Nominees
 * The Muppets &mdash; "Man or Muppet" by Bret McKenzie
 * Rio &mdash; “Real in Rio” by Sergio Mendes, Carlinhos Brown, Siedah Garrett

Best Sound Editing
See also: Best Sound Editing
 * Nominees
 * Drive &mdash; Lon Bender, Victor Ray Ennis
 * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo &mdash; Ren Klyce
 * Hugo &mdash; Philip Stockton, Eugene Gearty
 * Transformers: Dark of the Moon &mdash; Ethan Van der Ryn, Erik Aadahl
 * War Horse &mdash; Richard Hymns, Gary Rydstrom

Best Sound Mixing
See also: Best Sound Mixing
 * Nominees
 * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo &mdash; David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce, Bo Persson
 * Hugo &mdash; Tom Fleischman, John Midgley
 * Moneyball &mdash; Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco, Ed Novick
 * Transformers: Dark of the Moon &mdash; Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Peter J. Devlin
 * War Horse &mdash; Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson, Stuart Wilson

Best Art Direction
See also: Best Art Direction
 * Nominees
 * The Artist &mdash; Laurence Bennett, Robert Gould
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2&mdash; Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
 * Hugo &mdash; Dante Ferretti, Francesca Lo Schiavo
 * War Horse &mdash; Rick Carter, Lee Sandales

Best Cinematography
See also: Best Cinematography
 * Nominees
 * The Artist &mdash; Guillaume Schiffman
 * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo &mdash; Jeff Cronenweth
 * Hugo &mdash; Robert Richardson
 * The Tree of Life &mdash; Emmanuel Lubezki
 * War Horse &mdash; Janusz Kaminski

Best Makeup
See also: Best Makeup
 * Nominees
 * Albert Nobbs &mdash; Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston, Matthew W. Mungle
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 &mdash; Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight, Lisa Tomblin
 * The Iron Lady &mdash; Mark Coulier, J. Roy Helland

Best Costume Design
See also: Best Costume Design
 * Nominees
 * Anonymous &mdash; Lisy Christl
 * The Artist &mdash; Mark Bridges
 * Hugo &mdash; Sandy Powell
 * Jane Eyre &mdash; Michael O'Connor
 * W.E. &mdash; Arianne Phillips

Best Film Editing
See also: Best Film Editing
 * Nominees
 * The Artist &mdash; Anne-Sophie Bion, Michel Hazanavicius
 * The Descendants &mdash; Kevin Tent
 * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo &mdash; Kirk Baxter, Angus Wall
 * Hugo &mdash; Thelma Schoonmaker
 * Moneyball &mdash; Christopher Tellefsen

Best Visual Effects
See also: Best Achievement in Visual Effects
 * Nominees
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 &mdash; Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler, John Richardson
 * Hugo &mdash; Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman, Alex Henning
 * Real Steel &mdash; Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor, Swen Gillberg
 * Rise of the Planet of the Apes &mdash; Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White, Daniel Barrett
 * Transformers: Dark of the Moon &mdash; Dan Glass, Brad Friedman, Douglas Trumbull, Michael Fink

Changes to the Categories
The Academy announced several changes to the eligibility and nomination processes for a number of the annual competitive awards categories.
 * Best Picture
 * The final nominees can now range from anywhere between 5 and 10 in number. The nomination voting process will be the same as before, through preferential balloting, but now only films that receive a minimum of 5% of total number one votes are eligible for Best Picture nominations. "A Best Picture nomination should be an indication of extraordinary merit. If there are only eight pictures that truly earn that honor in a given year, we shouldn’t feel an obligation to round out the number," Academy executive director Bruce Davis explained.


 * Best Animated Feature
 * This is now a permanent competitive category, and no longer requires the Board to annually "activate" it. Additionally, rules were amended to give the category more flexibility in terms of the number of nominees it can allow.


 * Best Documentary Feature
 * The category's eligibility period has been modified. Prior to 2011, documentaries that screened theatrically between September 1 and August 31 of the following year were eligible. This has now been changed to match the calendar year from January 1 to December 31. As a transition period, the 84th Academy Awards will accept documentaries that were released between September 1, 2010 to December 31, 2011.


 * Best Visual Effects
 * Previously, seven shortlisted visual effects contenders were announced several weeks before the official nominations announcement. This number has now been changed to 10 to coincide with last year's expansion of the category from 3 to 5 nominees.