Scorsese, Clooney dominate; DiCaprio out
Hugo, Martin Scorsese’s debut with 3-D picked up 11 Oscar nominations Tuesday morning, including one for Best Picture. Following closely with 10 nominations, including Best Picture, is the silent film The Artist. Among the seven other Best Pictures nominees for 2012 are The Help, a portrait of the racial divide in 1960s Mississippi; Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse. Among the surprise snubs are Bridesmaids and The Ides of March. Terrence Malick earned a Best Director nomination for his critically acclaimed The Tree of Life, along with Scorsese, Woody Allen and The Artist‘s Michel Hazanavicius. In the Best Actor category, the predictable nominees included George Clooney, for his role in The Descendants; Brad Pitt, for Moneyball; and Jean Dujardin, protagonist of The Artist. Surprise exclusions, on the other hand, befell Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March, Drive); Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar); Michael Fassbender (Shame). As is the case for the Best Actor category, Golden Globe winners Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) earned an Academy Awards nomination for Best Actress.