Oscar season kicked off today with the nominations for the Academy’s set of awards given annually for excellence of cinematic achievements. Actor Denzel Washington, Quentin Tarantino’s movie “Django Unchained” and 9-year-old actress Quvenzhane Wallis were all nominated for awards, although it was Steven Spielberg’s ”Lincoln” which led with the most nominations.
Washington earned a best actor nomination for his role as an intoxicated airline pilot who miraculously crash lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe for the movie “Flight,” and “Django Unchained,” a love story about a slave who joins forces with a bounty hunter to find his wife earned director Tarantino a best picture nomination.
“Beasts of the Southern Wild” received four nominations including best director and best picture and the film’s 9-year-old star, Wallis became the year’s youngest Oscar nominee, with a nod in the best actress category.
Rounding out the nine best picture nominees were “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Argo,” “Les Miserables,” “Life of Pi,” “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Amour.” The other nominees for best director are Ang Lee for “Life of Pi,” ”David O. Russell” for “Silver Linings Playbook,” Michael Haneke for “Amour” and Benh Zeitlin for “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”
Shut out at this year’s nominations for the best director accolade were “Zero Dark Hour’” director Kathryn Bigelow and “Argo” director Ben Affleck. The delightful French indie film “The Intouchables” failed to win a nomination. Also snubbed was Samuel L. Jackson whose performance in “Django Unchained” is one of the best of his career. Leonardo DiCaprio, widely seen as a favorite for one of the five best supporting actor nomination was also shut out as was the Sony Pictures Animated feature ‘Hotel Transylvania’ which set a September record making $43 million at the box office.
“Lincoln” received the most nominations with twelve, including Best Picture, Best Director (Steven Spielberg) and Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis).
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theater at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
Samantha Ofole-Prince is a journalist and movie critic who covers industry-specific news that includes television and film. She serves as the Entertainment Editor for Trendy Africa.
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