‘Hugo,’ ‘Artist’ inject cinema nostalgia to Oscars
By CHRISTY LEMIRE and DAVID GERMAIN Associated Press January 24, 2012 3:12PM
In this image released by Paramount Pictures, Asa Butterfield portrays Hugo Cabret in a scene from "Hugo." The film was nominated Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2012 for an Oscar for best film. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 26 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, hosted by Billy Crystal and broadcast live on ABC. (AP Photo/Paramount Pictures, Jaap Buitendijk)
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Updated: February 26, 2012 8:11AM
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — American master Martin Scorsese journeyed to France, putting Hollywood’s newest technology to work for his dazzling 3-D re-creation of 1930s Paris in “Hugo.” French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius came to America, reviving old-time Hollywood with his charming resurrection of early cinema in the silent film “The Artist.”
The two films now head a 21st century Academy Awards show whose top nominees offer loving looks back to the infancy of moviemaking, when flicks really flickered and cutting-edge visual effects amounted to actors jumping out of the frame while the camera was stopped so they would seem to magically disappear.
Scorsese’s Paris adventure “Hugo” led contenders Tuesday with 11 nominations, among them best-picture and the latest directing honor for the Oscar-winning filmmaker.
Hazanavicius’ “The Artist” ran second with 10 nominations, including honors for the director and Jean Dujardin and Berenice Bejo, the stars of the film that could become the first silent movie to win the best-picture prize since year one at the Oscars.
Also nominated for best picture: Alexander Payne’s family drama “The Descendants”; Stephen Daldry’s Sept. 11 tale “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”; Tate Taylor’s Deep South drama “The Help”; Woody Allen’s romantic fantasy “Midnight in Paris”; Bennett Miller’s sports tale “Moneyball”; Terrence Malick’s family chronicle “The Tree of Life”; and Steven Spielberg’s World War I epic “War Horse.”
Among the nominations for “Hugo” are adapted screenplay, cinematography, musical score and visual effects.
“The Artist” is a throwback to black-and-white silent days as a superstar of the pre-sound era (best-actor nominee Dujardin) falls on hard times when talking pictures arrive, while a rising star (supporting-actress nominee Bejo) becomes guardian angel for the former screen idol.
Along with his directing honor, Hazanavicius was nominated for original screenplay on “The Artist.” The film’s other nominations include musical score, cinematography and costume design.
Another key nomination is a tribute to the big-screen’s most famous sex symbol, Marilyn Monroe, a superstar who was never nominated for an Oscar. Michelle Williams earned a best-actress nomination as Monroe in “My Week with Marilyn.”
Williams’ competition includes Meryl Streep, who extended her record for most acting nominations to 17 with a best-actress honor as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady.”
Also nominated: Glenn Close for the Irish drama “Albert Nobbs,” Viola Davis for “The Help” and Rooney Mara for the thriller “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.”
Dujardin, the Golden Globe winner for best actor in a musical or comedy, will be up against Globe dramatic actor recipient George Clooney for “The Descendants.”
Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock’s “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close,” which got mixed reviews and has not been much of a factor at earlier Hollywood awards, was a very unexpected best-picture nominee. Co-star Max von Sydow was a surprise nominee for supporting actor.
Malick’s “The Tree of Life” also had been considered a bit of a best-picture longshot. The movie, which won top honors at last May’s Cannes Film Festival but was a love-it-or-hate-it drama among audiences, also picked up a directing nomination for Malick.
Melissa McCarthy, a supporting-actress nominee for the wedding romp “Bridesmaids,” is a rare funny lady competing at the Oscars.
Demian Bichir also was a surprise nominee as best actor for “A Better Life,” an immigrant drama that few people have seen.
Along with Bichir, Clooney and Dujardin, the best-actor contenders are Gary Oldman for the espionage tale “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” and Brad Pitt for the baseball story in “Moneyball.”
Among those with strong prospects that came away empty-handed were Leonardo DiCaprio for “J. Edgar,” from perennial Oscar heavyweight Clint Eastwood, whose latest film did not score a single nomination.
While Spielberg’s best-picture contender “War Horse” picked up six nominations, the Oscar-winning filmmaker missed out in the directing category, a prize he has won twice. His first cartoon feature, the Golden Globe-winning “The Adventures of Tintin,” also did not make the list for best animated film.
The animated films that did make it: “A Cat in Paris,” “Chico & Rita,” Kung Fu Panda 2,” “Puss in Boots” and “Rango.”
Besides von Sydow, supporting-actor nominees are Kenneth Branagh for “My Week with Marilyn,” Jonah Hill for “Moneyball,” Nick Nolte for the extreme-fighting drama “Warrior” and Christopher Plummer for the father-son story “Beginners.”
Joining Bejo and McCarthy in the supporting-actress field is Octavia Spencer, whose Globe win as a fiery maid in “The Help” positions her as a possible front-runner.
Spencer’s “The Help” co-star Jessica Chastain also is nominated, along with Janet McTeer for “Albert Nobbs.”
The awards are Feb. 26.
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