The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations and the Awards Season picture started to look a whole lot clearer. The Artist led the way with six nominations, while The Descendents and The Help were right behind with five apiece.

The categories and nominations are...

BEST FEATURE - DRAMA

• The Descendants
• The Help
• Hugo
• The Ides of March
• Moneyball
• War Horse

• 50/50
• The Artist
• Bridesmaids
• Midnight in Paris
• My Week with Marilyn

• Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
• George Clooney for Ides of March
• Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
• Alexander Payne for The Descendants
• Martin Scorsese for Hugo

• Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
• George Clooney, Grant Heslov, and Beau Willimon for The Ides Of March
• Nat Faxon, Alexander Payne, and Jim Rash for The Descendants
• Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
• Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian for Moneyball

• Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs
• Viola Davis for The Help
• Rooney Mara for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Meryl Streep for Iron Lady
• Tilda Swinton for We Need To Talk About Kevin

• George Clooney for The Descendants
• Leonardo DiCaprio for J. Edgar
• Michael Fassbender for Shame
• Ryan Gosling for The Ides Of March
• Brad Pitt for Moneyball

• Jean Dujardin for The Artist
• Brendan Gleeson for The Guard
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt for 50/50
• Ryan Gosling for Crazy, Stupid, Love
• Owen Wilson for Midnight In Paris

• Jodie Foster for Carnage
• Charlize Theron for Young Adult
• Kristen Wiig for Bridesmaids
• Michelle Williams for My Week With Marilyn
• Kate Winslet for Carnage

• Berenice Bejo for The Artist
• Jessica Chastain for The Help
• Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs
• Octavia Spencer for The Help
• Shailene Woodley for The Descendants

• Kenneth Branagh for My Week With Marilyn
• Albert Brooks for Drive
• Jonah Hill for Moneyball
• Viggo Mortensen for A Dangerous Method
• Christopher Plummer for Beginners

• The Adventures Of Tintin
• Arthur Christmas
• Cars 2
• Puss In Boots
• Rango

• The Flowers Of War (China)
• In The Land Of Blood And Honey (United States)
• The Kid With A Bike (Belgium)
• A Separation (Iran)
• The Skin I Live In (Spain)

• Ludovic Bource for The Artist
• Abel Korzeniowski for W.E.
• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
• Howard Shore for Hugo
• John Williams for War Horse

• "Hello Hello" from Gnomeo & Juliet
• "The Keeper" from Machine Gun Preacher
• "Lay Your Head Down" from Albert Nobbs
• "The Living Proof" from The Help
• "Masterpiece" from W.E.

• The Artist is shaping up to be the big player during this year's Awards Season. Not only are its reviews stunning, but it is a creatively challenging film that Awards Season voters tend to love.
• The Descendents is another film that seems destined to earn Oscar nominations and it could pick up five or six major nominations early next year.
• The Help has done well so far, but I don't think it has the prestige to win Best Picture or earn a Best Director nod. It could win multiple nominations for acting, on the other hand.
• Ryan Gosling made three movies this year, all three films earned nominations, including two for the actor himself.
• Even more impressive, George Clooney earned four nominations (Lead Actor, Screenplay, Directing, and Best Picture).
• War Horse was thought to be Oscar Bait, but so far its performance has been lackluster.
• Likewise, Hugo deserves more love.
• I'm glad Bridesmaids earned two nominations, but I'm a little surprised Melissa McCarthy wasn't one of them.
• I'm also disappointed Patton Oswalt didn't earn a nomination for Young Adult.
• Cars 2 got a nomination, but Winnie the Pooh didn't? Of the five films that were nominated, only Arthur Christmas earned better reviews. So what's the deal? It's too short to be considered Feature Length. (The minimum running time is 70 minutes.) Oh well, there's still the Oscars, where the minimum running time is 40 minutes.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Date posted: 2011-12-16