Oscars 2011 Nominees – “King’s Speech” with 12

And they’re up! I’ve got your list of Oscar nominees this morning along with how my predictions checked out.

“The King’s Speech” blew away the pack with 12 nominations. Best Picture favorite “The Social Network” had eight by comparison, but there’s no question “Speech” has begun to turn the tide a little bit. We’ll see just how many of that even dozen actually win.

The nomination count was quite impressive for “True Grit” as well, which finished with 10 nominations, good for the second most. newcomer Hailee Steinfeld received a Best Supporting Actress nomination and the Coen brothers were nominated for directing and screenplay.

Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” had eight nominations including Best Original Screenplay, but the filmmaker was snubbed of a directing nod. David O. Russell, however, received recognition, earning one of seven nominations for “The Fighter.”

Other leaders were “127 Hours” (six nominations), “Toy Story 3” (five nominations) and “Black Swan” (five nominations). See the full list below.

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Best Motion Picture of the Year

• “127 Hours”
• “Black Swan”
• “Inception”
• “The Fighter”
• “The Kids Are All Right”
• “The King’s Speech”
• “The Social Network”
• “Toy Story 3″
• “True Grit”
• “Winter’s Bone”

Movie Muse Predictions: 9/10 Correct. I was one who backed the theory that “The Town” would score another nomination, but indie favorite “Winter’s Bone,” much like last year’s “An Education,” made it all the way from Sundance 2010 to here. Well done.

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Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

• Melissa Leo – “The Fighter”
• Amy Adams – “The Fighter”
• Helena Bonham-Carter – “The King’s Speech”
• Jacki Weaver – ”Animal Kingdom”
• Hailee Steinfeld – “True Grit”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. I really wanted to see Steinfeld get a Leading Role nomination, otherwise I would’ve had all five.

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Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

• Christian Bale – “The Fighter”
• Geoffrey Rush – “The King’s Speech”
• Jeremy Renner – “The Town”
• Mark Ruffalo – “The Kids Are All Right”
• John Hawkes – “Winter’s Bone”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. I said the competition would be tight between Hawkes and Ruffalo for the last spot, but it was Andrew Garfield from “The Social Network” who lost out. Sadness.

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Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

• Natalie Portman – “Black Swan”
• Annette Bening – “The Kids Are All Right”
• Jennifer Lawrence  – “Winter’s Bone”
• Nicole Kidman – ”Rabbit Hole”
• Michelle Williams – “Blue Valentine”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. Because I predicted Steinfeld’s nomination to come here and not in Supporting Actress, there was an extra spot and Michelle Williams took it.

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Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

• Colin Firth – “The King’s Speech”
• Jesse Eisenberg – “The Social Network”
• James Franco  – “127 Hours”
• Jeff Bridges – ”True Grit”
• Javier Bardem – “Biutiful”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. Javier Bardem won the final spot on this list, where I suspected the Academy would recognize 80-year-old Robert Duvall. It’s a bit of a surprise, but not really.

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Best Achievement in Directing

• Tom Hooper – “The King’s Speech”
• David Fincher – “The Social Network”
• Darren Aronofsky – ”Black Swan”
• David O. Russell  – “The Fighter”
• Joel and Ethan Coen – “True Grit”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. Many thought Christopher Nolan would be recognized, but the Coen brothers ended up getting his spot. Hard to argue with that, but it would’ve been nice to see. Nolan got his love in the next category, however.

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Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen

• Christopher Nolan – “Inception”
• David Seidler – “The King’s Speech”
• Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg – “The Kids Are All Right”
• Mike Leigh – “Another Year”
• Eric Johnson, Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy – “The Fighter”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. I thought “Black Swan” would be honored here, but it was “The Fighter” — not really an unfair trade off, but in terms of story, “Swan” is much more “original.” Quality of the dialogue, however, I might lean the other way.

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Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published

• Aaron Sorkin – “The Social Network”
• Michael Arndt – “Toy Story 3″
• Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy – “127 Hours”
• Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini – “Winter’s Bone”
• Joel and Ethan Coen – “True Grit”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. This is where I picked “The Town” because if it were to get a Best Picture nomination as I thought, it would need a nomination in some other big category. Instead, more (not surprising) Coen brothers love.

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Best Achievement in Cinematography

• Matthew Libatique – “Black Swan”
• Wally Pfister – “Inception”
• Danny Cohen  – “The King’s Speech”
• Jeff Cronenweth – “The Social Network”
• Roger Deakins – “True Grit”

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Best Achievement in Editing

• Andrew Weisblum – “Black Swan”
• Pamela Martin – “The Fighter”
• Tariq Anwar  – “The King’s Speech”
• Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter – “The Social Network”
• Jon Harris – “127 Hours”

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Best Achievement in Art Direction

• “Alice in Wonderland” – Robert Stromberg, Karen O’Hara
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1” – Stuart Craig, Stephenie McMillan
• “The King’s Speech” – Eve Stewart, Judy Farr
• “Inception” – Guy Hendrix Dyas, Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• “True Grit” – Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh

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Best Achievement in Costume Design

• “Alice in Wonderland” – Colleen Atwood
• “I Am Love” – Antonella Cannarozzi
• “The King’s Speech” – Jenny Beaven
• “The Tempest” – Sandy Powell
• “True Grit” – Mary Zophres

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Best Achievement in Makeup

• “Barney’s Version” – Adrien Morot
• “The Way Back” – Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Wolfman” – Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

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Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score

• Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – “The Social Network”
• Alexandre Desplat – “The King’s Speech”
• Hans Zimmer – “Inception”
• A.R. Rahman – “127 Hours”
• John Powell – “How to Train Your Dragon”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. John Powell’s epic score for “How to Train Your Dragon” beat out Daft Punk, which was a slightly progressive choice, I’ll admit.

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Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song

• “We Belong Together” by Randy Newman from “Toy Story 3”
• “I See the Light” by Alan Menken and Glenn Slater from “Tangled”
• “If I Rise” by Dido, Rollo Armstrong and A.R. Rahman from “127 Hours”
• “Coming Home” by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey from “Country Strong”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/4 Correct. Only four nominees. I picked five, but I didn’t miss any of them! Yea!

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Best Achievement in Sound Mixing

• “Inception” – Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• “The King’s Speech” – Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• “Salt” – Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• “The Social Network” – Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• “True Grit” – Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

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Best Achievement in Sound Editing

• “Inception” – Richard King
• “Toy Story 3” – Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• “Tron: Legacy” – Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• “True Grit” – Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• “Unstoppable” – Mark P. Stoeckinger

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Best Achievement in Visual Effects

• “Alice in Wonderland” – Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Pt. 1” – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• “Hereafter” – Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• “Inception” – Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• “Iron Man 2” – Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

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Best Short Film, Animated

• “Day & Night”
• “The Gruffalo”
• “Let’s Pollute”
• “The Lost Thing”
• “Madagascar, Carnet de Voyage”

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Best Short Film, Live Action

• “The Confession”
• “The Crush”
• “God of Love”
• “Na Wewe”
• “Wish 143”

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Best Documentary, Features

• “Exit Through the Gift Shop”
• “GasLand”
• “Inside Job”
• “Restrepo”
• “Waste Land”

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. I thought “Waiting for Superman” was a lock, so I’m very surprised there. “GasLand,” which I thought also had a great chance, took its place.

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Best Documentary, Short Subject

• “Killing in the Name”
• “Poster Girl”
• “Strangers No More”
• “Sun Come Up”
• “The Warrior’s of Qiugang”

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Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

• “In A Better World” (Denmark)
• “Biutiful” (Mexico)
• “Incendies” (Canada)
• “Dogtooth” (Greece)
• “Outside the Law” (Algeria)

Movie Muse Prediction: 4/5 Correct. I was uncertain of the last spot but gave it to Japan thinking that was more balanced, but leave it to the Academy to find a way to nominate another French film, this one from Algeria of all places.

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Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

• “How to Train Your Dragon”
• “The Illusionist”
• “Toy Story 3″

Movie Muse Predictions: 3/3 Correct. No surprise here. Now I need to watch “The Illusionist.”

Overall Movie Muse Predictions: 57/68

I’m pretty sure I missed 11 last year too, but I didn’t miss more than one in any category this year, so that’s an improvement, right?