The Oscar race begins

The nominees have been named, and the red carpet has been unfurled. The Oscars are back, celebrating the 84th annual awards ceremony.

On Sunday, Feb. 26, the biggest and brightest names in Hollywood will gather to celebrate the best of all things film for the year 2011. Billy Crystal will host the event, and awards will be presented by the likes of Tom Hanks, Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz.

So who made the cut?

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo ran away with the lion’s share of nominations, a whopping 10 nods, including Best Picture and Best Director. It also received many technical nominations including art direction, music, cinematography and costume design.

Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist is another big collector of nominations, including Best Director, Best Actor (Jean Dujardin), Best Original Screenplay and the coveted Best Picture nomination.

Moneyball also dominated the nomination spread, earning six nods across the board. The film picked up nominations for Best Picture, as well as leading and supporting roles for Brad Pitt and the brilliant performance of Jonah Hill, respectively. The film also earned nominations for editing, sound mixing and adapted screenplay. This last is a singular feat, considering the challenges the film faced in making it to production.

Stephen Spielberg’s War Horse followed close behind Moneyball with five nominations, including Best Picture, proving once again that Spielberg is on top of his game when making films about 20th century world wars. Spielberg won Best Director for both Schindler’s List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998), the former of which also won Best Picture. Interestingly, John Williams, the film’s composer, will be competing with himself for Best Original Score, having also been nominated The Adventures of Tintin.

The Help picked up fewer nominations than its more big-budget competitors, but all of the film’s nods are in the biggest categories, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Viola Davis) and two Best Supporting Actress nods (Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer).

Beyond The Help, however, films with nominated best actresses were conspicuously absent from best picture nominations. Albert Nobbs (Glenn Close), The Iron Lady (Meryl Streep), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Rooney Mara) and My Week with Marilyn (Michelle Williams) all received a scattering of nominations elsewhere in the awards lineup.

Other Best Picture nominees include Alexander Payne’s The Descendants, Stephen Daldry’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life, all of which picked up multiple award nominations. Also in the Best Picture category is Woody Allen’s romantic comedy Midnight in Paris—a bit of a curiosity given that neither of the leads were nominated.

The awards are just weeks away, so save the date, pick your favorites and watch how this spectacle of cinema shakes out. The program airs live on ABC at 7 p.m. EST.

Best Picture
The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse

Best Director
Michel Hazavanicius (The Artist), Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris), Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life)

Best Actor
Demian Bichir (A Better Life ), George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Gary Oldman (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), Brad Pitt (Moneyball)

Best Actress
Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs), Viola Davis (The Help), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Brannagh (My Week with Marilyn), Jonah Hill (Moneyball), Nick Nolte (The Warrior), Christopher Plummer (The Beginner), Max von Sydow (Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close)

Best Supporting Actress
Bereneci Bejo (The Artist), Jessica Chastain (The Help), Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs), Octavia Spencer (The Help)