Streep has an iron grip on the Oscars

Martin Scorsese’s lavish 3D adventure Hugo won 11 Oscar nominations yesterday, ahead of silent movie The Artist with 10 nods for Hollywood’s top cinema awards.

The third most nominations went to baseball movie Moneyball starring Brad Pitt and veteran director Steven Spielberg’s equine epic War Horse, which each got six nods.

Meanwhile, Meryl Streep, as expected, was nominated for her gripping performance as former British premier Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, while those shortlisted for best actor included Brad Pitt and George Clooney.

Also shortlisted for best actor were The Artist star Jean Dujardin , Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Demian Bechir in A Better Life, while the best actress category includes Glenn Close for cross-dressing Albert Nobbs, Viola Davis from civil rights drama The Help, Michelle Williams as Monroe in My Week with Marilyn and Rooney Mara from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

Hugo’s nominationsin­cluded the best picture category, where it is up against eight other movies including The Artist, which has been a favourite for the Oscars after a string of wins and nods in other awards show.

The other movies nomi­nated for best picture are The Descendants, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse.

The Oscars will be presented on February 26.

Nominees

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

Best director
Michael Hazanavicius for The Artist
Alexander Payne for The Descendants
Terrence Malick for The Tree of Life
Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris
Martin Scorsese for Hugo

Best leading actor
Demian Bichir in A Better Life
George Clooney in The Descendants
Jean Dujardin in The Artist
Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt in Moneyball

Best leading actress
Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis in The Help
Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams in My Week With Marilyn

Best supporting actor
Kenneth Branagh in My Week With Marilyn
Jonah Hill in Moneyball
Nick Nolte in Warrior
Christopher Plummer in Beginners
Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

Best supporting actress
Bérénice Bejo in The Artist
Jessica Chastain in The Help
Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer in The Help

Best foreign language film
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)

Best animated feature
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango