Oscar nominations announced

It's either a joke, divine irony or simply a coincidence.

But the fact that Terrence Malick's visionary meditation on nature and grace - The Tree of Life - ratcheted up the same amount of Oscar nominations as Michael Bay's crass robot-toy sequel Transformers 3: The Dark of the Moon is one of the more memorable angles to this year's Academy Award nominations, announced earlier today.

Another surprise was that the critically acclaimed Iranian drama A Separation - which chronicles a couple's attempt to obtain a legal separation in modern-day Iran - was not simply relegated to the Best Foreign Film category (somewhat of a ghetto, by the Academy's standards, of non-English language films).

It has also made its way into the Best Screenplay category, where it competes with the big boys.

It is not the only foreign film to be widely recognised by the Academy this year however, as the international hit The Artist leads the list with a whopping 10 nominations.

The French production is a mostly silent black and white love-letter to a bygone era in cinema, so its success is all the more impressive (though it does come packing a performance from John Goodman).

Otherwise it's more or less business as usual for Hollywood's annual pat-on-the-back ceremony (which will take place on February 26), as earnest, big-hearted dramas once again dominate the nominations.

Neck and neck with The Artist is Hugo, Martin Scorcese's uncharacteristically kid-friendly picture book adaptation.

The Academy has gifted Scorcese's much-loved foray into fairy tale territory with 11 nominations (most in crucial categories but some technical ones too).

Could it be that, having snubbed his cult classic films - Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Raging Bull - in the past, the Academy has now decided to lavish awards on Scorcese with everything they have, starting with 2006 lacklustre-by-comparison The Departed?

As is custom, inspirational stories of individual hardship (and of course, triumph) always go down well with the Academy. And though War Horse and Moneyball are two very different beasts (pun not intended), both of them scored six nods each.

War Horse is Steven Spielberg's highly-anticipated WWI adventure (previously a successful novel and stage show) about a young soldier who goes in search of his beloved horse, Joey, after it is sold to the cavalry.

Moneyball is a slightly less mythic and intimately quieter affair: Brad Pitt once again swoops to the rescue of a smaller film (as he did with The Tree of Life) by taking on the real life figure of Billy Beane, whose innovations in baseball statistics saved both his flagging career and the runt-like team he manages The Oakland Athletics.

Having undergone a topsy-turvy critical ride of late, it could be said that Woody Allen is truly back on form with Midnight in Paris, as the soufflé-light and razor-witted romantic comedy has been slotted in for four nominations, three of which are in key categories.

The often-dark standup comedienne Sarah Silverman once opined that George Clooney's career has seen the salt-and-pepper haired Hollywood heart-throb traverse realms "both artsy and fartsy".

This year, however, he'll be arriving to the Oscar ceremony fully plugged into the former milieu, as he starred in the now quintuple-nominated fatherhood dramedy The Descendants - directed by Sideways maestro Alexander Payne - and will also be fighting for an award in the Best Adapted Screenplay category, as he is a co-writer of the political thriller The Ides of March.

Full list of nominees

BEST PICTURE

The Artist

The Descendants

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

The Help

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

The Tree of Life

War Horse

BEST DIRECTOR

The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius

The Descendants - Alexander Payne

Hugo - Martin Scorsese

Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen

The Tree of Life - Terrence Malick

BEST ACTOR

Demián Bichir - A Better Life

George Clooney - The Descendants

Jean Dujardin - The Artist

Gary Oldman - Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

Brad Pitt - Moneyball

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Kenneth Branagh - My Week With Marilyn

Jonah Hill - Moneyball

Nick Nolte - Warrior

Christopher Plummer - Beginners

Max von Sydow - Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

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 ACTRESS

Bérénice Bejo - The Artist

Jessica Chastain - The Help

Melissa McCarthy - Bridesmaids

Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer - The Help

BEST ANIMATED FILM

A Cat in Paris

Chico & Rita

Kung Fu Panda 2

Puss in Boots

Rango

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Descendants - Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon &

Jim Rash

Hugo - John Logan

The Ides of March - George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon

Moneyball - Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin

Story by Stan Chervin

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Artist - Michel Hazanavicius

Bridesmaids - Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig

Margin Call - J.C. Chandor

Midnight in Paris - Woody Allen

A Separation - Asghar Farhadi

ART DIRECTION

The Artist - Production Design: Laurence Bennett, Set Decoration: Robert Gould

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan

Hugo - Production Design: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo

Midnight in Paris - Production Design: Anne Seibel, Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil

War Horse - Production Design: Rick Carter, Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

CINEMATOGRAPHY

The Artist - Guillaume Schiffman

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Jeff Cronenweth

Hugo - Robert Richardson

The Tree of Life - Emmanuel Lubezki

War Horse - Janusz Kaminski

COSTUME DESIGN

Anonymous - Lisy Christl

The Artist - Mark Bridges

Hugo - Sandy Powell

Jane Eyre - Michael O'Connor

W.E. - Arianne Phillips

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

Hell and Back Again

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth

Liberation Front

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory

Pina

Undefeated

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT

The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement

God Is the Bigger Elvis

Incident in New Baghdad

Saving Face

The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

BEST FILM EDITING

The Artist - Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius

The Descendants - Kevin Tent

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall

Hugo - Thelma Schoonmaker

Moneyball - Christopher Tellefsen

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Bullhead - Belgium

Footnote - Israel

In Darkness - Poland

Monsieur Lazhar - Canada

A Separation - Iran

BEST MAKEUP

Albert Nobbs - Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and

Matthew W. Mungle

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Part 2 - Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin

The Iron Lady - Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Adventures of Tintin - John Williams

The Artist - Ludovic Bource

Hugo - Howard Shore

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - Alberto Iglesias

War Horse - John Williams

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Man or Muppet - The Muppets, Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie

Real in Rio - Rio, Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown

Lyric by Siedah Garrett

BEST ANIMATED SHORT

Dimanche/Sunday - Patrick Doyon

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore - William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg

La Luna - Enrico Casarosa

A Morning Stroll - Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe

Wild Life - Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

BEST LIVE FILM

Pentecost - Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane

Raju - Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren

The Shore - Terry George and Oorlagh George

Time Freak - Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey

Tuba Atlantic - Hallvar Witzø

BEST SOUND EDITING

Drive - Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - Ren Klyce

Hugo - Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl

War Horse - Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

BEST SOUND MIXING

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson

Hugo - Tom Fleischman and John Midgley

Moneyball - Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and

Ed Novick

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin

War Horse - Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and

Stuart Wilson

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Part 2 - Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and

John Richardson

Hugo - Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and

Alex Henning

Real Steel - Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett

Transformers: Dark of the Moon - Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier