Oscar nominees snubs and surprises

Midway in writing a film on the search for bin Laden when it was announced that he had been killed, director Kathryn Bigelow (left, on location) and screenwriter Mark Boal revised the project into a procedural of the successful manhunt, which they researched by meeting with intelligence officials. They denied, however, accusations by some lawmakers that they had received classified information. "We never requested classified information or was I aware that classified information was coming my way," she told CBS News' Charlie Rose, reiterating that "to the best of our knowledge," they did not receive information that compromised American intelligence operatives. Bigelow did say that the film's characters are "all based on real people," and in some cases represent combinations of real figures.
Sony Pictures

When the Oscar host Seth MacFarlane and actress Emma Stone announced the 85th Oscar nominations Thursday morning, the category that was the most buzzed about was not the best picture nominees, but instead best director, in which this year the nominees played musical chairs during awards season.


The director of the Osama bin Laden chase film "Zero Dark Thirty," had been widely expected to land her second directing nomination (she won a Best Director Oscar in 2009 for "The Hurt Locker"), but she was not among the names read. Many have speculated that Bigelow and the film were diminished by the many objections to the movie's much-debated depiction of torture.



The category could have very possibly (and many expected it to) include Bigelow, Ben Affleck for "Argo," Quentin Tarantino for "Django Unchained" and Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables" - all of those films best picture nominees. Hooper, Affleck and Bigelow were all nominated by the Directors Guild, presumably the faction of the academy that knows something about directing.

"Lincoln," which led the pack with 12 nominations, was expected to rack up nominations, but "Silver Linings Playbook" (eight nominations), "Amour" (five nominations) and "Beasts of the Southern Wild"(four nominations) all earned more nominations than expected.


Haneke's "Amour," too, is an oddity in Oscar history: the first foreign language best picture nomination since Ang Lee's "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" in 2001. Its five nominations includes a nod for the 85-year-old Emmanuelle Riva - the oldest actress ever to receive a best actress nomination.

Made for less than $2 million, the "Beasts of the Southern Wild" did even better than its fans hoped, earning not just best picture, but nominations for director Zeitlin and its young star, Quvenzhane Wallis - the youngest best actress nominee ever. Still, Zeitlin could also be considered a snub: He composed the film's beautifully lush score.

The case of "The Sessions" was just as surprising. In a film about a guy in an iron lung, it's usually the guy in the iron lung who gets an Oscar nomination. But it wasn't John Hawkes' widely hailed performance that earned a nom, but Helen Hunt, who plays a professional sex surrogate helping him lose his virginity. Hawkes was inched out of the race by "The Master's Joaquin Phoenix, who didn't earn a SAG nomination, but ended up coming away with an Oscar nod.

Marion Cotillard's performance as an amputee in "Rust and Bone" was another unexpected snub for the actress who took home the statue for her performance in "La Vie en Rose" in 2008. Leonardo Dicaprio, who previously received three Oscar nominations, as Best Actor for "Blood Diamonds" and "The Aviator," and Best Supporting Actor for "What's Eating Gilbert Grape," was left off of the best supporting actor category for "Django Unchained."