Today we are looking at the “supporting” category. We like this award because supporting characters can easily be scene stealers and elevate a movie as a whole.

Here’s the finalists for Actor in a Supporting Role:

• 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 & Incredibly Close

The biggest shocker here could be Jonah Hill who is best known for his comedic roles. This, his first dramatic role was very well-received and he provided a surprisingly strong foil to Brad Pitt in the film.

Max von Sydow’s performance in Extremely Loud… was extremely quiet as he had a very small part with no actual dialogue. We think he wasn’t quite as deserving as other actors this year, such as Albert Brooks in Drive or Patton Oswalt in Young Adult.

When Rise of the Planet of the Apes came out there was a huge campaign to recognize Andy Serkis for his motion capture work as the ape, Caesar. Obviously the Academy isn’t quite ready to tread those waters.

The favorite at this point seems to be Christopher Plummer, who already won the Golden Globe for his take on an elderly man who comes out as gay after his wife passes away. We think it will be a big surprise if this award goes a different way.

Actress in a Supporting Role

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

Another category with a pretty standard set of nominees with the exception of yet another comic performer.

This time it’s Melissa McCarthy who recently took home the Emmy for best comedic actress.  Though the Emmy celebrates television work some think her high profile performance in Bridesmaids helped boost her case.

This reminds us of Robert Downey Jr’s nomination from 2008’s Tropic Thunder for his incredible commitment in an out-there role as a white man pretending to be a black man. While we doubt McCarthy will win, it’s still pretty cool that comedic performers Like Hill and McCarthy are getting more respect.

We think the biggest snub in this category belongs to Shailene Woodley’s heart-wrenching and honest performance in The Descendants. Her only prior claim to fame was as the lead in Secret Life of the American Teenager. Who knew she was capable of such an affecting acting job? We are disappointed she didn’t make the cut.

If we continue using the Golden Globes as a predictor, then Octavia Spencer is the favorite for this category. She has been highly praised for her role in The Help, which featured a number of strong female performances.

But while we agree Jessica Chastain deserved a nomination, we really think it should have been for The Tree of Life, which required a more demanding performance than her role in The Help. She also had excellent performances in 2011 for Take Shelter and The Debt. We think she has a good chance of winning this category if the Academy lets her successful year influence their voting, and with that in mind we’d like her to win too.

What do you think about this crop of nominees? Who would you rather see nominated? Who do you think will win?

It was the day the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced their nominations for the 2011 film year.

After surveying the list of nominees it appears most categories went as expected with a few surprises and snubs along the way (see our list below).

This year, the Big award- Best Picture- had 9 nominees. This group of nine was selected in a new and slightly confusing manner.

It started back in 2010, when the category for Best Picture was expanded from 5 to 10.

This lasted only 2 years, with the Academy announcing last summer they have adjusted the rules to fluctuate between 5-10 nominees.  The first 5 films with the highest number of votes get a nod, followed by the next highest vote-getters who get a minimum of 5% of the Academy’s votes. In its first year in application 9 films received Best Picture nominations.

In the coming weeks we will be giving you a break down the major categories, culminating with the awards ceremony on Sunday, February 26.

Best Picture

• “The Artist” Thomas Langmann, Producer
• “The Descendants” Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
• “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close” Scott Rudin, Producer
• “The Help” Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
• “Hugo” Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
• “Midnight in Paris” Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
• “Moneyball” Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
• “The Tree of Life” Nominees to be determined
• “War Horse“ Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Directing

• “The Artist” Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” Alexander Payne
• “Hugo” Martin Scorsese
• “Midnight in Paris” Woody Allen
• “The Tree of Life” Terrence Malick

Actor in a Leading Role

• Demián 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”

Actress in a Leading Role

• 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”

Actor in a Supporting Role

• 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 & Incredibly Close”

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Bérénice Bejo in “The Artist”
• Jessica Chastain in “The Help”
• Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”
• Janet McTeer in “Albert Nobbs”
• Octavia Spencer in “The Help”

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• “The Descendants” Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
• “Hugo” Screenplay by John Logan
• “The Ides of March” Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• “Moneyball” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin  Story by Stan Chervin
• “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• “The Artist” Written by Michel Hazanavicius
• “Bridesmaids” Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
• “Margin Call” Written by J.C. Chandor
• “Midnight in Paris” Written by Woody Allen
• “A Separation” Written by Asghar Farhadi

Animated Feature Film

• “A Cat in Paris” Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
• “Chico & Rita” Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
• “Kung Fu Panda 2″ Jennifer Yuh Nelson
• “Puss in Boots” Chris Miller
• “Rango” Gore Verbinski

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

Documentary (Feature)

• “Hell and Back Again”
  Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
• “If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front”
  Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
• “Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory”
  Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• “Pina”
  Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
• “Undefeated”
  TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

• “The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement”
  Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
• “God Is the Bigger Elvis”
  Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
• “Incident in New Baghdad”
  James Spione
• “Saving Face”
  Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
• “The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom”
  Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

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

Foreign Language Film

• “Bullhead” Belgium
• “Footnote” Israel
• “In Darkness” Poland
• “Monsieur Lazhar” Canada
• “A Separation” Iran

Makeup

• “Albert Nobbs”
  Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
• “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
  Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• “The Iron Lady”
  Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (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

Music (Original Song)

• “Man or Muppet” from “The Muppets” Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
• “Real in Rio” from “Rio” Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Short Film (Animated)

• “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

Short Film (Live Action)

• “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

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

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

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

Break out your evening gowns… It’s time for the First Annual USDemocrazy Oscar Nomination Run-Down!

Hey… You! Stop yawning! The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has changed a time-honored tradition just to please us, the common folk. That is, they’ve expanded the “Best Picture” category from five to TEN!!!!

NPR’s Linda Holmes points out that the Academy has added five extra nominees to the field in order to make some room for more commercial films… Remember last year when the most successful picture at the box office was looked over at the Oscars? A little film called “The Dark Knight” saw its fans cry foul when the Academy snubbed it.

Holmes makes an example out of “The Blind Side” (trailer above) — a movie she believes is “utterly conventional,” and very popular with the public.

She doesn’t believe that movie will win the field, especially up against big contenders such as “Avatar” and “Up in the Air,” but is glad that more popularly accepted movies made it into Hollywood’s biggest competition.

Lest we forget, the Academy hasn’t always ignored the popular opinion. This gem, after all, was nominated for the 1996 awards:

So the producers of “The Blind Side” must be ecstatic that their family football film got a nod, right? Well, they’re realistic at least.

We don’t believe we have any chance of winning,” said Broderick Johnson, co-chief executive of Alcon Entertainment, which produced and marketed “The Blind Side.”

Oh, right. But there’s this:

Mr. Johnson also acknowledged the effect his film’s selection could have on the Oscars telecast. “It brings in a broader range of pictures that are critically acclaimed and fan favorites,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal reported, in addition to Mr. Johnson’s qu0tes, that this year’s field of nominees grossed an average of $151 million, versus the $71 million average for last year’s nominees.

If you’re intrigued to see what and who else was nominated, check the official Oscar nominee list. Spoiler alert: Meryl Streep is on there. Also, take a peek back in time at USDemocrazy’s 2009 movie round-up to see what was said about many of these movies before they were Nominees. (With the capital “N” and everything.)

Will widening the field to include more Best Picture contenders get YOU to watch the Oscars? Let us know what you think. You have until March 7th to decide (when the ceremony airs on ABC)!