As a fan of the movies, Hollywood & any reason to throw a watch party, the Oscars are my Super Bowl. I love the fashion, the spectacle and of course, celebrating the movies of the past year. This year, Midnight in Paris by Woody Allen and Hugo by Martin Scorsese lead the pack in a Best Picture field that has a slew of recognizable names from the last year. The acting prizes include performances from a few movies that I’d not heard of yet, but am now extremely curious to check out!

For the casual movie fan or a true film fanatic, this is truly movie season. You’ve still got a few weeks to hit the theaters for those films that are still playing nationwide. And of course, many of this year’s nominated films are now available anytime in your living room on demand. I plan to catch up on as many as I can between now & the awards show on February 26! Check back here soon for thoughts on some of the leading contenders, including Midnight in Paris & Moneyball, which I just saw this weekend with Movies on Demand.

Here are the nominations (televised awards):
BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Demián Bichir, A Better Life
George Clooney, The Descendants
Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Nick Nolte, Warrior
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Drag on Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Bérénice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer, The Help

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

ART DIRECTION
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

COSTUME DESIGN
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

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

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

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

FILM EDITING
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Bullhead, Belgium
Footnote, Israel
In Darkness, Poland
Monsieur Lazhar, Canada
A Separation, Iran

MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
The Iron Lady

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
Real in Rio from Rio

SHORT FILM (Animated)
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

SHORT FILM (Live Action)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

SOUND EDITING
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

SOUND MIXING
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

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 teven 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

Your reaction to the nominations? Who deserves to win? Who got snubbed?