83rd Academy Awards: Best Picture Nominations

Natalie Portman

Black Swan

Mainlining Tchaikovsky's 'Swan Lake' ballet score like a drug addict, this film pushes Nina (Natalie Portman), a Manhattan ballerina devoted to her craft, to the brink of insanity and then a couple of subway stops beyond.

Produced by Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin.

This is the first nomination for all three.

Mark Wahlberg & Christian Bale

The Fighter

This movie is an off-center but exceptional boxing film that feels like it comes from real life as well as the movies. Set and shot mostly in Lowell, Mass., this is the true story of welterweight Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg) and his trainer-brother Dicky Eklund (Christian Bale).

Produced by David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg.

This is the first nomination for both David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman.

This is the first nomination for Mark Wahlberg in this category. He was previously nominated for his supporting role in The Departed (2006).

Leonardo DiCaprio

Inception

This elegant brain-bender affirms the prodigious imagination and clout of writer-director Christopher Nolan. Leonardo DiCaprio's character, Dom Cobb, works as an 'extraction' expert, able to enter someone's subconscious and purloin valuable information for a fee. The plot, I suspect, will not matter much to people interested in diving into Nolan's rich, sleek series of collapsing surfaces

Produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan.

This is the first nomination for Emma Thomas. This is the first nomination for Christopher Nolan in this category. He was previously nominated for Original Screenplay for Memento (2001). He is also nominated in the Original Screenplay category this year.

Annette Bening & Julianne Moore

The Kids Are All Right

Doctor Nic (Annette Bening) and her longtime partner, Jules (Julianne Moore), have two teenagers from the same sperm donor. When the kids make contact with the donor behind the moms' backs, Mark Ruffalo's easygoing restaurateur Paul shows up to stir this family's pot a bit. Bening and Moore have never been looser on screen, and Ruffalo is the perfect foil

Produced by Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray.

This is the first nomination for all three.

Colin Firth & Geoffrey Rush

The King's Speech

This juicy, witty historical docudrama stars Colin Firth as Bertie, the future King George VI, and Geoffrey Rush as his 'speech defects' consultant. The actors, predictably, are superb, and director Tom Hooper's slightly distorting fish-eye-lens work lends a gratifying immediacy

Produced by Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin.

This is the first nomination for all three.

James Franco

127 Hours

Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle proves it's possible to make a supercharged, kinetic movie about a man who can't move. Based on the memoir 'Between a Rock and a Hard Place,' this film follows Aron Ralston (James Franco) on his solo hike through eastern Utah.

Produced by Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson.

This is the second nomination in this category for Christian Colson, who won the award in 2008 for Slumdog Millionaire.

This is the first nomination for Danny Boyle in this category. He won an Oscar in the Directing category for Slumdog Millionaire (2008). He is also nominated in the Adapted Screenplay category this year.

This is the first nomination for John Smithson.

The Social Network

The Social Network

At once stealthy and breathlessly paced, The Social Network scoots at a fabulous clip. When a drunken hack job of Harvard's student directory turns into a social networking collaboration called thefacebook, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg takes the idea and his mad programming skills to California

Produced by Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin.

Scott Rudin's two nominations this year give him four in this category. He is also nominated this year for True Grit. He won the award in 2007 for No Country for Old Men and was also nominated for The Hours (2002).

This is the first nomination for both Dana Brunetti and Michael De Luca. This is the second nomination for Ceán Chaffin. Her previous Best Picture nomination was for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008).

Toy Story 3

Toy Story 3

'Toy Story 3' is a good sequel. Young Andy is heading off to college, and the long-neglected toys are headed for the attic. After mistakenly getting thrown to the curb as trash, the gang -- cowboy Woody, spaceman Buzz Lightyear, cowgirl Jessie, Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head and the rest of the principals -- has to bust out of the day care center in which they find themselves

Produced by Darla K. Anderson.

This is the first nomination for Darla K. Anderson.

Jeff Bridges & Matt Damon

True Grit

This remake restores all the grit removed in the first version. In 1870s Arkansas, 14-year-old Mattie Ross guides an Old Testament eye-for-an-eye search for her father's killer. Jeff Bridges plays one-eyed Civil War veteran Rooster Cogburn well, and Hailee Steinfeld is a real find as Mattie

Produced by Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen.

Scott Rudin's two nominations this year give him four in this category. He is also nominated this year for The Social Network. He won the award in 2007 for No Country for Old Men and was also nominated for The Hours (2002).

This is the third nomination in this category for Joel Coen and the fourth in this category for Ethan Coen. They are also nominated in the Directing and Adapted Screenplay categories this year, bringing their career totals to eleven nominations each. Last year they were nominated in the Best Picture and Original Screenplay categories for A Serious Man. In 2007, they won Oscars in the Best Picture, Directing and Adapted Screenplay categories for No Country for Old Men. They previously won Oscars for writing Fargo (1996), and were also nominated for their screenplay for O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000). Joel and Ethan Coen have also been nominated for Film Editing under the pseudonym Roderick Jaynes, for Fargo and No Country for Old Men.

Jennifer Lawrence & John Hawkes

Winter's Bone

Adapted from Daniel Woodrell's novel, Winter's Bone takes place in the Missouri Ozarks. Here, when someone's cooking skills are mentioned, the phrase refers to a methamphetamine lab, not dinner. The land and its socioeconomics are not for the weak. And in 17-year-old Ree, a flinty survivor portrayed by the spectacularly talented young actress Jennifer Lawrence

Produced by Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin.

This is the first nomination in this category for Anne Rosellini. She is also nominated in the Adapted Screenplay category this year.

This is the first nomination for Alix Madigan-Yorkin.

 

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