“The King’s Speech” led the nominations with 12, followed by “True Grit” with 10, and just eight for “The Social Network” — still very much the front-runner in my opinion — and “Inception.” Though Anne Thompson sees the momentum shifting in a more royal direction, I think it’s a big mistake this time around to read too much into sheer quantity. For example, I would be surprised to see a huge number of non-“technical” awards for “True Grit” or “Inception.” (Roger Deakins’ “True Grit” cinematography and the amazing effects of Christopher Nolan’s team being very likely winners).

Considering where most of the awards have gone so far, the only thing really going for “The King’s Speech” and against the previously prohibitive favorite, “The Social Network,” is aforementioned traditional Oscar genre prejudices and the inevitable backlash most highly acclaimed and award winnings films get. However, outside of infantile attention-hog critic Armond White, I actually haven’t noticed a huge anti-“Network” backlash though there were some off-target feminist complaints. (A movie about an almost literal boys’ club is going to depict a boys’ club atmosphere.) In any case, the rather enormous and still ongoing on- and off-line backlashes against “American Beauty,” “Crash” and “Titanic” clearly didn’t hurt those films’ Oscar prospects one bit.

What we do see this year is a general tendency, Hailee Steinfeld’s terrific and hugely popular performance notwithstanding, not to give too many nominations to actors who are under-30 — unless they are leading men. And so James Franco and Jessie Eisenberg were both nominated for Best Actor while the quietly remarkable work of Andrew Garfield was ignored in the “supporting” category, though he was arguably almost as much a lead as Eisenberg. (I guess there was never much shot for a surprise nomination for the flashier work of either Justin Timberlake or Armie Hammer.)

Though I dislike the term “snubs” — as if any movie has any particular right to a nomination from any given body in this hugely subjective and inherently unfair game — there were some interesting omissions. “The Town” got a supporting actor nod for Jeremy Renner, taking the slot that might have gone to a “Social Network” actor. That was it.

Also, I’m wondering if there was a prejudice against over-50 and/or less glamorous characters and actors this year. I’m personally a bit disappointed that Lesley Manville wasn’t nominated for “Another Year,” though not really surprised. (Manville looks fantastic in person, but her character gets progressively more bedraggled in the course of the film.)

As per Anne Thompson, there was some silly arguing that Manville should have been in the supporting category. Considering Oscar’s history in this regards, it’s a massively silly argument and I won’t bore you examples but suffice it to say her character dominates the film, for better or worse. Also, as I’ve said repeatedly, it’s not unlikely that some people blamed her for playing someone who was as irritating as she is pitiable only too well. However, the Mike Leigh film generated yet another in a long list of screenplay Oscar nominations for the auteur (a very neat trick by Leigh, as his films are not “written” in the usual sense of the word).

“Blue Valentine” and “Winter’s Bone” seem to be this year’s two token indies. Speaking of unglamorous actors, Paul Giamatti was not nominated for his Golden Globe award-winning turn in “Barney’s Version.” On the other hand, Melissa Leo did get a well-deserved nod for her rather amazing (more amazing if you know her from elsewhere) work in “The Fighter,” a contender with six nominations.

The somewhat arty, hand-drawn, and more adult-oriented animated entry from Belgium, “The Illusionist,” was a wild-card nominee in the animation category over some very popular CGI animated comedies. However, if “Toy Story 3” doesn’t win, I’ll eat Woody’s hat.

Another non-surprise surprise was the exclusion of this year’s most popular and one of its most acclaimed documentaries from that category. Anne Thompson mentions that “Waiting for Superman” director Davis Guggenheim has been under some fire for over-simplifying certain aspects of his story — a charge that seems to be leveled against almost every documentary to achieve any level of success. This happens every year with documentaries, it seems.

All in all, this is looking like one interesting and fun Oscar race. Only now I really have to see “127 Hours” — along with all the Oscar pools, I should probably be running one myself on how little liquor bottles it’ll take me to get through the whole arm-sawing scene.

In case you haven’t seen them elsewhere, the complete list of nominations is below.

BEST PICTURE
127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight)
An Hours Production Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
INCEPTION (Warner Bros)
A Warner Bros. UK Services Production Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
A Relativity Media Production David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co)
A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
A Columbia Pictures Production Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
TOY STORY 3 (Walt Disney)
A Pixar Production Darla K. Anderson, Producer
TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
A Paramount Pictures Production Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
A Winter’s Bone Production Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

BEST ACTOR
JEFF BRIDGES – TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
JAVIER BARDEM – BIUTIFUL (Roadside Attractions)
JESSE EISENBERG – THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
COLIN FIRTH – THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
JAMES FRANCO – 127 HOURS (Fox Searchlight)

BEST ACTRESS
ANNETTE BENING – THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
NICOLE KIDMAN – RABBIT HOLE (Lionsgate)
JENNIFER LAWRENCE – WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
NATALIE PORTMAN – BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
MICHELLE WILLIAMS – BLUE VALENTINE (The Weinstein Co)

BEST ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
CHRISTIAN BALE – THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
JOHN HAWKES – WINTER’S BONE (Roadside Attractions)
JEREMY RENNER – THE TOWN (Warner Bros)
MARK RUFFALO – THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT (Focus Features)
GEOFFREY RUSH – THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)

BEST ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
AMY ADAMS – THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
HELENA BONHAM CARTER – THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Company)
MELISSA LEO – THE FIGHTER (Paramount)
HAILEE STEINFELD – TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
JACKI WEAVER – ANIMAL KINGDOM (Sony Pictures Classics)

BEST ANIMATED PICTURE
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (DreamWorks Animation)
TOY STORY 3 (Walt Disney)
THE ILLUSIONIST (Sony Pictures Classics)

BEST DIRECTOR
DARREN ARONOFSKY – BLACK SWAN (Fox Searchlight)
DAVID FINCHER – THE SOCIAL NETWORK (Sony Pictures)
TOM HOOPER – THE KING’S SPEECH (The Weinstein Co.)
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN – TRUE GRIT (Paramount)
DAVID O. RUSSELL – THE FIGHTER (Paramount)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
ANOTHER YEAR, Mike Leigh (Sony Pictures Classics)
THE FIGHTER, Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson (Paramount)
INCEPTION, Christopher Nolan (Warner Bros)
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT, Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg (Focus Features)
THE KING’S SPEECH, David Seidler (The Weinstein Co)

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
127 HOURS, Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy (Fox Searchlight)
TOY STORY 3, Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton, and Lee Unkrich (Walt Disney)
THE SOCIAL NETWORK, Aaron Sorkin (Sony Pictures)
WINTER’S BONE, Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini (Roadside Attractions)
TRUE GRIT, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Paramount)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Algeria, Hors la Loi (Outside the Law) (Cohen Media Group) – A Tassili Films Production
Canada, Incendies (Sony Pictures Classics) – A Micro-Scope Production
Denmark, In a Better World (Sony Pictures Classics) – A Zentropa Production
Greece, Dogtooth (Kino International) – A Boo Production
Mexico, Biutiful (Roadside Attractions) – A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) – Matthew Libatique
Inception (Warner Bros.) – Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) – Danny Cohen
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) – Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit (Paramount) – Roger Deakins

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Exit Through The Gift Shop (Producers Distribution Agency) A Paranoid Pictures Production Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
Gasland – A Gasland Production Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job (Sony Pictures Classics) – A Representational Pictures Production Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo (National Geographic Entertainment) – An Outpost Films Production Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land (Arthouse Films) – An Almega Projects Production Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
Killing In The Name – A Moxie Firecracker Films Production Nominees to be determined
Poster Girl – A Portrayal Films Production Nominees to be determined
Strangers No More – A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
Sun Come Up – A Sun Come Up Production Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
The Warriors Of Qiugang – A Thomas Lennon Films Production Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter (Paramount) Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) – Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) – Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter (Warner Bros) – Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
Inception (Warner Bros) – Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2 (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount) – Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) – Production Design: Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 1 (Warner Bros.) – Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
Inception (Warner Bros) – Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) – Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr
True Grit (Paramount) – Production Design: Jess Gonchor, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
Alice in Wonderland (Walt Disney) – Colleen Atwood
I Am Love (Magnolia Pictures) – Antonella Cannarozzi
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) – Jenny Beavan
The Tempest (Miramax) – Sandy Powell
True Grit (Paramount) – Mary Zophres

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
Barney’s Version (Sony Pictures Classics) Adrien Morot
The Way Back (Newmarket Films/Wrekin Hill Entertainment/Image Entertainment) Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman (Universal) Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

BEST ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) – John Powell
Inception (Warner Bros.) – Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) – Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) – A.R. Rahman
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Coming Home” from Country Strong (Sony Pictures/Screen Gems) – Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from Tangled (Walt Disney) – Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from 127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) – Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) – Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
Day & Night (Walt Disney) – A Pixar Animation Studios Production Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo – A Magic Light Pictures Production Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let’s Pollute – A Geefwee Boedoe Production Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment) – A Passion Pictures Australia Production Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) – A Sacrebleu Production Bastien Dubois

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
The Confession (National Film and Television School) – A National Film and Television School Production – Tanel Toom
The Crush (Network Ireland Television) – A Purdy Pictures Production – Michael Creagh
God Of Love – A Luke Matheny Production – Luke Matheny
Na Wewe (Premium Films) – A CUT! Production Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143 – A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
Inception (Warner Bros) – Richard King
Toy Story 3 (Walt Disney) – Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
Tron: Legacy (Walt Disney) – Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit (Paramount) – Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Unstoppable (20th Century Fox) – Mark P. Stoeckinger

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
Inception (Warner Bros) – Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) – Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
Salt (Sony Pictures Releasing) – Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) – Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
True Grit (Paramount) – Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

The nominees are: Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan,” David Fincher for “The Social Network,” Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech,” Christopher Nolan for “Inception,” and David O. Russell for “The Fighter.” Among the directors excluded who made films a lot of people are pulling for are two women: Lisa Cholodenko of “The Kids Are All Right” and Debra Ganik of “Winter’s Bone.” As Anne Thompson points out, the Guild has been slightly more open to nominating women than the Academy in the past. On the other hand, after last year’s big win for Kathryn Bigelow, it’s possible some of the pressure is off, or not.

Though it’s not as earth shaking, we movie fans like our movie special effects and the Visual Effects Society has made their nominations. No big surprises here either as the nominees for the movie with best effects are “Inception,” “Iron Man 2 ,” “Tron: Legacy,” “Alice in Wonderland,” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1.” I think it’s fair to say that visually stunning “Inception” should have the lead here, but we’ll see. In animation the nominees are: “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Toy Story 3,” “Tangled,” “Shrek Forever After,” and “Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole.”

The complete lists of award nominations, including a huge list from the VSA, are after the jump.

Directors Guild Award Nominees

DARREN ARONOFSKY
Black Swan
(Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Mr. Aronofsky’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Manager: Jennifer Roth
· First Assistant Director: Joseph Reidy
· Second Assistant Director: Amy Lauritsen
· Second Second Assistant Director: Travis Rehwaldt
· Location Manager: Ronnie Kupferwasser
This is Mr. Aronofsky’s first DGA Feature Film Award Nomination.

DAVID FINCHER
The Social Network
(Columbia Pictures)
Mr. Fincher’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Manager: JoAnn Perritano
· First Assistant Director: Bob Wagner
· Second Assistant Director: Allen Kupetsky
· Second Second Assistant Director: Maileen Williams
This is Mr. Fincher’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He was previously nominated for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008. He previously won the DGA Commercial Award for Speed Chain (Nike), Gamebreakers (Nikegridiron.com), and Beauty for Sale (Xelibri Phones) in 2003 and was nominated in that category again in 2008.

TOM HOOPER
The King’s Speech
(The Weinstein Co.)
Mr. Hooper’s Directorial Team:
· Production Manager: Erica Bensly
· First Assistant Director: Martin Harrison
· Second Assistant Director: Chris Stoaling
This is Mr. Hooper’s first DGA Feature Film Award Nomination. He was previously nominated for the DGA Award for Movies for Television/Miniseries for John Adams in 2008.

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
Inception
(Warner Bros. Pictures)
Mr. Nolan’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Manager: Jan Foster
· First Assistant Director: Nilo Otero
· Second Assistant Director: Brandon Lambdin
· Second Second Assistant Director: Greg Pawlik
· Additional Second Assistant Director: Lauren Pasternack
This is Mr. Nolan’s third DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He was previously nominated for The Dark Knight in 2008 and for Memento in 2001.

DAVID O. RUSSELL
The Fighter
(Paramount Pictures and The Weinstein Co.)
Mr. Russell’s Directorial Team:
· Unit Production Manager: Mark Kamine
· First Assistant Director: Michele Ziegler
· Second Assistant Director: Xanthus Valan
· Second Second Assistant Director: Timothy Blockburger
This is Mr. Russell’s first DGA Feature Film Award nomination.

Visual Effects Society Award Nominations

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual-Effects Driven Feature Motion Picture

Inception
Paul Franklin
Visual Effects Supervisor
Chris Corbould
Special Effects Supervisor
Mike Chambers
Visual Effects Producer
Matthew Plummer
Visual Effects Producer

Iron Man 2
Ben Snow
VFX Supervisor
Ged Wright
VFX Supervisor
Janek Sirrs
VFX Supervisor
Susan Pickett
VFX Producer

TRON: Legacy
Eric Barba
Visual Effects Supervisor
Lisa Beroud
Visual Effects Producer
Steve Preeg
Animation Director
Karl Denham
Sequence Supervisor

Alice In Wonderland
Ken Ralston
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor
Tom Peitzman
Visual Effects Producer
David Schaub
Animation Supervisor
Carey Villegas
Visual Effects Supervisor

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
Tim Burke
Overall VFX Supervisor
Emma Norton
Visual Effects Producer
John Richardson
Special Effects Supervisor

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Feature Motion Picture

Green Zone
Peter Chiang
Visual Effects Supervisor
Charlie Noble
Visual Effects Supervisor
Joss Williams
Special Effects Supervisor
Matthew Plummer
Visual Effects Producer

SALT
Robert Grasmere
Visual Effects Supervisor
Camille Cellucci
Visual Effects Producer
Mark Breakspear
Visual Effects Supervisor
Ivan Moran
Visual Effects Supervisor

Hereafter
Michael Owens
VFX Supervisor
Joel Mendias
Executive Producer
Bryan Grill
VFX Supervisor
Danielle Plantec
CG Supervisor

Black Swan
Dan Schrecker
Visual Effects Supervisor
Colleen Bachman
Visual Effects Producer
Michael Capton
3D Supervisor
Brad Kalinoski
Compositing Supervisor

Robin Hood
Richard Stammers
Overall VFX Supervisor
Allen Maris
VFX Producer
Jessica Norman
Digital Effects Supervisor
Max Wood
CG Supervisor

Outstanding Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Tangled
Clay Kaytis
Supervising Animator
John Kahrs
Supervising Animator
Glen Keane
Supervising Animator
Roy Conli
Producer

How to Train Your Dragon
Simon Otto
Head of Character Animation
Craig Ring
Visual Effects Supervisor
Bonnie Arnold
Produced By

Toy Story 3
Lee Unkrich
Director
Darla K. Anderson
Producer
Guido Quaroni
Supervising Technical Director
Michael Fong
Simulation & Effects Supervisor

Shrek Forever After
Jason Reisig
Head of Character Animation
Doug Cooper
VFX Supervisor
Gina Shay
Produced By
Teresa Cheng
Produced By

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Zareh Naibandian
Producer
Simon Whiteley
Production Designer
Eric Leighton
Animation Director
Alex Weight
Animation Supervisor

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Miniseries, Movie or a Special

Last Day of the Dinosaurs
Arnaud Brisebois
Artistic Director
Louis Desrochers
VFX Artist
Alain Lachance
Visual Effects Producer
Marc-Antoine Rousseau
Visual Effects Supervisor

Inside The Perfect Predator
Philip Dobree
VFX Supervisor/VFX Producer
Richard Costin
Animation TD
Sam Meisels
Compositor

The Pacific
John Sullivan
Senior Visual Effects Supervisor
David Taritero
VFX Producer
William Mesa
Visual Effects Supervisor
Marco Requay
Digital Visual Effects Supervisor

Prep and Landing: Operation Secret Santa
Dorothy McKim
Producer
Kyle Odermatt
VFX Supervisor
Andy Harkness
Art Director
Adolph Lusinsky
Look and Lighting Director

America – Story of US
Philip Dobree
VFX Supervisor/VFX Producer
Emile Hardy
DMP
Sam Howell
Lead Animator

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Broadcast Series

Caprica
Michael Gibson
VFX Producer
Gary Hutzel
VFX Supervisor
Davey Morton
VFX Artist
Jesse Toves
CGI Artist

No Ordinary Family
Andrew Orloff
VFX Supervisor
Curt Miller
VFX Supervisor
Paul Linden
VFX Supervisor
Scott Tinter
VFX Producer

V
Andrew Orloff
VFX Supervisor
Nathan Overstrom
2D Supervisor
Karen Czukerberg
VFX Producer
Roberto Biagi
VFX Supervisor

The Event
Victor Scalise
Visual Effects Supervisor
Jason Spratt
Visual Effects Producer
Diego Galtieri
Compositor
Mike Enriquez
Lead 3D Artist

Stargate: Universe
Mark Savela
VFX Supervisor
James Rorick
VFX Producer
Craig Vanden Biggelaar
Digital Effects Supervisor
Adam de Bosch Kemper
Lead Animator

Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Broadcast Program

The Walking Dead
Sam Nicholson
Visual Effects Supervisor
Jason Sperling
Visual Effects Supervisor
Kent Johnson
Visual Effects Producer
Chris Martin
Compositing Supervisor

Human Target
Andrew Orloff
VFX Supervisor
Raoul Bolognini
VFX Producer
Nathan Overstrom
2D Supervisor
Jason Monroe
Lead Modeler

Undercovers
Jay Worth
VFX Producer / Supervisor
Andrew Waisler
VFX Supervisor
Ron Thornton
VFX Supervisor
Andrew Kramer
Digital Artist

Boardwalk Empire
Robert Stromberg
VFX Supervisor
Dave Taritero
VFX Producer
Richard Friedlander
VFX Producer
Paul Graff
VFX Supervisor

Lost
Adam Avitabile
Visual Effects Supervisor
Melinka Thompson-Godoy
Visual Effects Producer
Michael Capton
3D Supervisor
Brad Kalinoski
Compositing Supervisor

Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Short

Looney Tunes – Coyote Falls
Bryan Engram
Animation Supervisor
Greg Lyons
Producer
Josh Carey
Rigging Supervisor
Harry Michalakeas
Technical Supervisor

Day & Night
Teddy Newton
Director
Kevin Reher
Producer
Michael Fu
Supervising Technical Director
Tom Gately
Supervising Animator

Paths of Hate
Tomasz Baginski
Animation Producer
Jaroslaw Sawko
Animation Producer
Damian Nenow
VFX Supervisor
Marta Staniszewska
Production Manager

Tick Tock Tale
Dorothy McKim
Producer
John Murrah
VFX Supervisor
Adolph Lusinsky
Look and Lighting Director
Wayne Unten
Animator

Cat Shit One – The Animated Series
Kazuya Sasahara
Director
Junya Okabe
Producer
Tomohisa Ishikawa
Art Director
Yoshiyuki Okada
Concept Artist

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Live Action Commercial

Wrigley’s 5 Gum – React
Robert Sethi
VFX Supervisor
Chris Knight
VFX Supervisor
Arielle Davis
VFX Producer
Gawain Liddiard
3D Lead Artist

DirecTV “Ice Cream”
Franck Lambertz
VFX Supervisor
Andrew Bell
VFX Producer/Head of Production
Mike Wynd
VFX Supervisor
Ross Denner
3 D Animator

Barclaycard Rollercoaster
Angus Kneale
Executive Creative Director/Shoot Supervisor
Ben Smith
Creative Director/Shoot Supervisor
Dan Williams
Lead Flame Artist
Ruben Vanderbroek
CG Artist

Halo: Reach
Dan Glass
Senior VFX Supervisor
Dan Seddon
CG Supervisor
Matt Dessero
DFX Supervisor
Stephanie Gilgar
VFX Producer

Verizon – Towers
Robert Sethi
VFX Supervisor
Arielle Davis
VFX Producer
Chris Knight
Shoot Supervisor/2D Lead Artist
Andre Desouza
3D Artist

Outstanding Animated Commercial

World of Warcraft
Marc Messenger
VFX Supervisor
Phillip Hillenbrand, Jr.
VFX Producer
Michael Kelleher
FX Supervisor
Brian LaFrance
Matte Painting Supervisor

Dante’s Inferno: Hell Awaits
Tim Miller
Director
Kevin Margo
CG Supervisor
Lindsey Zamplas
Producer
Kirby Miller
VFX Supervisor

Target “A Better Bullseye”
Chris Riehl
Animation Director
Javier Jimenez
Executive Producer
Daniel Zobrist
CG/Animation Supervisor
Charles Paek
CG/Lighting Supervisor

Andrex
Abby Orchard
VFX Producer
Antoine Moulineau
CGI Supervisor
Mike Mellor
Animation Supervisor
Russell Dodgson
VFX Supervisor

Cadbury’s Spots V Stripes
Jake Mengers
Creative VFX Director
Julie Evans
VFX Producer
Jorge Montiel Meurer
Lead Animator
Michael Gregory
2D Supervisor

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Special Venue Project

City of Ruins
Marcin Kobylecki
VFX Producer
Piotr Sliwowski
VFX Producer
Michal Gryn
VFX Supervisor
Damian Nenow
VFX Supervisor

King Kong 360 3D
Matt Aitken
VFX Supervisor
Kevin Sherwood
VFX Producer
Eric Reynolds
Animation Supervisor
R. Christopher White
CG Supervisor

Flight of the Dragon
Brent Young
Overall VFX Supervisor
Dina Benadon
Overall VFX Producer
Charlotte Huggins
Overall Project Producer
Michael “Oz” Smith
Technical Director

Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey
Richard Mann
VFX Producer
Adam Howard
Visual Effects Supervisor
Matt Hendershot
CG Supervisor
James Strauss
Animation Supervisor

Outstanding Real-Time Visual Effects in a Video Game

StarCraft II
Scott Goffman
VFX Supervisor
Phillip Hillenbrand, Jr.
VFX Producer
Nick Carpenter
Executive Art Director
James McCoy
Animation Director

Need for Speed
Henry LaBounta
Senior Art Director
Fiona Sperry
VP, GM
Johannes Soderqvist
Art Director
Alex Fry
Software Engineer

Halo: Reach
Marcus Lehto
Creative Director
Joseph Tung
Executive Producer
Stephen Scott
Senior FX Lead
CJ Cowan
Cinematics Director

Kinectimals
Jorg Neumann
Executive Producer
Brian Moore
Art Director
John Laws
Art Director
Jonny Watts
Game Design Director

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Video Game Trailer

World of Warcraft
Marc Messenger
VFX Supervisor
Phillip Hillenbrand, Jr.
VFX Producer

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed
Dave Wilson
Director
Corey Butler
CG Supervisor
Keith Luczywo
Producer
Seung Jae Lee
VFX Supervisor

Star Wars: The Old Republic 2
Tim Miller
Director
Dave Wilson
Director
Lindsey Zamplas
Producer
Brandon Riza
VFX Supervisor

Deus Ex: Human Revolution
Kazuyuki Ikumori
VFX Producer
Mitsuharu Fukai
VFX Supervisor
Kody Sabourin
VFX Director
Jonathan Jacques-Belletete
Art Director

Outstanding Animated Character in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Chronicles Of Narnia: Voyage Of The Dawn Treader – Reepicheep
Gabriele Zucchelli
Animation Supervisor
Catherine Mullan
Lead Animator
Benoit Dubuc
Lead Animator
Peta Bayley
Lead Animator

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – Dobby
Mathieu Vig
Animator
Ben Lambert
Modeller
Laurie Brugger
Character Supervisor
Marine Poirson
Look Development TD

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore – Kitty Galore
William Groebe
Animation Supervisor
Brian Mendenhall
Animation Lead
Aharon Bourland
Computer Graphics Supervisor
Steve Reding
Lighting Supervisor

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 – Kreacher
Laurent Laban
Animator
Will Brand
Modeller
Matthieu Goutte
Rigger
Jason Baker
Look Development TD

Outstanding Animated Character in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole – Digger
Josh Murtack
Rigging Supervisor
James Cunliffe
Lead Animator
Jessica Groom
Character Surfacer
Andrew Hunt
Lead Animator

How to Train Your Dragon – Toothless
Gabe Hordos
Supervising Animator
Cassidy Curtis
Supervising Animator
Mariette Marinus
Character Technical Director
Brent Watkins
Character Technical Director

Tangled – Rapunzel
Tony Smeed
Supervising Animator
Amy Smeed
Animator
Becky Bresee
Animator
Kira Lehtomaki
Animator

Megamind – Minion
David Cross
Minion
Rani Naamani
Animator
Dick Walsh
Character Technical Director
Adrian Tsang
Character Technical Director

Outstanding Animated Character in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

Citron C3 The Spacebox – Citro
Michael Nauzin
CG Supervisor
Anne Chatelain
CG Animator
Gregory Mougne
CG Animator
Cedric Nicolas
CG Animator

Cadbury – Freida Steer
Raphael Pimentel
Animation Supervisor
Thana Siripopungul
Rigging Supervisor

Prep and Landing: Operation Secret Santa – Lanny
Tony Smeed
Supervising Animator
Chad Sellers
Animator
Patrick Osborne
Animator
John Wong
Animator

Logitech – Robot
Rob Ramsdell
Lead Artist/Puppeteer
Darnell Isom
Lead Art Designer/Puppeteer
James Springham
Lead Model Maker
Shelly Dutcher
Lead Flame Artist

Outstanding Animated Character in a Video Game

Halo: Reach – Kat
Lee R. Wilson
Story and Cinematic Lead
Jason Robertson
Senior Animator
David Hunt
Senior Technical Artist
Joe Spataro
Technical Designer in Animation

Kinectimals – Cub
Joel Mongeon
Senior Artist
Kenneth Lammers
Technical Art Director
Felix Ilsley
Lead Animator
Andrew Matthews
Lead Character Artist

StarCraft II – Sarah Kerrigan
Jeffrey W. Chamberlain
VFX Supervisor
Angela Blake
VFX Producer
Nick Carpenter
Executive Art Director

Outstanding Effects Animation in an Animated Feature Motion Picture

Shrek Forever After
Jeff Budsberg
Effects Lead
Andrew Kim
Effects Lead
Yancy Lindquist
Effects Animator
Can Yuksel
Effects Animator

How to Train Your Dragon
Andy Hayes
Effects Animator
Laurent Kermel
Effects Animator
Jason Mayer
Effects Animator
Brett Miller
Effects Animator

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole
Sebastien Quessy
FX Lead
Kevin Blom
FX Artist
Jerome Escobar
FX Artist

Toy Story 3
Jason Johnston
Effects Artist
Eric Froemling
Effects Artist
David Ryu
Effects Artist
JD Northrup
Effects Artist

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Feature Motion Picture

Iron Man 2 – Stark Expo
Giles Hancock
Digimatte Supervisor
Richard Bluff
Digimatte Artist
Todd Vaziri
Digital Artist
Aaron McBride
VFX Art Director

TRON: Legacy – Disc Game
Jonathan Litt
Lighting Supervisor
Juan S. Gomez
Lighting Lead
Kevin Sears
Environment Lead
Sonja Burchard
Compositing Supervisor

Inception – Paris Dreamscape
Bruno Baron
Lighting Supervisor
Dan Neal
CG Supervisor
Graham Page
Compositing Sequence Supervisor
Per Mork-Jensen
Compositor

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time – Sand Room
Alex Rothwell
Lead Effects Artist
Chris Zeh
Compositing Supervisor
Laurent Hugueniot
CG Supervisor
Kevin Jenkins
Visual Effects Art Director

Outstanding Created Environment in a Live Action Broadcast Program

Boardwalk Empire – Boardwalk
Robert Stromberg
CG Supervisor
Brian Sales
Lead Compositor
Paul Graff
VFX Supervisor
Brian Pace
Digital Modeler

The Event – To Keep Us Safe
Michael Cook
Lead 3D Artist
Jon Rosenthal
3D Artist
Ragui Hanna
2D Artist
Ryan Wieber
2D Artist

The Pacific – The Battle of Iwo Jima
Marco Recuay
VFX Supervisor/Lead Artist
Morgan McDermott
CG Supervisor
NIck Lund-Ulrich
Compositing Supervisor

Boardwalk Empire – Family Limitation
J. John Corbett
Compositing Supervisor
Matthew Conner
Digital Artist & Compositor
Brendan Fitzgerald
Senior 3D Artist
Jun Zhang
Lead Compositor
Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Feature Motion Picture
Shutter Island – Ward-C Int./Ext. Lighthouse Int./Ext.
Matthew Gratzner
VFX Supervisor
Scott Schneider
Model Crew Chief
Adam Gelbart
Model Maker
Richard A.F. Ewan
Model Painter

Iron Man 2 – Hammer Military Drones
Bruce Holcomb
Digital Model Supervisor
Ron Woodall
View Paint Supervisor
John Goodson
Modeler
John Walker
CG Supervisor

The Expendables – The Palace Explodes
Gene Warren Jr.
Owner
Christopher Lee Warren
Director of Photography
Gene Warren III
Visual Effects Supervisor

Inception – Hospital Fortress Destruction
Ian Hunter
VFX Supervisor
Scott Beverly
Mechanical FX Supervisor
Forest Fischer
Model Crew Chief
Robert Spurlock
Special FX Supervisor

Outstanding Models & Miniatures in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

Family Guy – Brian Griffin’s House of Payne
Andrew Karr
3D Artist
Alec McClymont
CG Supervisor
Daniel Osaki
Lead 3D Modeler
Paul Hegg
CG Artist

Boardwalk Empire – The Ivory Tower
J. John Corbett
Compositing Supervisor
Matthew Conner
Digital Artist & Compositor
Brendan Fitzgerald
Senior 3D Artist

Outstanding Compositing in a Feature Motion Picture

TRON: Legacy
Kym Olsen
Look Development Compositing Lead
Paul Lambert
Compositing Supervisor
Sarahjane Javelo Chase
Rotoscope & Paint Lead
Sonja Burchard
Compositing Supervisor

Alice In Wonderland – Stolen Tarts
Lisa Deaner
Precomp
Orde Stevanoski
Compositor
Aaron Kupferman
Lighting/comp
Ruben Flores
Lighting/comp

Inception
Astrid Busser-Casas
Compositing Sequence Supervisor
Scott Pritchard
Compositing Sequence Supervisor
Jan Maroske
Compositing Sequence Supervisor
George Zwier
Compositing Sequence Supervisor

Hereafter – Tsunami Sequence
Joseph Farrell
Compositing Supervisor
Nick Crew
Lead Visual Effects Artist
Jamie Hallett
Compositor
Christine Lo
Compositor
Outstanding Compositing in a Broadcast Program or Commercial

Drench Cubehead
Matthew Unwin
VFX Supervisor
Lisa Ryan
Compositor
Michael Gregory
2D Supervisor

Boardwalk Empire – Episode 1
Paul Graff
VFX Supervisor
Brian Sales
Lead Compositor
Jesse Siglow
Compositor
Merysa Nichols
Compositor

Travelers “Watering Hole”
Franck Lambertz
VFX Supervisor/Compositing Lead
Ryan Knowles
2D Artist

The Pacific – Peleliu landing
Jeremy Nelson
Lead Compositor
John Mesa
Compositor/Supervisor
Dan Novy
Animator/Compositor
Tyler Cote
Compositor
Outstanding Visual Effects in a Student Project

LOOM
Regina Welker
Student

Time For Change
Rupert Ashton
3D Artist
Priyan Jayamaha
3D Artist
Junying Xu
3D Artist
Kirsten Dale Pretorious
Key Nuke Compositor

Das Tub
Rupert Ashton
3D Artist
Priyan Jayamaha
3D Artist
Junying Xu
3D Artist
Kirsten Dale Pretorious
Key Nuke Compositor

Nuisible(s)
Erick Hupin
Realisation
Baptiste Ode
Realisation
Philippe Puech
Realisation
Pierre Nahoum
Realisation

1. “The Social Network”

It might sound a bit contrived to say that a movie can define an entire generation, but in the case of “The Social Network,” I honestly believe it. There have been plenty of films made about corporate empires built on ruined friendships, broken promises and massive egos, but never has one hit so close to home as the story of Mark Zuckerberg and the rise of Facebook. It’s not just a product of our time, but something that directly affects the everyday lives of people all around the world. Interesting stuff no matter how you spin it, but David Fincher takes what could have been a boring courtroom drama and turns it into a wildly entertaining character study filled with some of the zippiest and cleverest dialogue that Aaron Sorkin has ever written. There’s not a weak link in the cast – from major players like Andrew Garfield and Armie Hammer, to Rooney Mara’s brief (but important) appearance as one of Zuckerberg’s pre-Facebook girlfriends – but it’s Jesse Eisenberg’s star-making performance as the socially inept whiz-kid that makes “The Social Network” the year’s most enthralling film.

2. “Inception”

It’s hard not to be envious of a filmmaker like Christopher Nolan, because the guy is only 40 years old, hasn’t made a single bad movie yet, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. Though it might have seemed virtually impossible to outdo “The Dark Knight,” Nolan’s seventh feature is better in just about every way – from its incredibly complex and original mind trip of a story, to the stunning visual effects and outstanding ensemble cast. “Inception” is the kind of film that only gets better with each new viewing, and though everyone may have their own theory about the ending (you could ask just about anyone whether or not it fell and they would immediately know what you were talking about), the real delight is watching the journey that leads us there. There are so many memorable moments that it’s hard to keep track, but the last 40 minutes are particularly spellbinding as Nolan manages to juggle four different dream states without tripping once. Can we just give the man his Oscar already?

3. “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World”

Edgar Wright wasn’t exactly a household name prior to directing “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World,” but that will hopefully all change with this wildly ambitious action-comedy that pretty much rewrites the rules on comic book movies. It’s been said that mimicry is the highest form of flattery, and if that’s the case, then Bryan Lee O’Malley must be blushing, because the film adaptation of his six-volume comic series is not only incredibly faithful to the story, but its quirky humor and breakneck pacing as well. The ensemble cast is terrific (from a pitch-perfect Michael Cera in the title role, to bubbly newcomer Ellen Wong), the fight sequences are playfully unique, and you’d need a Rolodex just to keep track of all the clever pop culture references that are crammed into the script. It’s like dying and going to geek heaven.

4. “127 Hours”

Aron Ralston’s incredible story of survival may not exactly sound like the feel-good movie of the year, but despite all the attention that was placed on the dreaded amputation scene, there’s a really positive message coursing throughout the film. It’s not necessarily something you’ll notice the first time you watch it, either. In fact, while I was engrossed by Ralston’s perseverance during my first viewing (his know-it-all selfishness may have gotten him into the mess, but it’s also what got him out of it), it wasn’t until I saw it a second time that I truly appreciated how much the film is bursting with life. There aren’t too many actors that could have played Ralston without coming off as smug, but James Franco brings an Everyman quality to the role that wins you over immediately. And if he’s the heart and soul of the movie, then Danny Boyle is the brain, interweaving memories/daydreams/hallucinations of Ralston’s family and lost love as he tries to free himself from the boulder. This could have been a really dull film, but under Boyle’s direction, it’s an unforgettable, one-of-a-kind experience.

5. “The King’s Speech”

Even if historical dramas aren’t normally your cup of tea, “The King’s Speech” is worth seeing for the acting clinic that the cast puts on alone. Colin Firth commands the screen as the soon-to-be king who can hardly speak for himself, much less an entire nation, while Geoffrey Rush is the perfect complement as the whimsical speech therapist that helps him find his voice. It’s a story that a lot of directors could have easily ruined by spending too much time on politics and family drama, but Tom Hooper smartly focuses on the unlikely friendship between the two men instead, letting the natural comedy of their relationship dictate the tone of the film. Hooper may not be a particularly stylish director (although he definitely shows skill in the way that he frames his shots), but he never fails to get great performances from his actors, and sometimes, that’s all you need.

6. “Micmacs”

There’s no better place to watch a movie like “Micmacs” than in the historical Paramount Theatre in Austin, Texas with 1500 fellow cinephiles, so it’s no surprise that Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s comedy caper ended up being my favorite film at South by Southwest this past year. Though it doesn’t have the mainstream appeal of “Amelie,” “Micmacs” features just about everything you could want from one of Jeunet’s contemporary fairy tales, save for an appearance by the ineffably cute Audrey Tautou. But Dany Boon doesn’t disappoint in the lead role – a modern day Buster Keaton who can entertain with even the simplest pantomime – and Jeunet regulars like Dominique Pinon and Yolande Moreau highlight an excellent supporting cast. An “Ocean’s Eleven”-style revenge film that’s jam-packed with Jenuet’s quirky sensibilities, “Micmacs” is guaranteed to put a big, fat smile on your face. And if it doesn’t, then you probably don’t have a soul.

7. “Kick-Ass”

Just when it looked like the superhero genre was starting to get a little complacent, Matthew Vaughn gave it a swift kick in the pants with one of the funniest, most violent, and all-around entertaining films of the year. “Kick-Ass” may be fairly unconventional in terms of what audiences have come to expect from comic book movies, but it’s exactly what the genre needed. Though Vaughn’s version is more of a satire than the comic that serves as the blueprint to the film, it still maintains the same overall tone. Which is to say, there’s lots of gratuitous violence and cursing – a majority of which is doled out by the pint-sized Chloe Moretz in her most memorable role to date. Controversial? Perhaps, but that doesn’t make it any less fun. From the high-energy action sequences to the colorful cast, “Kick-Ass” is like “Spider-Man” by way of Tarantino. A movie geek fantasy made real.

8. “Exit Through the Gift Shop”

Documentaries are a tricky business, because it’s automatically assumed that everything you’re being told is 100% truth, even if a lot of times you’re only getting one side of the story. Since its premiere at Sundance, there’s been a lot of discussion about whether the events in “Exit Through the Gift Shop” are real or just an elaborate hoax devised by its director, renowned graffiti artist Banksy. It feels genuine for the most part, as it’s been cobbled together from years of footage, but a lot of people can’t bring themselves to believe any of it because of Banksy’s reputation for his art pranks. So is it real or not? The easy answer is that it doesn’t matter, because it’s entertaining either way. Whereas the truth about “I’m Still Here” may have ruined the illusion, “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is only more captivating because of it. That is, if it’s even an illusion at all. Perhaps Banksy’s biggest prank yet was in making us believe that it could be fake.

9. “Four Lions”

Depending on your sense of humor, “Four Lions” is either laugh-out-loud funny or extremely offensive. I believe the two go hand in hand, because it’s exactly the provocative nature of Christopher Morris’ directorial debut that makes it so gut-wrenchingly hilarious. You wouldn’t think that a movie about terrorists could even be funny, but Morris finds the humor in the situation in a way that has more to say about the current political climate than any self-important war movie. To call it a dark comedy is a bit of an understatement (one of the terrorists’ sons is so comfortable with the concept of jihad that his bedtime stories feature “The Lion King” characters as suicide bombers), but there are shades of tragicomedy as well, because despite their intentions, the terrorists are all likeable in a strange way. You’ll certainly feel guilty about it afterwards, but that’s kind of the point.

10. “The Ghost Writer”

It’s a shame that Roman Polanski’s latest film will probably be overlooked at this year’s Oscars, because it’s not only one of the best movies of his career, but at the time of its release, there was also speculation that it might be his last. A Hitchcockian thriller that features the type of ripped-from-the-headlines story that Polanski is partial to, “The Ghost Writer” is riveting from start to finish – a modern day detective story told with 1970s panache. All of the actors are at the top of their game. Ewan McGregor delivers yet another solid performance as the nameless ghostwriter, Olivia Williams is wonderfully low-key as the femme fatale, and Tom Wilkinson and Eli Wallach impress in cameo roles. It’s surprising that the film didn’t make a bigger splash than it did, because “The Ghost Writer” is the kind of movie that Hollywood needs a lot more of. Smart, stylish and entertaining.

“Toy Story 3”
“Catfish”
“The Kids Are All Right”
“The Fighter”
“Winter’s Bone”

1. “The Human Centipede”

Tom Six’s medical horror film is one of the worst movies that I’ve seen in a long time – and not because of its subject matter. In fact, while the actual explanation, creation and existence of the titular human centipede is pretty darn gross, it’s never as revolting as its reputation would suggest. The idea is a lot sicker than the execution, and that’s where “The Human Centipede” fails, because there’s not a whole lot to admire beyond the initial concept. The acting is horrible, the dialogue is even worse, and there’s not a single entertaining moment throughout. The big payoff, so to speak, happens at the midway mark, at which point the movie limps to its clichéd finale because it has nothing else to offer. Sometimes infamy is well deserved, but in the case of “The Human Centipede,” it’s a damn disgrace.

2. “Vampires Suck”

Every year, the latest spoof film from the hack duo of Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer always winds up pretty high on my worst-of list, so it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to see “Vampires Suck” sitting in the number two spot. But to put into context just how bad these movies really are, consider this: “Vampires Suck” is their best film to date. Not only is it much more focused than past efforts – using the first two “Twilight” movies as its backbone, almost to the point of copyright infringement – but it might even make you giggle a few times thanks to the lead actors’ ridiculously spot-on impressions of Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson. Don’t get me wrong, the movie is an absolute mess, but that’s because Friedberg and Seltzer still haven’t learned that the easy joke isn’t always the funniest.

3. “The Back-Up Plan”

If there’s anything to learn from watching a movie like “The Back-Up Plan,” it’s how not to make a romantic comedy. There’s so much to hate about this film that I don’t even know where to start, but the thing that probably bugged me the most is the all-too-perfect lead characters. Not only are they both extremely attractive, but they run small, philanthropic businesses (an animal rescue store and an organic cheese shop, respectively) and yet still manage to make enough money to support a lavish lifestyle in New York City, as if that somehow makes them more relatable to the average moviegoer. But Jennifer Lopez and Alex O’Loughlin can hardly muster a spark of chemistry between the two of them, and that alone is enough to sink any rom-com from the start. Throw in some terrible stereotypes about pregnant women, an annoying single mothers support group, and an adorable, handicapped Boston terrier for the obligatory reaction shots, and you can begin to understand why so many critics detested this movie.

4. “Marmaduke”

I’m still not entirely convinced that “Marmaduke” wasn’t just some crazy bet between a pair of studio execs to prove that any film with talking animals can make a killing at the box office, but I do find some comfort in the fact that it was a colossal failure. It’s hard to believe that there was even a demand for a “Marmaduke” movie to begin with, because Brad Anderson’s long-running comic strip is remarkably dull. The film is insulting even to children – from the constant narration to dreadful puns like Cowabarka and Chupadogra – and it’s disappointing to see such a wealth of talent wasted on voicing talking dogs. At least they were smart enough to hide behind a microphone, because it’s absolutely embarrassing to watch William H. Macy act like a fool for an easy paycheck. Shame on you.

5. “When in Rome” / “You Again”

No one likes a tie, but Kristen Bell has had such a bad year that it only seemed polite to combine this pair of cinematic train wrecks into a single write-up. In fact, sitting through these films is certainly comparable to experiencing a real-life pile-up, as you don’t know whether to look away or keep watching out of a morbid curiosity that they might get worse. And more often than not, they do. Entire books have been written on the basics of screenwriting, and yet none of the writers responsible for these movies appear to have read a single word, instead creating weak premises built on conflicts that could easily be addressed if the characters stopped acting like children. You’d think that romantic comedies would be right up Kristen Bell’s alley – she’s cute, funny and instantly likeable – but if she ever hopes to make it as a leading lady, she’ll have to do better than this.

“I’m Still Here”
“Alice in Wonderland”
“Clash of the Titans”
“Remember Me”
“A Nightmare on Elm Street”

Simply because of geography, the Los Angeles Film Critics is probably the most influential group. The awards here, however, were the quirkiest of the three, with a split of sorts between “The Social Network” and this year’s cinephile cause celebre, “Carlos,” which may well be shut out of the Oscars altogether for a number of reasons. Though a shorter cut of the reportedly action-packed-yet-thoughtful multi-lingual French film about the real-life left-wing terrorist of the 1970s has been playing to general plaudits, a 5.5 hour television version of the film by Olivier Assayas has had shorter but successful engagements here at the American Cinematheque and is much on the mind of many of us film geeks (I just blew another chance to watch it all in a theater and I’m not happy about it.)

Assayas and “Network” director David Fincher tied while Fincher’s movie won Best Picture with “Carlos” as the runner up and also the Best Foreign Film winner. Aaron Sorkin won for his “Social” screenplay while Colin Firth won best actor for “The King’s Speech,” the first runner-up in the category was Edgar Rameriz for playing Carlos, yet another real life person.  Kim Hye-Ja from the cinephile-approved Korean thriller “Mother” and Niels Arestrup from France’s violent “A Prophet” won in the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories. While those awards are unlikely to be replicated by the Oscars, Jacki Weaver’s hopes for a possible Oscar nomination and even a win for the Australian critical and festival hit, “Animal Kingdom,” are looking up ever more with another Best Supporting Actress award. The LAFC site has the complete list of winners.

Not long before that award, the Boston Critics had their say. It was closer to a clean sweep for “Social Network” with Jessie Eisenberg picking up another Best Actor award and more laurels for David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin. Natalie Portman’s and Christian Bales’s already near certain Oscar nominations got slightly more certain with her win for Best Actress for “Black Swan” and his for Best Supporting Actor in “The Fighter.” A less expected winner in Boston for supporting actress was Juliette Lewis for a reportedly very brief, but apparently memorable, role in “Conviction.”  You can see the complete list of winners at the Boston Film Critics’ site.

The New York Online Film Critics — not to be confused with the dead-tree and TV/Radio critics, whose awards are still to come — also gave the Best Picture, Direction, and screenplay awards to “Social Network,” though they spread the acting love around elsewhere. Natalie Portman picked up another win for Best Actress while James Franco entered the fray with his highly touted role in another fact-based film, “127 Hours.” Intriguingly, the Massachusetts-centric “The Fighter” did much better in NYC with yet another supporting actor award to Christian Bale and also a well-deserved nod to Melissa Leo (“Frozen River“), who plays Bale’s dysfunctionally loving mom in the film. You can see the complete list of winners at Awards Daily.

Finally, the American Film Institute has given its awards, which are essentially a top 10 list. Seeing as the Oscar nominations are also going to be in that form, it might not be a complete and total reach to think there might be some similarities between the two lists. The AFI selections are as follows (forgive the all caps formatting from AFI):

AFI MOVIES OF THE YEAR

BLACK SWAN

THE FIGHTER

INCEPTION

THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT

127 HOURS

THE SOCIAL NETWORK

THE TOWN

TOY STORY 3

TRUE GRIT

WINTER’S BONE

AFI SPECIAL AWARDS­

THE KING’S SPEECH

WAITING FOR SUPERMAN

My strong hunch is that, if you want to see what the Oscar nominations will look like, first add “The King’s Speech” to the top list because for the academy’s love of classy films about wealthy and powerful Brits. Then, remove either “The Town” or “True Grit” because of the Academy’s traditional anti-genre bias/middle-brow snobbery, or “Winter’s Bone” because of its bias against low budget indies without big name stars. I think “Inception” will get in simply to avoid a fan-driven ‘net poop storm of massive proportions if a Christopher Nolan movie is once again not included.

Finally, I don’t usually cover TV here on PH, but since I’ve got them and it’s definitely of interest to me and most of you, the television choices of AFI. Another big cable TV win. Really, as someone who grew up largely disdaining television — I remember when it really was a vast wasteland with a few teeny-tiny oases — it pains me to admit that most of the really good new cinematic writing I’ve seen over the last several years has been on the ol’ idiot box.

AFI TV PROGRAMS OF THE YEAR

THE BIG C

BOARDWALK EMPIRE

BREAKING BAD

GLEE

MAD MEN

MODERN FAMILY

THE PACIFIC

TEMPLE GRANDIN

30 ROCK

THE WALKING DEAD

UPDATE: The New York Film Critics Circle awards came out just a little bit ago, and made it a clean sweep for “The Social Network” for Best Picture. That wasn’t the only news because the other awards were different from what we’ve been seeing. “The Kids Are All Right” got a big boost as did Annette Bening, Colin Firth, and Mark Ruffalo for — not, for a change, Christian Bale. I might follow up with that a bit tomorrow.

I will say I can’t get over the fact that Armond White is actually the chair of this group. A guy who makes his living attacking other film critics in a maddeningly pretentious and sometimes downright idiotic manner — and whose writing is often completely hideous and unreadable — having a position on a film critics’ group is just strange. Still, the slightly contrarian cast of this group of awards could perhaps his influence.

* I woke up to this morning the realization that Netflix has become a liberal cause celebre. It has to do with Comcast attempting to charge Level 3, a provider of Netflix’s streaming, a fee which the company says would effectively block access by cable companies to the interwebs and threaten the net neutrality that allows a site like this one to be readily usable. Brian Stetler at NYT has the details.

* Not sure how the Deadline team got scooped on this, but some lesser known sites have word that Tom Hanks‘ next acting gig, after wrapping directing duties on the upcoming “Larry Crowne,” will be in the new drama from the team that brought us “The Hurt Locker,” writer Mark Boal and director Kathryn Bigelow. It’s the Latin America set “Triple Frontier.”

* Two categories of people get to say exactly what they want: the elderly and universally beloved film stars who took a creative risk and essentially made a franchise. Johnny Depp isn’t quite yet at the early bird dinner stage of his life, but he had some interesting things to say about Disney executives’ initial reaction to his Jack Sparrow — really, the only thing I ever liked about the “Pirates of the Carribean” franchise, other than the ride. They hated Depp’s performance, and for some rather disturbing juvenile reasons.

* Nikki Finke claimed her “toldja” this morning over the actually really smart choice of having this year’s Oscar telecast hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. Both clearly have comedy chops, Hathaway can sing, as she showed a couple of years back during the “Frost/Nixon” gag in Hugh Jackman’s opening number, and best of all, they’re not satirists like Jon Stewart and Chris Rock and therefore probably won’t perturb Hollywood’s well-manicured egos. The egos must, above all, be maintained. (H/t Anne Thompson for the Jackman vid.)

* The Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced today. Not too surprisingly, some of the biggest nominees were “127 Hours,” “The Black Swan,” “Greenberg,” “The Kids Are All Right,” (directed by Lisa Chodelenko, interviewed here by Ross Ruediger) “Rabbit Hole,” and “Winter’s Bone,” which already collected some Gotham Awards a day or so back.

* I’m sure the role of the U.S. Secretary of State in “X-Men: First Class” isn’t huge, but anything that keeps Ray Wise onscreen, where he belongs, works for me.

* RIP director Mario Monicelli, who passed on a day or so back at age 95. I have no excuse for having never seen “Big Deal on Madonna Street,” I fear.

Okay, that’s all for tonight. The gods of sleep and hunger have just about claimed me.