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Oscar nod for Iron Lady Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep has landed an Oscar nomination for her performance as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.
Britons Gary Oldman, Kenneth Branagh and Janet McTeer are also in the running for Academy Awards.
Streep, 62, the winner of two previous Academy Awards, has received critical acclaim for her role as the former British prime minister.
The nominations for the 84th Academy Awards were announced in Beverly Hills by actress Jennifer Lawrence and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Tom Sherak. Streep has previously been Oscar-nominated a record 16 times.
Oldman, 53, is up for best actor for his role as George Smiley in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.
It is his first Oscar nomination.
Branagh, 51, is in the running for best supporting actor for his performance as Sir Laurence Olivier in Marilyn Monroe biopic My Week With Marilyn.
He said: “It was a rare honour to play Sir Laurence Olivier. To be recognised by the Academy for doing so is overwhelming. I’m absolutely thrilled.”
Newcastle-born McTeer, 50, is up for best supporting actress for her role in gender-bending drama Albert Nobbs.
Black and white silent film The Artist has 10 nominations, including best film, best actor for French star Jean Dujardin and supporting actress for Berenice Bejo.
But Martin Scorsese’s family film Hugo leads with 11 nominations.
War Horse, based on the National Theatre play inspired by Michael Morpurgo’s novel, is up for six gongs, and is also among the movies vying for best film.
As well as The Artist, Steven Spielberg’s War Horse is up against The Descendants, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight In Paris, Moneyball, and The Tree Of Life.
Cold War thriller Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has been nominated for best adapted screenplay.
London-born film maker Lucy Walker was nominated for the best short subject documentary with Kira Carstensen for The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom.
The film was made in Japan following the devastating tsunami which hit the country last year.
Also nominated in the same category was Saving Face which follows London-based surgeon Mohammad Ali Jawad as he treats the victims of acid attacks in Pakistan.
Dr Jawad also treated the former model Katie Piper who was left scarred after an acid attack in north London.
Oldman described his Oscar nomination as “humbling”.
“This afternoon in Berlin I have learned that I was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of best actor,” he said.
“You may have heard this before, but it has never been truer than it is for me today, it is extremely humbling, gratifying, and delightful to have your work recognised by the Academy, and to join the celebrated ranks of previous nominees and colleagues. Amazing.”
Woody Allen is up for best director for Midnight In Paris, the film which was hailed by some as a return to form.
He will be up against Scorsese for Hugo, fellow US filmmaker Terrence Malick for The Tree Of Life, French filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist and Alexander Payne for The Descendants.
As expected, George Clooney is up for best actor for his role in comedy-drama The Descendants.
He is up against fellow heart-throb Brad Pitt for sport drama Moneyball and Mexican Demian Bichir for A Better Life, as well as Oldman and Dujardin.
For best actress, Streep competes against Michelle Williams for her role as screen siren Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn.
Their other rivals are Glenn Close for her role as a woman disguised as a man in Albert Nobbs, Viola Davis for her performance as a put-upon maid in the deep south-set The Help, and Rooney Mara for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Streep, who has already scooped a Golden Globe for her role, said of her Oscar nomination: “I am honoured to be in company with such beautiful artists, and touched deeply by my fellow actors for their generosity in giving me this acknowledgement.”
The Artist’s director Michel Hazanavicius said he was “so honoured” to be nominated.
“Filming The Artist in Los Angeles was a dream come true, and to receive this recognition today is far beyond what I ever imagined,” he said.
“I couldn’t have done this film without the incredible cast of actors and outstanding crew whose heart and souls were poured into this project.”
The film’s supporting actress contender Berenice Bejo said: “I’m overjoyed and filled with happiness. I can’t believe that a year ago I was learning how to tap dance and today I am nominated for an Academy Award.
“It was a thrill to work on a project as ambitious as The Artist and I am happy to share this moment with our visionary director, Michel Hazanavicius.”
The movie’s producer Thomas Langmann said: “I am very humbled by this morning’s nominations. This must be how my father felt back in 1965 when he received his first Oscar nomination.
“The Artist was a labour of love from writer/director Michel Hazanavicius to pay homage to Hollywood, and to see all the love that the Academy has given it this morning is overwhelming.” One of the big names missing out on the chance for Oscar glory is actress Tilda Swinton whose role as a loveless mother in We Need To Talk About Kevin was ignored by the academy.
Also missing from the nominations is artist-turned filmmaker Steve McQueen’s tale of sex addiction, Shame, whose stars Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan had been tipped for success.
Irish actor turned film maker Peter McDonald has been nominated for the best Short Film (Live Action) Oscar for Pentecost.
The 11-minute movie is about a young boy whose love of football gets in the way of his expected attendance at church.
There is also a nod for Terry and Oorlagh George’s short The Shore which stars Ciaran Hinds in the story set in Northern Ireland of two boyhood best friends who meet again after years apart.
London animators Sue Goffe and Grant Orchard are nominated for best short film (animated) for A Morning Stroll.
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BrandtHardin
Wednesday, January 25, 2012 at 10:51 PMMeryl may be headed for the red carpet again with a Oscar nod for the Iron Lady but she’s never looked better than on the Zombie Walk of Fame as a featured diva at http:dregstudiosart.blogspot.com20111000-countdown-to-halloween-divas-of.html
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