Oscar nominations: ‘King’s Speech’ earns 12 nods, ‘True Grit’ follows with 10

LOS ANGELES
— “The King’s Speech” dominated the nominations for the 83rd annual
Academy Awards on Tuesday morning, earning 12 nods including best
picture and best lead actor for Colin Firth as King George IV, who battles to eradicate his stammer when he suddenly takes the throne.

Joel and Ethan Coen’s spirited remake of the Western
“True Grit” followed with 10 Oscar nominations, including best picture.
“The Social Network” and “Inception” scored eight apiece.

Those four films are in the running for best picture
with six other movies: “Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “The Kids Are All
Right,” “127 Hours,” “Toy Story 3” and “Winter’s Bone.” “Toy Story 3”
is also nominated in four more categories, including best animated
feature.

The 83rd Academy Awards will air live at 8 p.m. EST Feb. 27 on ABC from the Kodak Theatre.

Firth, who won the Golden Globe for his lead role in
“The King’s Speech,” is joined in the lead actor race by Franco for
“127 Hours,” surprise nominee Javier Bardem for “Biutiful,” Jesse Eisenberg for “The Social Network” and Jeff Bridges, who won last year in this category for “Crazy Heart,” for “True Grit.”

Natalie Portman, Golden Globe winner and mom-to-be, is nominated for lead actress in “Black Swan” along with fellow Globe winner Annette Bening for “The Kids Are All Right,” Nicole Kidman for “Rabbit Hole,” Jennifer Lawrence for “Winter’s Bone” and Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine.”

Supporting actor nominees are Christian Bale in “The Fighter,” surprise nominee John Hawkes for “Winter’s Bone,” Jeremy Renner in “The Town,” Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right” and Geoffrey Rush for “The King’s Speech.”

On the supporting actress side, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo will duke it out for their roles in “The Fighter.” Helena Bonham Carter is nominated for “The King’s Speech,” 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit,” and Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom.”

Notably missing from the performance list: Ryan Gosling for lead actor in “Blue Valentine,” Andrew Garfield for supporting actor in “The Social Network,” Mark Wahlberg for lead actor in “The Fighter” and Mila Kunis for supporting actress in “Black Swan.”

There was also a surprise in the directing category. Christopher Nolan,
who is nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for
“Inception,” failed to earn an Oscar nomination in that category. He
did receive a nod for his screenplay for the surreal thriller.

Competing in the directing category are Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan,” David O. Russell for “The Fighter,” Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech,” David Fincher for “The Social Network” and brothers Joel and Ethan Coen for “True Grit.” The siblings also were nominated for their adapted screenplay of Charles Portis’ novel.

The academy shared the wealth this year, doling out
nominations in the major category to movies big and small. Nominated
alongside blockbusters such as “Inception,” “Toy Story 3” and “True
Grit” are such tiny indies as “Winter’s Bone” and “Animal Kingdom” —
two films that received acclaim but had limited release.

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