O anúncio das nomeações para os Óscares, 84ºs Prémios da Academia de Artes e Ciências Cinematográficas, foi feito por Tom Sherak e pela actriz Jennifer Lawrence, respectivamente presidente e membro da Academia de Artes e Ciências Cinematográficas, ao princípio da tarde de 4ª feira, dia 24, princípio da manhã em Los Angeles.
À partida, lideram a corrida às estatuetas douradas A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, de Martin Scorsese, com 11 nomeações, e O ARTISTA, de Michel Hazanavicius, com 10.
Mas estas perspectivas podem e costumam ser defraudadas com frequência, perdendo o significado quando foram anunciados os prémios no dia 26 de Fevereiro, em Los Angeles, até porque se para as nomeações os membros da Academia votam por especialidades, para os prémios vota a totalidade dos membros da instituição.
Começando pelas categorias mais técnicas, há 5 nomeações para Efeitos Visuais, em que estão nomeados, como seria de esperar, o mais recente Harry Potter, a par com outros 3 concorrentes, de entre os quais A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, de Martin Scorsese, e CAVALO DE GUERRA, de Steven Spielberg.
Na Edição Sonora e na Mistura Sonora cada uma também com 5 nomeações, referência, de novo a A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, mas também a CAVALO DE GUERRA.
Na Caracterização, disputam o prémio HARRY POTTER, ALBERT NOBBS, de Rodrigo García, e A DAMA DE FERRO, de Phyllida Lloyd; enquanto no Guarda Roupa, os nomeados são 5, entre eles HUGO e O ARTISTA; e outros tantos na Direcção Artística, HARRY POTTER, O ARTISTA, A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, MEIA-NOITE EM PARIS, de Woody Allen, e CAVALO DE GUERRA.
A Edição tem 5 nomeados, de entre os quais A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, OS DESCENDENTES, de Alexander Payne, e O ARTISTA, de Michel Hazanavicius.
À Fotografia, concorrem 5 filmes, como O ARTISTA, A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, A ÁRVORE DA VIDA, de Terrence Malick, e CAVALO DE GUERRA.
5 candidatos disputarão as estatuetas de Curta-metragem, tanto na Animação como em Imagem Real; em Documentários estarão 5 na categoria de Longas-metragens, nomeadamente PINA, de Wim Wenders, e 3 Curtas-metragens.
O Oscar de Animação de Longa-metragem será dividido entre 5 candidatos, como O GATO DAS BOTAS, de Chris Miller, O PANDA DO KUNG FU 2, de Jennifer Yuh, e RANGO, de Gore Verbinski.
5 candidatos na Banda Sonora Original, AS AVENTURAS DE TINTIN, de Steven Spielberg, O ARTISTA, A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, e CAVALO DE GUERRA; mas apenas 2 para Canção Original, das animações OS MARRETAS, de James Robin, e O RIO, de Carlos Saldanha.
Estão nomeados 5 filmes nas categorias de Argumento Adaptado e Original, com destaque para OS DESCENDENTES, A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO e NOS IDOS DE MARÇO, de George Clooney, na primeira; e de O ARTISTA, MEIA-NOITE EM PARIS e UMA SEPARAÇÃO, de Asghar Farhadi, na segunda.
5 nomes em cada categoria de Secundários, de entre os Actores, Kenneth Branagh, Nick Nolte, Christopher Plummer e Max von Sydow; e de entre as Actrizes, Jessica Castain e Bérénice Brejo.
Outros 5 nos Principais, em Actores, destaque para George Clooney, Jean Dujardin, Gary Oldman e Brad Pitt; e nas Actrizes, Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Meryl Streep e Michelle Williams.
Para Melhor Realizador, também 5 nomeados, Michel Hazanavicius, Alexander Payne, Martin Scorsese, Woody Allen e Terrence Malick.
De entre os 5 candidatos a Melhor Filme em Língua Estrangeira, destaca-se na corrida UMA SEPARAÇÃO; enquanto de entre os 9 a Melhor Filme, a nosso ver, o Óscar decidir-se-á entre OS DESCENDENTES, A INVENÇÃO DE HUGO, O ARTISTA, MEIA-NOITE EM PARIS, A ÁRVORE DA VIDA e AS SERVIÇAIS, de Tate Taylor.

MISTÉRIOS DE LISBOA pré-selecionado para Óscar de "Melhor Filme"
MISTÉRIOS DE LISBOA, do chileno Raul Ruiz, baseado na obra homónima de Camilo Castelo Branco e com argumento de Carlos Saboga, foi rodado totalmente em Portugal e contou no elenco com atores como Maria João Bastos, Adriano Luz e Ricardo Pereira.

• (...) Hobbs. Brooks Livermore. Rod O'Grady. Gerard Horan. Alex Lowe. Georgie Glen. Richard Shelton. Paul Herzberg. James Clay. Des McAleer. Jem Wall. Ben Sando. Josh Morris. David Rintoul. Penny Ryder. Sean Vanderwilt. Adam Perry.

• MYSTERIES OF LISBON
  Adriano Luz. Maria Joao Bastos. Ricardo Pereira. Clotilde Hesme. Afonso Pimentel. Joao Luis Arrais. Martin Loizillon. Julien Alluguette. Rui Morisson. Joana de Verona. Carloto Cotta. Maria Joao Pinho. Jose Manuel Mendes. Leah Seydoux. Malik Zidi. Melvil Poupaud. Margarida Vilanova. Sofia Aparicio. Catarina Wallenstein. Albano Jeronimo. Joao Baptista. Andre Gomes. Filipe Vargas. Jose Airosa. Marco D'Almeida. Martinho Silva. Paulo Pinto. Vania Rodrigues. Americo Silva. Ana Chagas. Antonio Simao. Dinarte Branco. Duarte Guimaraes. Helena Coelho. Joao Vilas Boas. Lena Friedrich. Marcello Urgeghe.

• THE MYTH OF THE AMERICAN SLEEPOVER
  Claire Sloma. Marlon Morton. Amanda Bauer. Brett Jacobsen. Nikita Ramsey. Jade Ramsey. Annette DeNoyer. Wyatt McCallum. Mary Wardell. Doug Diedrich. Dane Jones. Shayla Curran. Christopher Simon. Madi Ortiz. Stephen Francis. (...)

Beverly Hills, CA – Thirty-nine songs from eligible feature-length motion pictures are in contention for nominations in the Original Song category for the 84th Academy Awards®, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.
The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title:
• "The World I Knew" from "African Cats"
• "Lay Your Head Down" from "Albert Nobbs"
• "Star Spangled Man" from "Captain America: The First Avenger"
• "Collision of Worlds" from "Cars 2"
• "Dakkanaga Dugu Dugu" from "DAM999"
• "DAM999 Theme Song" from "DAM999"
• "Mujhe Chod Ke" from "DAM999"
• "Rainbird" from "Dirty Girl"
• "Keep On Walking" from "The First Grader"
• "Where the River Goes" from "Footloose"
• "Hello Hello" from "Gnomeo & Juliet"
• "Love Builds a Garden" from "Gnomeo & Juliet"
• "Bridge of Light" from "Happy Feet Two"
• "The Mighty Sven" from "Happy Feet Two"
• "Never Be Daunted" from "happythankyoumoreplease"
• "Hell and Back" from "Hell and Back Again"
• "The Living Proof" from "The Help"
• "Coeur Volant" from "Hugo"
• "It's How We Play" from "I Don't Know How She Does It"
• "When the Heart Dies" from "In the Land of Blood and Honey"
• "Ja Não Estar" from "José and Pilar"
• "The Keeper" from "Machine Gun Preacher"
• "Life's a Happy Song" from "The Muppets"
• "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets"
• "Pictures in My Head" from "The Muppets"
• "Summer Song" from "The Music Never Stopped"
• "Imaginary Friends" from "Olive"
• "Sparkling Day" from "One Day"
• "Taking You with Me" from "Our Idiot Brother"
• "The Greatest Song I Ever Heard" from "POM Wonderful Presents The Greatest Movie Ever Sold"
• "Hot Wings" from "Rio"
• "Let Me Take You to Rio" from "Rio" 
• "Real in Rio" from "Rio"
• "Shelter" from "Take Shelter"
• "Gathering Stories" from "We Bought a Zoo"
• "Pop" from "White Irish Drinkers"
• "Think You Can Wait" from "Win Win"
• "The Backson Song" from "Winnie the Pooh"
• "So Long" from "Winnie the Pooh"
On Thursday, January 5, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Los Angeles. Following the screenings, members will determine the nominees by an averaged point system of voting. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees in the category. If only one song achieves that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score shall be the two nominees. If two or more songs (up to five) achieve that score, they shall be the nominees. A DVD copy of the song clips will be made available to those branch members who are unable to attend the screening and who request it for home viewing. A mail-in ballot will be provided. 
Under Academy rules, a maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. If more than two songs from a film achieve a score of 8.25 or more, the two songs with the highest scores will be the nominees. 
To be eligible, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits. 
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar® presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 live action short films will advance in the voting process for the 84th Academy Awards®. One hundred seven pictures had originally qualified in the category. 
The 10 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production company:
• "Je Pourrais Être Votre Grand-Mère (I Could Be Your Grandmother)," Bernard Tanguy, director-producer (Rézina Productions)
• "Love at First Sight," Michael Davies, director and Sandra Gorel, producer (Spellbound Films)
• "Pentecost," Peter McDonald, director (EMU Productions)
• "Raju," Max Zähle, director and Stefan Gieren, producer (Hamburg Media School/Filmwerkstatt)
• "The Road Home," Rahul Gandotra, director-producer and Ameenah Ayub, producer (London Film School)
• "The Roar of the Sea," Ana Rocha Fernandes and Torsten Truscheit, directors (Niama Filmproduktion GmbH)
• "Sailcloth," Elfar Adalsteins, director-producer (Berserk Films)
• "The Shore," Terry George, director-producer (All Ashore Productions Limited)
• "Time Freak," Andrew Bowler, director and Gigi Causey, producer (Team Toad)
• "Tuba Atlantic," Hallvar Witzø, director (The Norwegian Film School/Den Norske Filmskolen)
The Short Films and Feature Animation Branch Reviewing Committee viewed all the eligible entries for the preliminary round of voting in screenings held in Los Angeles. 
Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select three to five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2012. 
The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. 
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2011 will be presented on Sunday, February 26, 2012, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.