It’s February again and to members of the entertainment community around the world that means it’s the time of year when Oscar comes out to honour serious acting talent by bestowing the highest honors in filmmaking to some of them. The world has been waiting for the 84th Academy Awards with bated breath to see which one of their favourite actors or actresses will be walking away with the coveted award in 2012.This year Halle Berry; The Bridesmaids cast – Rose Byrne, Ellie Kemper, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig; Bradley Cooper; Tom Cruise; Penélope Cruz; Cameron Diaz; Tom Hanks; Angelina Jolie; Jennifer Lopez; Chris Rock; Ben Stiller and Emma Stone will be presenters at the 84th Academy Awards. The nominations include: Demián Bichir in A Better Life; George Clooney in The Descendants; Jean Dujardin in The Artist; Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Brad Pitt in Moneyball for ‘Actor in a Leading Role’. In the ‘Actor in a Supporting Role’ category: Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn; Jonah Hill in Moneyball; Nick Nolte in Warrior; Christopher Plummer in Beginners; and Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close. Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs; Viola Davis in The Help; Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo; Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady; and Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn for  Actress in a Supporting Role.  Bérénice Bejo in The Artist; Jessica Chastain in The Help; Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids; Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs; and Octavia Spencer in The Help for ‘Actress in a Leading Role’. Animated Feature Film: A Cat in Paris – Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli; Chico & Rita – Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal; Kung Fu Panda 2 – Jennifer Yuh Nelson; Puss in Boots – Chris Miller; and Rango – Gore Verbinski. Art Direction: The Artist – Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan; Hugo -Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo; Midnight in Paris – Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Hélène Dubreuil; War Horse – Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales; Cinematography: The Artist – Guillaume Schiffman; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Jeff Cronenweth; Hugo – Robert Richardson; The Tree of Life – Emmanuel Lubezki and War Horse-  Janusz Kaminski.   Costume Design: Anonymous – Lisy Christl; The Artist – Mark Bridges; Hugo – Sandy Powell;  Jane Eyre – Michael O’Connor and W.E. – Arianne Phillips.   Directing: The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius; The Descendants – Alexander Payne; Hugo – Martin Scorsese; Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen and The Tree of Life – Terrence Malick.   Documentary (Feature): Hell and Back Again -Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner; If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front – Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman; Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory – Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky; Pina – Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel; and Undefeated – TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Rich Middlemas.   Documentary (Short Subject): The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement -Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin; God Is the Bigger Elvis – Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson; Incident in New Baghdad – James Spione; Saving Face – Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy; and The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom – Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen.   Film Editing: The Artist – Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius; The Descendants – Kevin Tent; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall; Hugo – Thelma Schoonmaker; and Moneyball – Christopher Tellefsen.   Foreign Language Film: Bullhead – Belgium; Footnote – Israel; In Darkness – Poland; Monsieur Lazhar – Canada; and A Separation – Iran.   Makeup: Albert Nobbs – Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle; Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 – Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin; and The Iron Lady -Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland.   Music (Original Score): The Adventures of Tintin – John Williams; The Artist – Ludovic Bource; Hugo – Howard Shore;  Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Alberto Iglesias; and War Horse – John Williams.   Music (Original Song): Man or Muppet from The Muppets – Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie, Real in Rio – from Rio; and Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown; Lyric by Siedah Garrett.   Best Picture: The Artist – Thomas Langmann, Producer; The Descendants – Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers; Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close – Scott Rudin, Producer; The Help – Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers; Hugo – Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers; Midnight in Paris – Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers; Moneyball – Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers; The Tree of Life – Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and Grant Hill, Producers; and War Horse – Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers.   Short Film (Animated): Dimanche/Sunday – Patrick Doyon, The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore – William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg; La Luna – Enrico Casarosa; A Morning Stroll – Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe; and Wild Life – Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby.   Short Film (Live Action): Pentecost – Peter McDonald and Eimear O’Kane; Raju – Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren; The Shore – Terry George and Oorlagh George; Time Freak – Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey; and Tuba Atlantic – Hallvar Witz.   Sound Editing: Drive – Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis; The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – Ren Klyce; Hugo – Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty; Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl; War Horse – Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom;   Sound Mixing: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson; Hugo – Tom Fleischman and John Midgley; Moneyball – Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, David Giammarco and Ed Novick; Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin; War Horse – Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson.   Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 -Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson; Hugo – Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossmann and Alex Henning; Real Steel – Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg; Rise of the Planet of the Apes – Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett; and Transformers: Dark of the Moon – Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier. Writing (Adapted Screenplay): The Descendants – Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Hugo – Screenplay by John Logan;  The Ides of March – Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon; Moneyball – Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy – Screenplay by Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan. Writing (Original Screenplay): The Artist – Written by Michel Hazanavicius; Bridesmaids – Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Margin Call – Written by J.C. Chandor; Midnight in Paris – Written by Woody Allen; and A Separation – Written by Asghar Farhadi.   DStv audiences can tune into the live broadcast of the 84th Academy Awards on the following channels: MM1 on 27 February at 03:30 CAT; M-Net East on 27 February at 22:00 CAT; and on M-Net West on 27 February at 23:55 CAT. Just in case that wasn’t enough, join the fashionistas Live from the Red Carpet for the most exciting and glamorous breakdown of what and who the celebrities were wearing to the Academy Awards on Monday 27 February 01:00 CAT.]]>