All in all, we're pretty happy about this year's crop of Academy Award nominees. While we we're still scratching our heads as to why Andrew Garfield didn't at least get a nomination for "The Social Network," there were enough other exciting—albeit expected—announcements to keep us satisfied.
First up is Michelle Williams, who landed her first Best Actress nomination (and second overall nomination) for her role in "Blue Valentine." Though it's the only nomination the film got (boo, Ryan Gosling!), we're just happy it got recognized at all.
Unfortunately, she's up against front runner Natalie Portman, who we also couldn't be happier is nominated if only because it means we get to see her cute little baby bump on primetime television again. "Black Swan" got a total of five nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Cinematography.
Two of our other favorite actresses who got recognized in the Best Supporting Actress category were Amy Adams (for "The Fighter") and Hailee Steinfeld (for "True Grit"). We still aren't sure why Hailee was categorized as Supporting rather than Leading Actress, as anyone who's seen the film can agree that she carried the majority of it, but it's nice to see one of our favorite up-and-comers get a nomination for her big screen debut. It's a big step up from those K-Mart Blingatude commercials!
Though Andrew (and Armie Hammer and Justin Timberlake) were snubbed on the "Social Network" front, at least Jesse Eisenberg landed the expected Best Actor nomination that he well deserved. This is his first Oscar nom, though we have a sinking feeling he'll lose to Colin Firth in the end. "The Social Network" was nominated for nine Oscars in total.
Quite a few of our favorites got nominated on the music front, as well. Both "Country Strong" and "Tangled" were honored for their Best Original Strong, and we have a good feeling "Country Strong" will end up taking home the Oscar. Wouldn't it be awesome if Gwyneth Paltrow performed at the show? And we can't ignore the awesome fact that "How To Train Your Dragon" was nominated not only for Best Original Score but also for Best Animated picture! Does it make us bad people to say we hope this wins over "Toy Story 3"?
Last, but not least, there's my personal favorite, "Harry Potter." "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1" earned nominations for both its Art Direction and Visual Effects.
See a complete list of the 2011 Academy Award nominees.
What nomination was your favorite? Tell us in the comments and on Twitter!
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