It’s February! Which means it’s time to look back and recognize the films and film-makers of 2011. Yes, the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony is coming up sooner than you think.
Nominations for the award were just announced Jan. 24. The award ceremony will take place on Feb. 26 in the red-carpeted Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, Calif. It will be aired in the United States on the ABC channel.
The Academy Awards, also know as the Oscars, are giving away 24 awards this year including the usual: Best Picture, Actor, Actress, Director and Writer. This year the Best Picture category has nine nominees, instead of the usual five.
The nominations and awards are chosen by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) branches. Award nominations go through several round of pre-nominees before the official selection is announced.
The films that received the most nominations were “Hugo” with 11 nominations and “The Artist” with 10 nominations. “Moneyball,” “War Horse,” “The Descendants” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” came close behind.
Some of the celebrities you might see there, either presenting or receiving awards include Halle Berry, the cast of “Bridesmaids,” Jennifer Lopez, Cameron Diaz, Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.
Eddie Murphy and Brett Ratner were originally asked to host the 2012 show. However, Ratner and Murphy both stepped down after Ratner made an anit-gay slur in an interview for his new film “Tower Heist”. Billy Crystal is now hosting the awards. This marks the ninth time hosting for the comedian.
The day after finding out about hosting the show, Billy Crystal announced via Twitter, “Am doing the Oscars so the young woman in the pharmacy will stop asking my name when I pick up my prescriptions.”
For more information or the complete list of the 2012 nominations, visit Oscar.go.com/nominees. An official Oscars app including exclusive video streams is now available for both iPhone and iPad.
