Silent-era film The Artist and Martin Scorsese's Hugo led the pack of Oscar nominees today, including one nod for each in the best film category.
Hugo, a 3-D family film, heads the list of nominees with nods in 11 categories. The Artist a silent French-made film about the early years of Hollywood, took 10.
Joining The Artist and Hugo in the competition for the best film Oscar are The Descendants, The Help, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life, War Horse, and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.
Irish shorts Pentecost and The Shore were nominated in the live action short category.
Pentecost, written and directed by Peter McDonald, tells the story of a young altar boy who is forced to serve at an important mass and has to make a difficult choice. The Shore, directed by Terry George, tells the story of two boyhood best friends, Joe and Paddy set in the conflict in Belfast.
Kenneth Branagh, a native of Belfast, is mentioned in the best supporting actor race for his portrayal of Laurence Olivier in My Week With Marilyn.
The best actor nominations went to Jean Dujardin for The Artist, George Clooney for The Descendants, Brad Pitt for Moneyball, Gary Oldman for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Demián Bichir in A Better Life.
Irish-German actor Michael Fassbender missed out on a nomination for his portrayal of a businessman struggling with sex addiction in Shame. The surprise nomination in the category was Bichir. Virtually every Oscar pundit had Fassbender, recent winner of best actor at the Venice Film Festival, pencilled in as a contender.
Meryl Streep's portrayal of Margaret Thatcher has earned her another Oscar nomination. The actress, who has won two Oscars in her career, is strongly tipped to pick up the best actress statuette for her performance as the former British prime minister in The Iron Lady.
She was joined in the best actress category by Viola Davis in The Help, Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn.
Albert Nobbs, which was filmed in Ireland, has received three nominations, including best actress for Glenn Close, best actress in a supporting role for Janet McTeer and best makeup.
Kenneth Branagh, Jonah Hill, Nick Nolte, Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow make up the nominations for best supporting actor. Bérénice Bejo, Jessica Chastain, Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer complete the list for best supporting actress.
The Oscars ceremony, hosted by Billy Crystal, takes place on February 26th at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Crystal, who has hosted the ceremony eight times already, stepped in after Eddie Murphy pulled out.