Oscars: The King’s Speech leads nominations

The nominations for the top awards in Hollywood were announced at an early-morning ceremony at the Academy’s headquarters.

The King’s Speech led the pack with a total of 12 nominations – more than any other film at the 83rd Academy Awards.

The full list of nominations can be seen on the Academy Awards Nominees site

Colin Firth, who won a Golden Globe for his performance as the stammering King George VI, has been nominated as Best Actor; Helena Bonham Carter has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role as the Queen; and the director Tom Hooper is on the list for Best Director for the period drama, set in England on the cusp of the Second World War.

True Grit, a Western remake, was next in line with 10 nominations, followed by science fiction thriller Inception and Facebook drama The Social Network, both with eight nominations.

All four films are on the coveted Best Picture list, alongside Black Swan, The Fighter, The Kids Are All Right, 127 Hours, Toy Story 3 and Winter’s Bone.

Hope for surprises
The awards season stopped being a means of honouring talent and achievement in film long ago. Instead it became nothing more than a promotional tool for marketing a certain type of typically middle-brow film, our Culture Editor Matthew Cain wrote after the Golden Globes ceremony earlier this month.

Now I don't want to sound all po-faced and purist about film awards. But ultimately, what matters to me is the creative talent behind the films themselves, not how much money a film company has spent on a promotional campaign. Which is why I like to think that each awards body is incorruptible even on the most subtle level and nominates and then gives their awards to exactly who it thinks should win. And if this is in fact what happens, then different outcomes will arise from the different awards ceremonies.

So I'm thrilled that the hugely talented Colin Firth has walked off with a much-deserved Golden Globe for Best Actor over night. And I sincerely hope that he repeats his triumph at both the BAFTAs and the Oscars over the next few months. But at the same time I hope that this year's awards season throws up at least some surprises.

Read more on Matthew Cain's blog: Hollywood awards season kicks off 

In the other major awards, Javier Bardem squares up to Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg and James Franco for Best Actor and the contenders for Best Actress are Annette Bening, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams.