Surprise surrounds Best Director as the Oscar nominations are announced (Video)

The Oscar nominations announced today provided quite a few surprises and subs especially in the Best Director category. Both Ben Afleck ("Argo") and Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty") were shut out of the Oscar race for Best Director and Leonardo DiCaprio failed to get a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Below are the nominees in the four major categories:

Best Picture:

1. "Amour"
2. "Argo"
3. "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
4. "Django Unchained"
5. "Les Miserables"
6. "Life of Pi"
7. "Lincoln"
8. "Silver Linings Playbook"
9. "Zero Dark Thirty"

There were few surprises in this category though it would have been nice to see the heartfelt coming of age drama, "Perks of Being a Wallflower" on this list. It might be a tight race for Best Picture come February.

Best Actor:

1. Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"
2. Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"
3. Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"
4. Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"
5. Denzel Washington, "Flight"

Oscar nominations are announced

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Phoenix campaigned heavily not to be nominated so it was a bit of a surprise to see him on the list. Still his is a well deserved nomination.

Best Actress:

1. Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"
2. Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"
3. Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"
4. Quvenzhane Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
5. Naomi Watts, "The Impossible"

Quvenzhane Wallis at age 9 and Emmanuelle Riva at age 85 now become the oldest and youngest Best Actress nominees.

Best Supporting Actor:

1. Alan Arkin, "Argo"
2. Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"
3. Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"
4. Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"
5. Christoph Waltz, Django "Unchained"

As Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone joked as they announced the nominees, none of the gentlemen on this list are new nominees. Somewhat surprisingly, both Leonardo DiCaprio and Samuel L. Jackson were snubbed for their roles in "Django Unchained".

Best Supporting Actress:

1. Amy Adams, "The Master"
2. Sally Field, "Lincoln"
3. Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"
4. Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"
5. Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook"

Jacki Weaver's nod for "Sliver Linings Playbook" was a complete surprise; hold out hope for a nomination for Gloria Ruben for "Lincoln", Hartford?

Best Director:

1. Michael Haneke, "Amour"
2. Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"
3. David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook"
4. Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"
5. Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"

This was the most surprising category with Ben Afleck and Kathryn Bigelow now out of the race. Is the Academy trying to keep everyone on their toes? Tune in on February 24, 2013 on ABC for the 85th Academy Awards! See the complete list on nominees here.