'Hugo' leads with 11 Oscar nods

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Jan. 24 (UPI) -- Martin Scorsese's "Hugo" led the field with 11 nods, including one for Best Picture, when Oscar nominations were announced in Los Angeles Tuesday.

Also nominated in the top picture category are "War Horse," "The Artist," "Moneyball," "The Descendants," "The Tree of Life," "Midnight in Paris," "The Help" and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."

"The Artist" earned 10 nominations, while "Moneyball" and "War Horse" each picked up six. "The Descendants" and "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" both garnered five, and "The Help" secured four.

The nominees for Best Director are Scorsese, Michel Hazanavicius for "The Artist," Alexander Payne for "The Descendants," Woody Allen for "Midnight in Paris" and Terrence Malick for "The Tree of Life."

Shortlisted for Best Actor are Demian Bichir in "A Better Life," George Clooney for "The Descendants," Gary Oldman for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Brad Pitt for "Moneyball" and Jean Dujardin for "The Artist."

Vying for the prize of Best Actress are Glenn Close for "Albert Nobbs," Viola Davis for "The Help," Rooney Mara for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady" and Michelle Williams for "My Week with Marilyn."

The nominees for Supporting Actor are Kenneth Branagh for "My Week with Marilyn," Jonah Hill for "Moneyball," Max Von Sydow for "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," Nick Nolte for "Warrior" and Christopher Plummer for "Beginners."

Nominated for Supporting Actress are Berenice Bejo for "The Artist," Jessica Chastain for "The Help," Janet McTeer for "Albert Nobbs," Octavia Spencer for "The Help" and Melissa McCarthy for "Bridesmaids."

Shortlisted for Best Adapted Screenplay are Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash for "The Descendants," John Logan for "Hugo," George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon for "The Ides of March," Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin for "Moneyball" and Bridget O'Connor and Peter Straughan for "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy."

Vying for the Original Screenplay prize are "The Artist" written by Michel Hazanavicius, "Bridesmaids" by Annie Mumolo and Kristen Wiig, "Margin Call" by J.C. Chandor, "Midnight in Paris" by Woody Allen and "A Separation" by Asghar Farhadi.

Up for Best Animated Feature are "A Cat in Paris," "Chico and Rita," "Kung Fu Panda 2," "Puss in Boots" and "Rango."

The Oscars awards ceremony is to be held Feb., at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Los Angeles. It will be televised live on ABC.