'Lincoln' leads run for Oscars

Los Angeles, Jan 10 (IANS) Steven Spielberg's presidential drama "Lincoln" is the front-runner for the 85th Academy Awards with 12 citations, while Ang Lee's "Life of Pi" follows close behind with 11 nomination, it was announced here early Thursday morning.

"Lincoln", which is also leading the nomination pack at the Golden Globe awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards this year, is a biopic on the US president Abraham Lincoln's struggles during the Civil War.

The movie has been nominated across categories including best picture, best actor (Daniel Day-Lewis), writing - adapted screenplay, actress in a supporting role (Sally Field), actor in a supporting role (Tommy Lee Jones), directing (Steven Spielberg), costume design, cinematography, film editing, music - original score, production design and sound mixing.

"Life of Pi", a fantasy adventure drama, widely shot in India, is the adaptation of Canadian author Yann Martel's Man Booker Prize-winning eponymous novel. It narrates the journey of an Indian boy who survives a storm. Some key categories in which the movie has been nominated are best picture, cinematography and directing.

A total of nine films are competing in the best picture category. These are "Amour", "Argo", "Beasts of the Southern Wild", "Django Unchained", "Les Miserables", "Life of Pi", "Lincoln", "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Zero Dark Thirty".

The talents vying for the best actor trophy include names like Bradley Cooper ("Silver Linings Playbook"), Hugh Jackman ("Les Miserables"), Joaquin Phoenix ("The Master") and Denzel Washington ("Flight"), apart from Day-Lewis for "Lincoln".

Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Silver Linings Playbook"), Emmanuelle Riva ("Amour"), Quvenzhane Wallis ("Beasts of the Southern Wild") and Naomi Watts ("The Impossible") are in the run for the best actress title.

Apart from Spielberg for "Lincoln", other nominations in the best director category are Michael Haneke ("Amour"), Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Ang Lee ("Life of Pi") and David O. Russell ("Silver Linings Playbook").

The foreign language films nominated for the golden statuette include "Amour" (Austria), "Kon-Tiki" (Norway), "No" (Chile), "A Royal Affair" (Denmark) and "War Witch" (Canada).

Overall, romantic comedy-drama "Silver Linings Playbook" is third on the list of top-scorers in the Oscar nomination list with eight nods, while political thriller "Argo" and musical "Les Miserables" are in a tie with seven citations each.

Kathryn Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" and Quentin Tarantino's "Django Unchained" too are in a tie with five nominations each to their credit.

Bond film "Skyfall" has four nods.

The Oscar presentation ceremony will be held Feb 24 in Hollywood's Dolby Theater.

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