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Shalimar Sahota: There were clearly some surprising nominations, and upon seeing them, I'm left hoping that it's a sign of things to come and that the ceremony itself will present some surprise winners. Well, I can hope, but I doubt it'll happen.

Best Actor - "Who the hell is Demián Bichir?" That's what I imagine everyone was saying when his name was announced. Probably the most surprising nomination, in that here is an actor whose name wasn't even considered when it came to the nominations, and now according to my local bookies, he stands a better of chance of winning than Gary Oldman and Brad Pitt. Turns out that screener copies of A Better Life were sent out to Academy voters very early on, and his performance must have lingered. Still, I say it's a two horse race between Clooney and Dujardin.

Best Actress - If I'd like to see an upset in any category, then it's this one. Everyone seems to think that Meryl Streep has already won this for The Iron Lady. However, if anyone is going to ruin her night, I think it's going to be Viola Davis for The Help.

Cinematography - Guillaume Schiffman for The Artist should just make do with the nomination here. Its full frame aspect ratio works, but doesn't compare to the cinemascope spectacles of the other nominations. I think this is between Robert Richardson for Hugo and Emmanuel Lubezki for The Tree of Life. Richardson has won twice previously, and one of those wins was for his work on Martin Scorsese's The Aviator. However, Lubezki has been nominated four times previously, and the way I see it, it's about bloody time. Plus, if The Tree of Life is going to win any of its three nominations, it's most likely going to be this one.

Animated Feature Film - A category that's often been dominated by Pixar during the last decade, yet this year, there's not a single Pixar (or Disney) film in sight. Even more surprising is the omission of the Golden Globe winning (and BAFTA nominated) The Adventures of Tintin. Though I am stupefied as to how the hell A Cat in Paris got in there! Nevertheless, I think this is Rango's area.

I have a general wondering in regards to the highest grossing film of 2011. The Harry Potter films have received a scattershot of nominations in the past, but have never won any. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 has three nominations in Art Direction, Visual Effects and Make-Up. This has to be Harry's time to walk away with something (I think there's a good chance it'll walk away with the former two). It'll be the Academy's way of awarding the whole series by at least offering the final film with something.

Interestingly, Shame, We Need To Talk About Kevin, J. Edgar, 50/50 and Carnage have received no nominations whatsoever, while Drive received only one technical nod.

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