Trendy Report: The Oscar Race is Officially On!

The countdown begins! The world waited with bated breath as the Oscar nominations were dutifully announced and as usual it was a mixed bag of contentment and disappointment.

Most insiders were right on the money with some of their predictions, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo and Les Miserables were included in the Best Picture Category. The one surprise of the bunch would be Silver Linings Playbook, which obviously won the admiration of the voters since it managed to garner recognition in the acting categories thanks to nominations scored by Jennifer Lawrence for Best Actress, Bradley Cooper for Best Actor and Robert De Niro for Best Supporting Actor. There was also a fairytale element to the announcements as nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallace scored a nomination for her memorable performance in the summer hit, Beasts of the Southern Wild. She is essentially the youngest nominee ever to be nominated for Best Actress.

Django Unchained despite its controversial veil managed to shatter the box office and the lucky streak carried over to the Oscars as it received nominations for Christoph Waltz for Best Supporting Actor, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture among others. Surprisingly, the film’s director Quentin Tarantino was left out of the Best Director category.

Another major upset was director Kathryn Bigelow, who despite being responsible for the brilliant execution of Best Picture nominee Dark Zero Thirty, was shut out of the Best Director race. It’s a frustrating realization that just because a film is nominated doesn’t always guarantee the director will share the same honor.

There were other glaring snubs, and you can get an in depth analysis courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter by clicking here.

Award season is in full swing and the countdown begins! Feb. 24^th is the day that will separate the winners from the losers and hopefully usher in a new era with Seth MacFarlane as host.

Get your complete list of nominees by clicking here.