Australian actor Mia Wasikowska ... could she score a best actress nod for her performance in Jane Eyre?
The Age reports
If there is a major surprise when the Academy Award nominations are announced early Wednesday morning (AEDT) Australian actress Mia Wasikowska could be the reason.
A few weeks ago the best actress Oscar prospects for the Canberra-born 22-year-old's critically-acclaimed, but quickly forgotten, starring role in Jane Eyre were as healthy as the Costa Concordia cruise ship.
The tide recently turned.
One of Wasikowska's champions, ironically, is the woman most likely to win the best actress Oscar, Meryl Streep.
The US star used a portion of her acceptance speech after winning the Golden Globe last week to remind the world about Wasikowska's performance as Jane Eyre in the new adaptation of the classic Charlotte Bronte novel.
"How about Mia Wasikowska in Jane Eyre?" Streep, a short-priced favourite to win the third Oscar of her career for playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, asked the A-list crowd at the Globes that included many Academy-voting members.
Wasikowska remains at long-shot odds of 100/1 and would have to squeeze out one of the five actresses who appear set to receive nominations: Streep; Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn); Viola Davis (The Help); Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs); and Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin).
Also in the hunt in the best actress category are Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Emma Stone (The Help).
Adding to Wasikowska's Oscar campaign are two of America's top film critics, with USA Today's Claudia Puig recently including the actress in an article titled: "Oscar, don't forget these films and their actors, directors".
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times film critic, wrote in his review: "Mia Wasikowska, from Australia, is a relative newcomer who must essentially carry Jane Eyre, and succeeds with restraint, expressing a strong moral compass".
At last year's Oscar ceremony Australia had 10 nominees and a record five wins, but 2012 likely won't be as fruitful.
Wasikowska is Australia's only chance at picking up an acting nominee, contrasting with last year's tally when Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech) and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) received invites in the glamour acting categories, and Tom Hooper (director) and producer Emile Sherman (best picture) scored gold statuettes for The King's Speech.
Sherman has a decent chance of receiving another best picture nomination this year with Shame, about a New York sex addict, receiving plenty of buzz, particularly with lead Michael Fassbender expected to nab a best actor nod with George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar).
Naomi Watts is given little hope of sneaking into the supporting actress category for her portrayal of a loyal secretary in J. Edgar. Joel Edgerton, compelling as a school teacher forced to return to the mixed martial arts ring to save his family's home from being foreclosed, has also fallen off the Oscar nomination radar.
Happy Feet won the animated feature film Oscar for George Miller in 2007, but last year's sequel, Happy Feet 2, was disappointing at the box office and failed to make the Academy's short-list, which includes Rango, The Adventures of Tintin and Puss in Boots.
Australia's best chances are in the technical categories.
Let's hope Aussie editor Kirk Baxter, who won the Oscar last year for his work on The Social Network, bought the tuxedo he wore to the ceremony rather than renting it.
He will likely need it this year as he is one of the favourites in the editing category for his new film with director David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Another potential Australian nominee is the prolific Andy Nelson, a sound mixer on the Steven Spielberg-directed World War I drama, War Horse. Nelson is no stranger to the Academy Awards, winning an Oscar in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan and nominated another 14 times for films including Avatar, Moulin Rouge!, L.A. Confidential, Braveheart and Schindler's List.
Visual effects wizard Ben Snow, who grew up on a goat farm outside of Canberra, has four Oscar nominations over the years (Pearl Harbor, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Iron Man and Iron Man 2) but is yet to win.
His 2011 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, is on the 10-film short-list for the visual effects Oscar.
In other categories, The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo and Midnight in Paris are expected to be best picture nominees.
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) and Steven Spielberg (War Horse) are expected to fill out the five directing category nominees.
The Oscar nominees will be announced at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters in Beverly Hills at 5.30am Tuesday Los Angeles time (12.30am Wednesday AEDT).
The winners will be revealed at 84th Annual Academy Awards ceremony held at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on February 26.
AUSTRALIA'S TOP CHANCES FOR OSCAR NOMINATIONS
GREAT CHANCE
* Kirk Baxter - editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
* Andy Nelson - sound mixing - War Horse
* Ben Snow - visual effects - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
GOOD CHANCE
* Emile Sherman - best picture - Shame
LONG SHOTS
* Mia Wasikowska - lead actress - Jane Eyre
* Naomi Watts - supporting actress - J. Edgar
* Joel Edgerton - supporting actor - Warrior
AAP
The tide recently turned.
One of Wasikowska's champions, ironically, is the woman most likely to win the best actress Oscar, Meryl Streep.
The US star used a portion of her acceptance speech after winning the Golden Globe last week to remind the world about Wasikowska's performance as Jane Eyre in the new adaptation of the classic Charlotte Bronte novel.
"How about Mia Wasikowska in Jane Eyre?" Streep, a short-priced favourite to win the third Oscar of her career for playing former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, asked the A-list crowd at the Globes that included many Academy-voting members.
Wasikowska remains at long-shot odds of 100/1 and would have to squeeze out one of the five actresses who appear set to receive nominations: Streep; Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn); Viola Davis (The Help); Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs); and Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin).
Also in the hunt in the best actress category are Charlize Theron (Young Adult), Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and Emma Stone (The Help).
Adding to Wasikowska's Oscar campaign are two of America's top film critics, with USA Today's Claudia Puig recently including the actress in an article titled: "Oscar, don't forget these films and their actors, directors".
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times film critic, wrote in his review: "Mia Wasikowska, from Australia, is a relative newcomer who must essentially carry Jane Eyre, and succeeds with restraint, expressing a strong moral compass".
At last year's Oscar ceremony Australia had 10 nominees and a record five wins, but 2012 likely won't be as fruitful.
Wasikowska is Australia's only chance at picking up an acting nominee, contrasting with last year's tally when Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole), Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech) and Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom) received invites in the glamour acting categories, and Tom Hooper (director) and producer Emile Sherman (best picture) scored gold statuettes for The King's Speech.
Sherman has a decent chance of receiving another best picture nomination this year with Shame, about a New York sex addict, receiving plenty of buzz, particularly with lead Michael Fassbender expected to nab a best actor nod with George Clooney (The Descendants), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar).
Naomi Watts is given little hope of sneaking into the supporting actress category for her portrayal of a loyal secretary in J. Edgar. Joel Edgerton, compelling as a school teacher forced to return to the mixed martial arts ring to save his family's home from being foreclosed, has also fallen off the Oscar nomination radar.
Happy Feet won the animated feature film Oscar for George Miller in 2007, but last year's sequel, Happy Feet 2, was disappointing at the box office and failed to make the Academy's short-list, which includes Rango, The Adventures of Tintin and Puss in Boots.
Australia's best chances are in the technical categories.
Let's hope Aussie editor Kirk Baxter, who won the Oscar last year for his work on The Social Network, bought the tuxedo he wore to the ceremony rather than renting it.
He will likely need it this year as he is one of the favourites in the editing category for his new film with director David Fincher, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Another potential Australian nominee is the prolific Andy Nelson, a sound mixer on the Steven Spielberg-directed World War I drama, War Horse. Nelson is no stranger to the Academy Awards, winning an Oscar in 1999 for Saving Private Ryan and nominated another 14 times for films including Avatar, Moulin Rouge!, L.A. Confidential, Braveheart and Schindler's List.
Visual effects wizard Ben Snow, who grew up on a goat farm outside of Canberra, has four Oscar nominations over the years (Pearl Harbor, Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones, Iron Man and Iron Man 2) but is yet to win.
His 2011 film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, is on the 10-film short-list for the visual effects Oscar.
In other categories, The Artist, The Descendants, The Help, Hugo and Midnight in Paris are expected to be best picture nominees.
Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Martin Scorsese (Hugo), Alexander Payne (The Descendants), Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) and Steven Spielberg (War Horse) are expected to fill out the five directing category nominees.
The Oscar nominees will be announced at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences headquarters in Beverly Hills at 5.30am Tuesday Los Angeles time (12.30am Wednesday AEDT).
The winners will be revealed at 84th Annual Academy Awards ceremony held at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on February 26.
AUSTRALIA'S TOP CHANCES FOR OSCAR NOMINATIONS
GREAT CHANCE
* Kirk Baxter - editing - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
* Andy Nelson - sound mixing - War Horse
* Ben Snow - visual effects - Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
GOOD CHANCE
* Emile Sherman - best picture - Shame
LONG SHOTS
* Mia Wasikowska - lead actress - Jane Eyre
* Naomi Watts - supporting actress - J. Edgar
* Joel Edgerton - supporting actor - Warrior
AAP
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