Detroit documentary 'Searching for Sugarman' gets Oscar nod

Emma Stone and Seth MacFarlane

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences award nominations are in and there were a few surprises. 

A still from the Life of Pi

Ang Lee's groundbreaking movie Life of Pi about a young man who survives a disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery along with another of the ship's survivors, a fearsome Bengal tiger earned almost as many Oscar nods as Lincoln. Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, about the 16th president and his battle to end slavery, earned 12 nods including best picture. Life of Pi was second with 11 nominations, including best picture, best director and best adapted screenplay.

A still from Beasts of the Southern Wild

Also a nice surprise to everyone, except Oprah, who featured the Beasts of the Southern Wild's first-time director Benh Zeitlin and breakout star Quvenzhané Wallis on OWN - thus creating the Hollywood buzz surrounding the film. Wallis, 9, earned a nomination for best actress, becoming the youngest person ever in that category. 

Along with the good news came a few disappointments including the exclusion of Quentin Tarantino and Kathryn Bigelow from the best director nominations. Tarantino's Django Unchained and Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty, respectively - received best picture nominations. 

Still from Searching for Sugar Man

Michigan movie fans are cheering the not-so-surprising Oscar nod for Searching for Sugar Man. The documentary tells the incredible story of Rodriguez, the greatest '70s rock icon who never was. Discovered in a Detroit bar in the late '60s by two celebrated producers struck by his soulful melodies and prophetic lyrics, they recorded an album which they believed would secure his reputation as the greatest recording artist of his generation. In fact, the album bombed and the singer disappeared into obscurity amid rumors of a gruesome on-stage suicide. But a bootleg recording found its way into apartheid South Africa and, over the next two decades, he became a phenomenon. The film follows the story of two South African fans who set out to find out what really happened to their hero," according to the summary by Rotten Tomatoes. "Their investigation leads them to a story more extraordinary than any of the existing myths about the artist known as Rodriguez."

The following list of nominees were announced by Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone. MacFarlane famous for being The Family Guy mastermind and writer/director of the comedy Ted, will host the Oscars, which are scheduled for Feb. 24 on ABC-TV. 

Best Picture

• * "Amour" Nominees to be determined
• * "Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
• * "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
• * "Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
• * "Les Misérables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
• * "Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
• * "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
• * "Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
• * "Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

Actor in a Leading Role

• * Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• * Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
• * Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
• * Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
• * Denzel Washington in "Flight"
• Actor in a Supporting Role
• * Alan Arkin in "Argo"
• * Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• * Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
• * Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
• * Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"
• Actress in a Leading Role
• * Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
• * Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• * Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
• * Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
• * Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"

Actress in a Supporting Role

• * Amy Adams in "The Master"
• * Sally Field in "Lincoln"
• * Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
• * Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
• * Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Animated Feature Film

• * "Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
• * "Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
• * "ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
• * "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
• * "Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

Cinematography

• * "Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
• * "Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
• * "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
• * "Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
• * "Skyfall" Roger Deakins

Costume Design

• * "Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
• * "Les Misérables" Paco Delgado
• * "Lincoln" Joanna Johnston
• * "Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka
• * "Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood

Directing

1. * "Amour" Michael Haneke
2. * "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
3. * "Life of Pi" Ang Lee
4. * "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
5. * "Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell

Documentary Feature

• * "5 Broken Cameras"
• Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
• * "The Gatekeepers"
• Nominees to be determined
• * "How to Survive a Plague"
• Nominees to be determined
• * "The Invisible War"
• Nominees to be determined
• * "Searching for Sugar Man"
• Nominees to be determined

Documentary Short Subject

• * "Inocente"
• Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
• * "Kings Point"
• Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
• * "Mondays at Racine"
• Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
• * "Open Heart"
• Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
• * "Redemption"
• Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

Film Editing

• * "Argo" William Goldenberg
• * "Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
• * "Lincoln" Michael Kahn
• * "Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
• * "Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Foreign Language Film

• * "Amour" Austria
• * "Kon-Tiki" Norway
• * "No" Chile
• * "A Royal Affair" Denmark
• * "War Witch" Canada

Makeup and Hairstyling

• * "Hitchcock"
• Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
• * "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
• Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
• * "Les Misérables"
• Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Music (Original Score)

• * "Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
• * "Argo" Alexandre Desplat
• * "Life of Pi" Mychael Danna
• * "Lincoln" John Williams
• * "Skyfall" Thomas Newman

Music (Original Song)

• * "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
• Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
• * "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
• Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
• * "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
• Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
• * "Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
• Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
• * "Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"
• Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Production Design

• * "Anna Karenina"
• Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• * "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
• Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
• * "Les Misérables"
• Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
• * "Life of Pi"
• Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
• * "Lincoln"
• Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Short Film (Animated)

• * "Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
• * "Fresh Guacamole" PES
• * "Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
• * "Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
• * "Paperman" John Kahrs

Short Film (Live Action)

• * "Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
• * "Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr
• * "Curfew" Shawn Christensen
• * "Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)" Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
• * "Henry" Yan England

Sound Editing

• * "Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
• * "Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
• * "Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
• * "Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
• * "Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson

Sound Mixing

• * "Argo"
• John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
• * "Les Misérables"
• Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
• * "Life of Pi"
• Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
• * "Lincoln"
• Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
• * "Skyfall"
• Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

• * "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
• Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
• * "Life of Pi"
• Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
• * "Marvel's The Avengers"
• Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
• * "Prometheus"
• Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
• * "Snow White and the Huntsman"
• Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• * "Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
• * "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
• * "Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
• * "Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner
• * "Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• * "Amour" Written by Michael Haneke
• * "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
• * "Flight" Written by John Gatins
• * "Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
• * "Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal
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