And the Oscar nominees are ...

"Amour," Michael Haneke's intimate portrayal of an aged couple grappling with illness and the specter of loss, is nominated for Best Picture. The film's star Emmanuelle Riva is nominated in the Best Actress category. Hanaeke is also nominated for Best Director.

"Argo"

"Argo," Ben Affleck's thriller about a CIA scheme to save Americans from Iran amid the 1979 hostage crisis, is nominated for Best Picture. Actor Alan Arkin is nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category.

"Beasts of the Southern Wild"

"Beasts of the Southern Wild," a Sundance favorite that uses magical realism to evoke a child's world in the Louisiana bayou, is nominated for Best Picture. The film's director Ben Zeitlin and its star Quvenzhan

"Django Unchained"

"Django Unchained," Quentin Tarantino's bloody revenge saga about a former slave hunting white oppressors just before the Civil War, is nominated for Best Picture. One of the film's stars, Christoph Waltz, is nominated for Best Supporting Actor.

"Les Miserables"

"Les Miserables," Tom Hooper's musical epic set against an uprising of freedom fighters in 19th century France, is nominated for Best Picture. The film's stars Hugh Jackman and Anne Hathaway were nominated in the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress categories, respectively.

"Life of Pi"

"Life of Pi," Ang Lee's story of a free-thinking Indian youth cast adrift on a lifeboat with a Bengal tiger while traveling to a new life in North America, is nominated for Best Picture. Lee also is nominated for Best Director. Altogether, it received 11 nominations.

"Lincoln"

"Lincoln," Steven Spielberg's drama of the 16th president's fight to eradicate slavery, leads the race for this year's Academy Awards, with 12 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor. Spielberg is also nominated for Best Director.

"Silver Linings Playbook"

Silver Linings Playbook," a comedy-drama about a man released from a mental institution, probably prematurely, is nominated for Best Picture. The film's director, David O. Russell, also is nominated along with four of the film's stars.

"Zero Dark Thirty"

"Zero Dark Thirty," Kathryn Bigelow's chronicle of the hunt for U.S. public enemy No. 1, Osama bin Laden, is nominated for Best Picture. The film's star Jessica Chastain is nominated for Best Actress.

Daniel Day-Lewis

Daniel Day-Lewis is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role for playing President Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln."

Day-Lewis is a two-time winner of the Best Actor Oscar, for "My Left Foot" and "There Will Be Blood." He also received Best Actor nominations for "In the Name of the Father" and "Gangs of New York."

Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role for playing a bipolar former teacher who's released from a mental hospital and returns to his parents' home in "Silver Linings Playbook."

This is Cooper's first Oscar nomination.

Hugh Jackman

Hugh Jackman is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role for playing Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables."

This is Jackman's first Oscar nomination.

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role for playing a WW II veteran who become the fiercest defender of a cult in Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master."

Phoenix has been nominated twice before, for Best Supporting Actor ("Gladiator") and Best Actor ("Walk the Line").

Denzel Washington

Denzel Washington is nominated for best performance by an actor in a leading role for playing a pilot battling both an NTSB probe into a fatal plane crash and his own alcoholism in "Flight."

Washington is a two-time Oscar-winner, for "Glory" and "Training Day." He also received three additional nominations, for "Cry Freedom," "Malcolm X" and "The Hurricane."

Jessica Chastain

Jessica Chastain is nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role for playing CIA analyst Maya, who is tracking the whereabouts of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, in "Zero Dark Thirty."

Chastain was nominated last year for Best Supporting Actress for "The Help."

Jennifer Lawrence

Jennifer Lawrence is nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role for playing a young widow who acts as a go-between for her bipolar friend and his estranged wife in "Silver Linings Playbook."

Lawrence was previously nominated for Best Actress for "Winter's Bone."

Emmanuelle Riva

Emmanuelle Riva is nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role for playing an octogenarian stroke victim who is the center of her husband's universe in Michael Haneke's drama "Amour."

This is Riva's first Oscar nomination. At 85, she becomes the oldest performer to receive a Best Actress nomination.

Quvenzhane Wallis

Quvenzhane Wallis is nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role for starring in "Beasts of the Southern Wild," a tale of magical realism about a young girl in the Louisiana bayou.

Wallis, 9, becomes the youngest female ever nominated in an acting category.

Naomi Watts

Naomi Watts is nominated for best performance by an actress in a leading role for playing a tourist whose family is torn apart by a tsunami in "The Impossible."

Watts was previously nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "21 Grams."

Alan Arkin

Alan Arkin is nominated for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for playing producer Lester Siegel in "Argo."

Arkin won Best Supporting Actor for "Little Miss Sunshine," and was nominated for Best Actor for "The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming," and "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter."

Robert De Niro

Robert De Niro is nominated for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for playing the OCD father of Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook."

A two-time Oscar-winner (for "The Godfather Part II" and "Raging Bull"), De Niro has also received nominations for "Taxi Driver," "The Deer Hunter," "Awakenings" and "Cape Fear."

Philip Seymour Hoffman

Philip Seymour Hoffman is nominated for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for playing the charismatic leader of a cult in "The Master."

Hoffman, a Best Actor Oscar-winner for "Capote," was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor for "Charlie Wilson's War" and "Doubt."

Tommy Lee Jones

Tommy Lee Jones is nominated for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for playing the abolitionist Rep. Thaddeus Stevens in Steven Spielberg's "Lincoln."

Jones won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in "The Fugitive." He was nominated in the Best Supporting Actor category for his performance in "In the Valley of Elah."

Christoph Waltz

Christoph Waltz is nominated for best performance by an actor in a supporting role for playing a bounty hunter in "Django Unchained."

Waltz won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for "Inglourious Basterds."

Amy Adams

Amy Adams is nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for playing the wife of a cult leader in Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master."

Adams has been nominated three times previously for Best Supporting Actress, for "Junebug," "Doubt," and "The Fighter."

Anne Hathaway

Anne Hathaway is nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for playing the tragic Fantine in the musical "Les Miserables."

Hathaway was previously nominated for Best Actress for "Rachel Getting Married."

Sally Field

Sally Field is nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for playing first lady Mary Todd Lincoln in "Lincoln."

Field has won two Oscars for "Norma Rae" and "Places in the Heart."

Helen Hunt

Helen Hunt is nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for playing a sex surrogate in "The Sessions."

Hunt won an Oscar for Best Actress in "As Good as It Gets."

Jacki Weaver

Jacki Weaver is nominated for best performance by an actress in a supporting role for playing the mother of a mentally unstable son in "Silver Linings Playbook."

Weaver was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Animal Kingdom."

"Brave"

"Brave" is nominated for best animated feature film of the year.

"Frankenweenie"

"Frankenweenie" is nominated for best animated feature film of the year.

"ParaNorman"

"ParaNorman" is nominated for best animated feature film of the year.

"Wreck-It Ralph"

"Wreck-It Ralph" is nominated for best animated feature film of the year.

"The Pirates! Band of Misfits"

"The Pirates! Band of Misfits" is nominated for best animated feature film of the year.