'Hugo', 'The Artist' get most nods

L-R: Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep, George Clooney

Martin Scorsese's lavish 3D adventure "Hugo" won 11 Oscar nominations yesterday, just ahead of hotly-tipped silent movie "The Artist" with 10 nods for Hollywood's top awards.
Tied for third were baseball movie "Moneyball" starring Brad Pitt and veteran director Steven Spielberg's equine epic "War Horse," which each got six nods for the Academy Awards, to be presented next month.
"Hugo"'s nominations included the best picture category, where it is up against eight other movies including "The Artist," which has been a favourite for the Oscars after a string of wins and nods in other awards show.
The Scorsese movie -- his debut in 3D -- is a visually rich tale set in 1930s Paris, about an orphan who lives in the walls of a train station and is obsessed with clock-making and early film pioneer Georges Melies.
"The Artist", which is a tribute to silent movie era, has already been nominated for best film by the Directors Guild of America (DGA) and won the top prize from the Producers Guild of America (PGA) last week -- both seen as key indicators of Oscars glory. It also won the Golden Globe award.
The other movies nominated for best picture are "The Descendants," "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close," "The Help," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Tree of Life" and "War Horse."
"The Artist" star Jean Dujardin was nominated for best actor, up against George Clooney in "The Descendants," Brad Pitt in "Moneyball," Gary Oldman in "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" and Demian Bechir in "A Better Life."
Meryl Streep, as expected, received her 17th Oscar nomination for a gripping performance as former British premier Margaret Thatcher in "The Iron Lady".
Also shortlisted were Glenn Close for cross-dressing "Albert Nobbs," Viola Davis from civil rights drama "The Help," Michelle Williams as Monroe in "My Week with Marilyn" and Rooney Mara from "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."
Up for best foreign language film are "A Separation" by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi, along with "Footnote" (Israel), "In Darkness" (Poland), "Monsieur Lazhar" (Canada), and "Bullhead" (Belgium).
The Oscars are to be presented at the Kodak Theatre in Hollyood on Sunday, February 26.