Oscar Nominations 2012: 8 Surprises and Snubs

Surprise!

Mexican actor Demián Bichir's first Best Actor nod for his turn as a gardener trying to keep his son away from L.A. gang life in "A Better Life." Bichir is best known as the doomed drug lord who romances Mary Louise Parker's character in the Showtime series, "Weeds."

Snub!

Michael Fassbender missed the Best Actor cut for his searing portrayal of a sex addict in "Shame." That is a shame.

Surprise!

Gary Oldman finally received his first Oscar nomination for his understated "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy" performance. Some Oscar prognosticators believed Leonardo DiCaprio would take a Best Actor spot for "J. Edgar," but no.

Surprise!

Max von Sydow snagged his second Oscar nomination for his turn as mysterious and mute man who helps a young boy struggling to understand his father's death after 9/11 in "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close."Another surprise was the film's inclusion on the Best Picture list. Up to this point, "Extremely Loud" had mostly been omitted from award season lists, such as the Golden Globes, because not many voters had seen the film. Better late than never!

Snub!

Director David Fincher didn't make the list for helming "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," despite receiving a Directors Guild Award nomination.

Surprise!

"Dragon Tattoo's" star Rooney Mara, however, found her name on the Best Actress list for her tough-nut portrayal of computer hacker Lisbeth Salander, beating strong contender Tilda Swinton for "We Need to Talk about Kevin."

Snub!

Steven Spielberg's animated 3D spectacle "The Adventures of Tintin" failed to snag a Best Animated Film nod. Instead, two relatively unknown foreign animated films, "A Cat in Paris" and "Chico & Rita," took the coveted spots.

Surprise!

There are only two nominees for Best Original Song? That's the case this year, with "Man or Muppet" from "The Muppets" and "Real in Rio" from "Rio" earning the nods.Those left out included Elton John's "Hello Hello" from "Gnomeo & Juliet" and Pink's "Bridge of Light" in "Happy Feet Two." Madonna's Golden Globe-winning song "Masterpiece" from "W.E." had already been ruled ineligible by the Academy.