Hollywood's awards race just got serious. Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone announced Oscar nominations for the 2013 Academy Awards on Thursday morning, adding a bit of levity to what will surely be taken quite seriously come Feb. 24, when MacFarlane hosts the actual awards broadcast.
In pre-announcement buzz, Kathryn Bigelow ("Zero Dark Thirty"), Tom Hooper ("Les Miserables"), Ben Affleck ("Argo"), Steven Spielberg ("Lincoln") and their films were all expected to receive nominations.
But MacFarlane did not read Bigelow, Affleck or Hooper's names when ticking off those nominated for Best Director. There was an audible gasp in the room as journalists realized that all three had been snubbed.
"Zero Dark Thirty" and "Argo" did, however, receive nods for Best Picture, where they'll compete with "Amour," "Django Unchained," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln" and "Silver Linings Playbook."
Those who were nominated for Achievement in Directing: Steven Spielberg ("Lincoln"), David O. Russell ("Silver Linings"), Ang Lee ("Life of Pi"), Benh Zeitlin ("Beasts") and Michael Haneke ("Amour").
Plenty of familiar names dotted the acting categories. Daniel Day-Lewis ("Lincoln"), Hugh Jackman ("Les Miserables"), Joaquin Phoenix ("The Master"), Denzel Washington ("Flight") and Bradley Cooper ("Silver Linings") will compete for Best Actor. In the Best Actress column, Jessica Chastain ("Zero Dark Thirty"), Jennifer Lawrence ("Silver Linings"), Emmanuelle Riva ("Amour"), Quvenzhane Wallis ("Beasts") and Naomi Watts ("The Impossible") are in contention. At just nine years old, Wallis is the youngest actress to ever be nominated in the category. Riva, 85, is the oldest.
Every nominee in the category of Best Supporting Actor has previously won an Oscar -- a fact Stone and MacFarlane jokingly acknowledged. Alan Arkin ("Argo"), Robert De Niro ("Silver Linings"), Philip Seymour Hoffman ("The Master"), Tommy Lee Jones ("Lincoln") and Christoph Waltz ("Django") will face off in that category. Amy Adams of "The Master" will compete with Sally Field ("Lincoln"), Anne Hathaway ("Les Mis"), Helen Hunt ("The Sessions") and Jacki Weaver ("Silver Linings Playbook") for Best Supporting Actress.
MacFarlane, who is best known for his off-camera work on "Family Guy" and "Ted," looked comfortable during the nominations announcement. And, in what surely came as a relief to viewers planning to tune in to the ceremony itself, he was pretty funny. He encouraged those who didn't recognize him to "pretend" he's Donnie Osmond. "I don't know why we don't wait until noon to do this, because the only people who are up right now are flying or in surgery," he said before inviting Emma Stone to join him on stage, "because there's nothing creepier than a guy standing by himself in Hollywood at five in the morning."
The Oscars are voted on by members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a group of some 6,000 working professionals in cinema. More information on the voting process is available at the Academy's website. It's worth noting that the Golden Globes -- which take place Sunday -- are not voted on by members of the industry, but by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
A full list of nominees is available below. A live-blog of Oscars season follows, as does a gallery of those honored. Be sure to head back to HuffPost Entertainment for coverage of all things awards.
1. Best Picture: "Amour," "Argo," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Django Unchained," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty."
2. Actor: Bradley Cooper, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Daniel Day-Lewis, "Lincoln"; Hugh Jackman, "Les Miserables"; Joaquin Phoenix, "The Master"; Denzel Washington, "Flight."
3. Actress: Jessica Chastain, "Zero Dark Thirty"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Emmanuelle Riva, "Amour"; Quvenzhané Wallis, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Naomi Watts, "The Impossible."
4. Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin, "Argo"; Robert De Niro, "Silver Linings Playbook"; Philip Seymour Hoffman, "The Master"; Tommy Lee Jones, "Lincoln"; Christoph Waltz, "Django Unchained."
5. Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, "The Master"; Sally Field, "Lincoln"; Anne Hathaway, "Les Miserables"; Helen Hunt, "The Sessions"; Jacki Weaver, "Silver Linings Playbook."
6. Directing: Michael Haneke, "Amour"; Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; Ang Lee, "Life of Pi"; Steven Spielberg, "Lincoln"; David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook."
7. Foreign Language Film: "Amour," Austria; "Kon-Tiki," Norway; "No," Chile; "A Royal Affair," Denmark; "War Witch," Canada.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Chris Terrio, "Argo"; Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; David Magee, "Life of Pi"; Tony Kushner, "Lincoln"; David O. Russell, "Silver Linings Playbook."
9. Original Screenplay: Michael Haneke, "Amour"; Quentin Tarantino, "Django Unchained"; John Gatins, "Flight"; Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, "Moonrise Kingdom"; Mark Boal, "Zero Dark Thirty."
10. Animated Feature Film: "Brave"; "Frankenweenie"; "ParaNorman"; "The Pirates! Band of Misfits"; "Wreck-It Ralph."
11. Production Design: "Anna Karenina," "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln."
12. Cinematography: "Anna Karenina," "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Skyfall."
13. Sound Mixing: "Argo," "Les Miserables," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Skyfall."
14. Sound Editing: "Argo," "Django Unchained," "Life of Pi," "Skyfall," "Zero Dark Thirty."
15. Original Score: "Anna Karenina," Dario Marianelli; "Argo," Alexandre Desplat; "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna; "Lincoln," John Williams; "Skyfall," Thomas Newman.
16. Original Song: "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice," J. Ralph; "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from "Ted," Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane; "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi," Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri; "Skyfall" from "Skyfall," Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth; "Suddenly" from "Les Miserables," Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil.
17. Costume: "Anna Karenina," "Les Miserables," "Lincoln," "Mirror Mirror," "Snow White and the Huntsman."
18. Documentary Feature: "5 Broken Cameras," "The Gatekeepers," "How to Survive a Plague," "The Invisible War," "Searching for Sugar Man."
19. Documentary (short subject): "Inocente," "Kings Point," "Mondays at Racine," "Open Heart," "Redemption."
20. Film Editing: "Argo," "Life of Pi," "Lincoln," "Silver Linings Playbook," "Zero Dark Thirty."
21. Makeup and Hairstyling: "Hitchcock," "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," "Les Miserables."
22. Animated Short Film: "Adam and Dog," "Fresh Guacamole," "Head over Heels," "Maggie Simpson in `The Longest Daycare,'" "Paperman."
23. Live Action Short Film: "Asad," "Buzkashi Boys," "Curfew," "Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)," "Henry."
24. Visual Effects: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," "Life of Pi," "Marvel's The Avengers," "Prometheus," "Snow White and the Huntsman."
