'The King's Speech' Leads Oscar Noms

It's almost time to roll out the red carpet for the king of all awards ceremonies, the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.

The nominations were announced early Tuesday morning in Beverly Hills, California by the President of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Tom Sherak, and Oscar winner Mo'Nique. The list of honorees held few surprises, with The King's Speech and True Grit leading the pack, with 12 and 10 nominations, respectively, followed closely by The Social Network and Inception, each of which bagged eight nominations.

In addition to those four films, six other movies rounded out the Best Picture category, including the expected Black Swan, and The Fighter, plus surprises Toy Story 3 and Winter's Bone. Julia Roberts' recent campaigning for her friend Javier Bardem paid off in the Best Actor category, as he was nominated alongside Colin Firth, Jeff Bridges, Jesse Eisenberg, and James Franco. If Franco nabs the Oscar for his portrayal of hiker Aron Ralston in 127 Hours, he will make history as the first Academy Awards host to also win an Oscar during the show.

In the less predictable Best Actress category, Golden Globe winner Natalie Portman is accompanied by favorites Annette Bening and Michelle Williams. Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Lawrence round our the category. Christian Bale, Mark Ruffalo, and Geoffrey Rush are a few of the names being honored for Best Supporting Actor, while Amy Adams, Helena Bonham Carter, and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld highlight the Supporting Actress category.

You can watch Franco host the 83rd Annual Academy Awards with Anne Hathaway at 8:00 EST, February 27, 2010 on ABC. —KIMBERLY STEELE

Read below for a full list of nominees in all 24 categories:

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Javier Bardem in "Biutiful" (Roadside Attractions)
• Jeff Bridges in "True Grit" (Paramount)
• Jesse Eisenberg in "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• Colin Firth in "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company)
• James Franco in "127 Hours" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Christian Bale in "The Fighter" (Paramount)
• John Hawkes in "Winter’s Bone" (Roadside Attractions)
• Jeremy Renner in "The Town" (Warner Bros.)
• Mark Ruffalo in "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features)
• Geoffrey Rush in "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Annette Bening in "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features)
• Nicole Kidman in "Rabbit Hole" (Lionsgate)
• Jennifer Lawrence in "Winter’s Bone" (Roadside Attractions)
• Natalie Portman in "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight)
• Michelle Williams in "Blue Valentine" (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams in "The Fighter" (Paramount)
• Helena Bonham Carter in "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company)
• Melissa Leo in "The Fighter" (Paramount)
• Hailee Steinfeld in "True Grit"(Paramount)
• Jacki Weaver in "Animal Kingdom" (Sony Pictures Classics)

Best animated feature film of the year

• "How to Train Your Dragon" (Paramount), Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
• "The Illusionist" (Sony Pictures Classics), Sylvain Chomet
• "Toy Story 3" (Walt Disney), Lee Unkrich

Achievement in art direction

• "Alice in Wonderland" (Walt Disney), Production Design: Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Karen O’Hara
• "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Stuart Craig, Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), Production Design: Guy Hendrix Dyas, Set Decoration: Larry Dias and Doug Mowat
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Production Design: Eve Stewart, Set Decoration: Judy Farr
• "True Grit" (Paramount), Production Design: Jess Gonchor, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Achievement in cinematography

• "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight), Matthew Libatique
• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), Wally Pfister
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Danny Cohen
• "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeff Cronenweth
• "True Grit" (Paramount), Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design

• "Alice in Wonderland" (Walt Disney), Colleen Atwood
• "I Am Love" (Magnolia Pictures), Antonella Cannarozzi
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Jenny Beavan
• "The Tempest" (Miramax), Sandy Powell
• "True Grit" (Paramount), Mary Zophres

Achievement in directing

• "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight), Darren Aronofsky
• "The Fighter" (Paramount), David O. Russell
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Tom Hooper
• "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing), David Fincher
• "True Grit" (Paramount), Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Best documentary feature

• "Exit through the Gift Shop" (Producers Distribution Agency), A Paranoid Pictures Production, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
• "Gasland", A Gasland Production, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
• "Inside Job" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Representational Pictures Production, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
• "Restrepo" (National Geographic Entertainment), An Outpost Films Production, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
• "Waste Land" (Arthouse Films), An Almega Projects Production, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

Best documentary short subject

• "Killing in the Name", A Moxie Firecracker Films Production, Nominees to be determined
• "Poster Girl", A Portrayal Films Production, Nominees to be determined
• "Strangers No More", A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production, Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon
• "Sun Come Up", A Sun Come Up Production, Jennifer Redfearn and Tim Metzger
• "The Warriors of Qiugang", A Thomas Lennon Films Production, Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

Achievement in film editing

• "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight), Andrew Weisblum
• "The Fighter" (Paramount), Pamela Martin
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Tariq Anwar
• "127 Hours" (Fox Searchlight), Jon Harris
• "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Best foreign language film of the year

• "Biutiful" (Roadside Attractions), A Menage Atroz, Mod Producciones and Ikiru Films Production, Mexico
• "Dogtooth" (Kino International), A Boo Production, Greece
• "In a Better World" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Zentropa Production, Denmark
• "Incendies" (Sony Pictures Classics), A Micro-Scope Production, Canada
• "Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)" (Cohen Media Group), A Tassili Films Production, Algeria

Achievement in makeup

• "Barney’s Version" (Sony Pictures Classics), Adrien Morot
• "The Way Back" (Newmarket Films in association with Wrekin Hill Entertainment and Image Entertainment), Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
• "The Wolfman" (Universal), Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• "How to Train Your Dragon" (Paramount), John Powell
• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Alexandre Desplat
• "127 Hours" (Fox Searchlight), A.R. Rahman
• "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• "Coming Home" from "Country Strong" (Sony Pictures Releasing (Screen Gems)), Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
• "I See the Light" from "Tangled" (Walt Disney), Music by Alan Menken, Lyric by Glenn Slater
• "If I Rise" from "127 Hours" (Fox Searchlight), Music by A.R. Rahman, Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
• "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3" (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Best motion picture of the year

• "Black Swan" (Fox Searchlight), A Protozoa and Phoenix Pictures Production, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
• "The Fighter" (Paramount), A Relativity Media Production, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), A Warner Bros. UK Services Production, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
• "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features), An Antidote Films, Mandalay Vision and Gilbert Films Production, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), A See-Saw Films and Bedlam Production, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
• "127 Hours" (Fox Searchlight), An Hours Production, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
• "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing), A Columbia Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceán Chaffin, Producers
• "Toy Story 3" (Walt Disney), A Pixar Production, Darla K. Anderson, Producer
• "True Grit" (Paramount), A Paramount Pictures Production, Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
• "Winter’s Bone" (Roadside Attractions), A Winter’s Bone Production, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

Best animated short film

• "Day & Night" (Walt Disney), A Pixar Animation Studios Production, Teddy Newton
• "The Gruffalo", A Magic Light Pictures Production, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
• "Let’s Pollute", A Geefwee Boedoe Production, Geefwee Boedoe
• "The Lost Thing", (Nick Batzias for Madman Entertainment), A Passion Pictures Australia Production, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
• "Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)", A Sacrebleu Production, Bastien Dubois

Best live action short film

• "The Confession" (National Film and Television School), A National Film and Television School Production, Tanel Toom
• "The Crush" (Network Ireland Television), A Purdy Pictures Production, Michael Creagh
• "God of Love", A Luke Matheny Production, Luke Matheny
• "Na Wewe" (Premium Films), A CUT! Production, Ivan Goldschmidt
• "Wish 143", A Swing and Shift Films/Union Pictures Production, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Achievement in sound editing

• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), Richard King
• "Toy Story 3" (Walt Disney), Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
• "Tron: Legacy" (Walt Disney), Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
• "True Grit" (Paramount), Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
• "Unstoppable" (20th Century Fox), Mark P. Stoeckinger

Achievement in sound mixing

• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
• "Salt" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
• "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
• "True Grit" (Paramount), Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

Achievement in visual effects

• "Alice in Wonderland" (Walt Disney), Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
• "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1" (Warner Bros.), Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
• "Hereafter" (Warner Bros.), Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
• "Iron Man 2" (Paramount and Marvel Entertainment, Distributed by Paramount), Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

Adapted screenplay

• "127 Hours" (Fox Searchlight), Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
• "The Social Network" (Sony Pictures Releasing), Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
• "Toy Story 3" (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Michael Arndt, Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
• "True Grit" (Paramount), Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• "Winter’s Bone" (Roadside Attractions), Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

Original screenplay

• "Another Year" (Sony Pictures Classics), Written by Mike Leigh
• "The Fighter" (Paramount), Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson, Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
• "Inception" (Warner Bros.), Written by Christopher Nolan
• "The Kids Are All Right" (Focus Features), Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
• "The King’s Speech" (The Weinstein Company), Screenplay by David Seidler