Many of this years’ nominees for the 84th Academy Awards deserve the attention, but a few should have been replaced by more worthy contenders.

The list was announced early Tuesday morning.

Nominated for eleven awards, “Hugo” tops the list. “The Artist” followed with ten, while “Moneyball” and “War Horse” received six.

Considerably deserving of the award: First time nominee Jonah Hill up for Actor in a Supporting Role.

Now this is a nomination I wanted to see but was unsure if it was going to happen. Hill’s unlikely role in “Moneyball” as a Yale graduate, whose system of analyzing players changes the game of baseball is without a doubt his best performance. Hill played the character perfectly and I hope to see more sophisticated roles from him in the future.

Least surprising nomination: “The Descendants,” nominated for Best Picture.

Alexander Payne’s film is about a father (George Clooney) who tries to establish a relationship with his two daughters after his wife is left comatose from a boating accident. It is no surprise to see “The Descendants” nominated because it is the number one film on many top critics’ lists and has already won film awards such as the Golden Globes’ Best Motion Picture — Drama.

Most surprising nomination: Gary Oldman nominated for Actor in a Leading Role.

Oldman is a nominee for his role as George Smiley, an intelligence officer, in “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.” Granted, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy” was a great film, and Oldman may have been at his finest. However, there were more deserving actors out there. Instead, Owen Wilson should have been nominated for his role as a writer who falls in love with 1920’s Paris night life in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris."

Many of you may think you have no idea who Oldman is. Actually, you probably know him as Sirius Black from the Harry Potter series.

Speaking of, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2” was nominated in three categories — Art Direction, Makeup and Visual Effects - yet it is disappointing to see the final adapted film from my favorite childhood book series still not nominated for Best Picture. This film was definitely worthy of the nomination - more so than “Hugo,” which was also nominated for Best Picture.

Biggest disappointment: “Drive,” starring Ryan Gosling as a professional getaway driver.
This film only received one nomination, and in the Sound Editing category nonetheless. I was expecting “Drive” to be nominated for Best Picture, or at least Adapted Screenplay, and Gosling to be nominated for Actor in a Leading Role.

Other films that received a surprising lack of attention were “The Interrupters,” a film about a group of people who try to protect Chicago neighborhoods from violence, and “We Were Here,” a look at the epidemic of AIDS in the San Francisco homosexual community — two documentaries worthy of a Documentary Feature nomination, if not the Oscar.

Also, “50/50,” a modern tale inspired by a true story about a man diagnosed with cancer and his struggle to defeat the disease, received no love in any category. Another film worthy of at least one nomination, especially in Adapted Screenplay.

As usual, it will be exciting to watch the Oscar winners and losers unveil. Look forward to my predictions and other Daily Evergreen exclusive coverage as the date draws nearer. The 84th Academy Awards will air Sunday, February 26 on ABC.

And the nominees are...

Best Picture
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"The Help"
"Moneyball"
"War Horse"
"The Tree of Life"

Best Actor
Demian Bichir, "A Better Life"
George Clooney, "The Descendants"
Jean Dujardin, "The Artist"
Gary Oldman, "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"
Brad Pitt, "Moneyball"

Best Actress
Glenn Close, "Albert Nobbs"
Viola Davis, "The Help"
Rooney Mara, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"
Michelle Williams, "My Week With Marilyn"

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, "My Week With Marilyn"
Jonah Hill, "Moneyball"
Nick Nolte, "Warrior"
Christopher Plummer, "Beginners"
Max Von Sydow, "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close"

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, "The Artist"
Jessica Chastain, "The Help"
Melissa McCarthy, "Bridesmaids"
Janet McTeer, "Albert Nobbs"
Octavia Spencer, "The Help"

Best Director
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Terrence Malick, "The Tree of Life"
Alexander Payne, "The Descendants"
Martin Scorsese, "Hugo"

Best Original Screenplay
Woody Allen, "Midnight in Paris"
JC Chandor, "Margin Call"
Asghar Farhadi, "A Separation"
Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"
Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, "Bridesmaids"

Best Adapted Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxton, Jim Rash, "The Descendants"
John Logan, "Hugo"
George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, "The Ides of March"
Aaron Sorkin, Steven Zaillian, "Moneyball"
Bridget O'Connor, Peter Straughn, "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"

Best Animated Feature
"A Cat In Paris"
"Chico & Rita"
"Kung Fu Panda 2"
"Puss in Boots"
"Rango"

Best Foreign Language Film of the Year
Bullhead (Belgium)
Footnote (Israel)
In Darkness (Poland)
Monsieur Lazhar (Canada)
A Separation (Iran)

Original Score
"The Adventures of Tintin," John Williams
"The Artist," Ludovic Bource
"Hugo," Howard Shore
"Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy," Alberto Iglesias
"War Horse," John Williams

Best Original Song
"Man or Muppet," The Muppets; Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
"Real in Rio," Rio; Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Achievement in Art Direction
"The Artist"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Midnight in Paris"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Cinematography
"The Artist"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"The Tree of Life"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Costume Design
"Anonymous"
"The Artist"
"Hugo"
"Jane Eyre"
"W.E."

Best Documentary Feature
"Hell and Back Again"
"If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front"
"Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory"
"Pina"
"Undefeated"

Best Documentary Short Subject
"The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement?"
"God Is the Bigger Elvis"
"Incident in New Baghdad"
"Saving Face"
"The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom"

Best Achievement in Film Editing
"The Artist"
"The Descendants"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"

Best Achievement in Makeup
"Albert Nobbs"
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"The Iron Lady"

Best Animated Short Film
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

Best Live Action Short Film
"Pentecost"
"Raju"
"The Shore"
"Time Freak"
"Tuba Atlantic"

Best Achievement in Sound Editing
"Drive"
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Sound Mixing
"The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"
"Hugo"
"Moneyball"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"
"War Horse"

Best Achievement in Visual Effects
"Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2"
"Hugo"
"Real Steel"
"Rise of the Planet of the Apes"
"Transformers: Dark of the Moon"