'The Kings Speech' grabs 12 Oscar nominations

“The King's Speech,” the only movie with any chance to knock off “The Social Network” for the best picture Oscar, racked up 12 nominations Tuesday to lead the Academy Awards class of 2010.

The fact-based drama won nods for picture, actor, supporting actor, supporting actress, original screenplay and direction as the nominees were announced Tuesday morning from Hollywood live on ABC.

“Toy Story 3,” the leading nominee in the animated feature category, also won a slot in the race for best picture, along with “The Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “Inception,” “The Kids Are All Right,” “127 Hours,” “True Grit” and “Winter's Bone.”

Surprises?

Not many, but a few.

Javier Bardem snagged a best actor nod for his role as a junkie dad in the Spanish-language feature “Buitiful.” (It opens in Chicago on Friday.) He'll face favorite Colin Firth (“The King's Speech”), Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”), Jeff Bridges (“True Grit”) and James Franco (“127 Hours”).

Mark Wahlberg was overlooked as the titular character in director nominee David O. Russell's “The Fighter,” but this wasn't a real shocker because his role was the least memorable in the film, which yielded deserved supporting nominations for his co-stars Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo.

Contacted by telephone on ABC's “Good Morning America,” Leo placed a positive spin on the Wahlberg slight by saying, “Every nomination (for ‘The Fighter') is a nomination for Mark Wahlberg!”

Overall, the nominations were fairly consistent with expectations. The best actress race, for example, included anticipated nominees Natalie Portman (“The Black Swan”), Annette Bening (“The Kids Are Alright”), Nicole Kidman (“Rabbit Hole”), Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter's Bone”) and Michelle Williams (“Blue Valentine”).

As expected, Hailee Steinfeld won a supporting actress nomination for director nominees Joel and Ethan Coen's “True Grit,” even though her role was clearly the leading female part in the film, and gives the young actress a perceived advantage over her four co-nominees: Leo, Adams, Helena Bonham Carter (“The King's Speech”) and Jacki Weaver (“Animal Kingdom”).

Rounding out the supporting-actor field with Bale are Geoffrey Rush as a speech therapist in “The King's Speech,” John Hawkes as a backwoods tough guy in “Winter's Bone,” Jeremy Renner as a holdup man in the bank-heist thriller “The Town,” and Mark Ruffalo as a sperm-donor dad in “The Kids Are All Right.”

“I've been texting people in between interviews, and there's a lot of excitement going on across the globe from our team. It's really wonderful. It's sort of like ‘Ben-Hur' proportions. It all seems a bit crazy, you know?” said Rush, an Oscar winner for 1996's “Shine.”

The Facebook drama “The Social Network” dominated early Hollywood awards, winning best drama at the Golden Globes and was picked as the year's best by key critics groups.

“I think that what resonated is that it's not a timely story. I think what resonated is that it is a timeless story, one with themes as old as storytelling itself: of friendship and loyalty, of betrayal, power, class, jealousy,” said Aaron Sorkin, a nominee for adapted screenplay for “The Social Network.”

“The King's Speech,” however, pulled an upset last weekend by winning the Producers Guild of America Awards top prize, whose recipient often goes on to claim best picture at the Oscars.

In addition to “Toy Story 3,” the other animation nominees are “How to Train Your Dragon” and “The Illusionist.”

The 83rd annual Academy Awards will be broadcast live Feb. 27 from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Franco and Anne Hathaway will serve as emcees. Go to Oscars.com for more information.