HOLLYWOOD—There were a few surprises on Tuesday, January 25, when the Oscar nominations were announced. Leading the pack is “The King’s Speech” with a total of 12 nominations including Best Picture. Following close behind was “True Grit” with 10 nominations and “The Social Network” with eight nominations. “The King’s Speech” will battle in the Best Picture category against “Black Swan,” “The Fighter,” “127 Hours,” “Inception,” “The Social Network,” “The Kids Are All Right,” “Toy Story 3,” “True Grit” and “Winter’s Bone.”  At the moment, critics are buzzing that it’s a two-horse race between “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech,” but I think “The Fighter” is an amazing picture that is likely to gain momentum in the coming weeks.

Nominees for Best Actress include Natalie Portman “Black Swan,” Nicole Kidman “Rabbit Hole,” Annette Bening “The Kids Are All Right,” Jennifer Lawrence “Winter’s Bone” and Michelle Williams for “Blue Valentine.” As discussed, that final slot was a battle between Williams, Hilary Swank, HalleBerry and Julianne Moore. Portman has dominated the awards season so she’s clearly the favorite, but Bening could be an upset. However, I’d be even more excited if Williams took the award; she’s incredible in “Blue Valentine.”

For Best Actor there were a few surprises with nominations for both Javier Bardem “Biutiful” and Jeff Bridges for “True Grit.”  Both actors will compete against Jesse Eisenberg “The Social Network,” Colin Firth “The King’s Speech” and James Franco “127 Hours.” I was utterly surprised that Mark Wahlberg wasn’t nominated for “The Fighter,” as well as Ryan Gosling for “Blue Valentine.” Firth is the favorite in this category, but Bardem could be a dark horse.

Best Supporting Actress nominees include Amy Adams “The Fighter,” Helena Bonham Carter “The King’s Speech,” Melissa Leo “The Fighter,” Hailee Steinfeld “True Grit” and Jacki Weaver “Animal Kingdom.” I was shocked to see Mila Kunis not nominated for her performance in “Black Swan.”  This looks like a three-way race between Adams, Leo and Steinfeld (who is receiving rave reviews for her acting in “True Grit”).

Christian Bale looks like the favorite to win the award for Best Supporting Actor for “The Fighter.”  He does face some competition from Geoffrey Rush “The King’s Speech,” John Hawkes “Winter’s Bone,” Jeremy Renner “The Town” and Mark Ruffalo “The Kids Are All Right.”

My biggest surprise was for Best Director. It left me gasping for air. No nomination for Christopher Nolan for “Inception,” really?  This was an amazing spectacle that wowed audiences and critics abound. This is the second time he’s been snubbed by the academy; the first time was for “The Dark Knight.” This year’s nominees include Darren Aronofsky “Black Swan,” Joel and Ethan Coen “True Grit,” Tom Hooper “The King’s Speech,” David Fincher “The Social Network” and David O. Russell “The Fighter.”

In the writing categories, the nominees for Best Adapted Screenplay include Michael Arndt, John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich “Toy Story 3”; Joel and Ethan Coen “True Grit”; Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini “Winter’s Bone”; Aaron Sorkin “The Social Network”; and Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy “127 Hours.” For Best Original Screenplay the nominees are Mike Leigh “Another Year”; David Seidler “The King’s Speech”; Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg “The Kids Are All Right”; Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson “The Fighter”; and Christopher Nolan “Inception.”  For adapted screenplay, the award will go to Aaron Sorkin for his spectacular writing for “The Social Network.” Original screenplay is a much tougher category, but I’ll place my bets on Christopher Nolan for “Inception.” That’s writing and originality at its best.

If this year’s nominations are a predictor of what’s to come, this looks to be an interesting ceremony where there may be more surprises than we think.  Of course there are some heavy favorites already in many categories, but when it comes to the Oscars nothing is ever a safe bet.  The 83rd Annual Academy Awards will be hosted by Best Actor nominee James Franco and actress Anne Hathaway on Sunday, February 27, on ABC. Go ahead and place your bets!