Flight of the Conchords' Bret McKenzie feels like a "new world is opening up" after this morning being told he has been nominated for an Oscar.

McKenzie has received the award nod for his song Man or Muppet in the film The Muppets.

The 84th annual Academy Award selections were announced this morning in Los Angeles.

McKenzie's nomination follows his receiving of a Critics' Choice award, beating out Mary J Blige and Elton John, for his work on the Muppets, for which he was musical director.

"I'm having a great day. It's a great way to start a day with news you've been nominated for an Oscar," McKenzie said.

He had been trying to sleep and had ignored the phone as it rang through the early morning, but finally got up around 7am.

"I kind of had a feeling when the phone started ringing a few times it must be good news," he said.

The first email about the nomination came in at 5.03am.

Of the three songs from the film that could have been nominated, he was very happy at the choice of Man or Muppet.

"Not only because I wrote it, but also because it's my favourite song in the film," McKenzie said.

"The pictures and music work really beautifully together."

With only two songs in the category "it means I have a 50 per cent chance of the award, which is great. The only thing which would be better would be if there was one nomination".

Having grown up with the Muppets on television, he knew them well and writing songs for the movie had been great fun.

"It wasn't hard writing the songs, but it took a lot of time to develop them with the film so they worked for the picture."

The Oscars were "kind of the ultimate Hollywood event, so it's very surreal - taking calls from the Hollywood press about getting the Oscar nomination".

By 10.30am he had already done "a bunch of interviews".

Even though he had been living between Wellington and Los Angeles for the past six or seven years, and now knew Los Angeles well, "this feels like a whole new world is opening up", McKenzie said.

Today he was in Wellington, where he was recovering from a bout of tonsillitis.

With a mother who was a dance teacher and a father who was a singer it was no surprise he had become a "song and dance man".

It was encouraging that as a New Zealander he had been able to be successful overseas, and hopefully it would spur more New Zealanders to get into the industry.

He noted the role of the Conchords in paving the way for him to work on other projects.

"It really opened a lot of doors in Hollywood. The most unlikely people are Conchords' fans," McKenzie said.

For now he was waiting for the release of Duncan and Robert Sarkies' movie Two Little Boys, in which he stars.

Beyond that, he was developing a few things in America, but nothing he could talk about yet.

Mother Deirdre Tarrant said the nomination was "pretty amazing".

"The family is thrilled. We've all been ringing each other up."

Another New Zealand nod was to four-time Oscar winner, Weta's Joe Letteri, who, with his team, won a sixth nomination for his work on Rise of the Planet of the Apes. See further Oscar information on Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

He has previously been nominated for Avatar, King Kong, The Lord of the Rings (Return of the King and The Two Towers) and I, Robot.

The Peter Jackson and Steven Speilberg reworking of Tintin failed to catch the Academy's eye, not making the list of finalists in the animated film section, but has been nominated for Best Music (Original Score).

Martin Scorsese's film Hugo has led this year's Oscar field with 11 nominations.

Jennifer Lawrence and Tom Sherak - president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences - announced the list, with Hugo leading the pack.

Scorsese's first foray into family films is in the running for the coveted best film prize, as is War Horse, The Artist, Moneyball, The Descendants, The Tree of Life, Midnight in Paris, The Help and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Hugo was also named in the best director and best adapted screenplay categories respectively.

Michel Hazanavicius's critically-acclaimed The Artist garnered a respectable ten nominations, coming in a close second place and continuing its domination over the major Hollywood film events.
Bennett Miller's Moneyball took six nominations, with Alexander Payne's The Descendants up for five prizes.

The Artist's stars have been praised for their roles, with Jean Dujardin in the running for best actor and Berenice Bejo nominated for the supporting actress award.

Others battling it out to be named best actor are Demian Bichir, George Clooney, Gary Oldman and Brad Pitt.

Berenice is in the running for best supporting actress alongside Jessica Chastain, Melissa McCarthy, Janet McTeer and Octavia Spencer, while the male version of the prize includes Kenneth Branagh, Jonah Hill, Nick Nolte, Christopher Plummer and Max von Sydow.

For the coveted best actress award, Glenn Close, Rooney Mara, Viola Davis, Meryl Streep and Michelle Williams are all named.

Scorsese is battling it out for best director with Michel Hazanavicius, Alexander Payne, Woody Allen and Terrence Malick.

The 84th annual Academy Awards will be presented in a ceremony on 26 February presented by Billy Crystal.

- Stuff.co.nz and Cover Media

 

The full list of Oscar nominees: (See also http://www.oscar.go.com/nominees)

Actor in a Leading Role

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

Actor in a Supporting Role

    Kenneth Branagh in My Week with Marilyn
    Jonah Hill in Moneyball
    Nick Nolte in Warrior
    Christopher Plummer in Beginners
    Max von Sydow in Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Actress in a Leading Role

    Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
    Viola Davis in The Help
    Rooney Mara in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
    Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady
    Michelle Williams in My Week with Marilyn

Actress in a Supporting Role

    Berenice Bejo in The Artist
    Jessica Chastain in The Help
    Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids
    Janet McTeer in Albert Nobbs
    Octavia Spencer in The Help

Animated Feature Film

    A Cat in Paris Alain Gagnol and Jean-Loup Felicioli
    Chico & Rita Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal
    Kung Fu Panda 2 Jennifer Yuh Nelson
    Puss in Boots Chris Miller
    Rango Gore Verbinski

Art Direction

    The Artist Production Design: Laurence Bennett; Set Decoration: Robert Gould
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Production Design: Stuart Craig; Set Decoration: Stephenie McMillan
    Hugo Production Design: Dante Ferretti; Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo
    Midnight in Paris Production Design: Anne Seibel; Set Decoration: Helène Dubreuil
    War Horse Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Lee Sandales

Cinematography

    The Artist Guillaume Schiffman
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Jeff Cronenweth
    Hugo Robert Richardson
    The Tree of Life Emmanuel Lubezki
    War Horse Janusz Kaminski

Costume Design

    Anonymous Lisy Christl
    The Artist Mark Bridges
    Hugo Sandy Powell
    Jane Eyre Michael O'Connor
    W.E. Arianne Phillips

Directing

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

Documentary (Feature)

    Hell and Back Again Danfung Dennis and Mike Lerner
    If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front Marshall Curry and Sam Cullman
    Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky
    Pina Wim Wenders and Gian-Piero Ringel
    Undefeated TJ Martin, Dan Lindsay and Richard Middlemas

Documentary (Short Subject)

    The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement Robin Fryday and Gail Dolgin
    God Is the Bigger Elvis Rebecca Cammisa and Julie Anderson
    Incident in New Baghdad James Spione
    Saving Face Daniel Junge and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy
    The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom Lucy Walker and Kira Carstensen

Film Editing

    The Artist Anne-Sophie Bion and Michel Hazanavicius
    The Descendants Kevin Tent
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
    Hugo Thelma Schoonmaker
    Moneyball Christopher Tellefsen

Foreign Language Film

    Bullhead Belgium
    Footnote Israel
    In Darkness Poland
    Monsieur Lazhar Canada
    A Separation Iran

Makeup

    Albert Nobbs Martial Corneville, Lynn Johnston and Matthew W. Mungle
    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Nick Dudman, Amanda Knight and Lisa Tomblin
    The Iron Lady Mark Coulier and J. Roy Helland

Music (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

Music (Original Song)

    Man or Muppet from The Muppets Music and Lyric by Bret McKenzie
    Real in Riofrom Rio Music by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown Lyric by Siedah Garrett

Best Picture

    The Artist Thomas Langmann, Producer
    The Descendants Jim Burke, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Producers
    Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close Scott Rudin, Producer
    The Help Brunson Green, Chris Columbus and Michael Barnathan, Producers
    Hugo Graham King and Martin Scorsese, Producers
    Midnight in Paris Letty Aronson and Stephen Tenenbaum, Producers
    Moneyball Michael De Luca, Rachael Horovitz and Brad Pitt, Producers
    The Tree of Life Nominees to be determined
    War Horse Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

    Dimanche/Sunday Patrick Doyon
    The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore William Joyce and Brandon Oldenburg
    La Luna Enrico Casarosa
    A Morning Stroll Grant Orchard and Sue Goffe
    Wild Life Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby

Short Film (Live Action)

    Pentecost Peter McDonald and Eimear O'Kane
    Raju Max Zähle and Stefan Gieren
    The Shore Terry George and Oorlagh George
    Time Freak Andrew Bowler and Gigi Causey
    Tuba Atlantic Hallvar Witzø

Sound Editing

    Drive Lon Bender and Victor Ray Ennis
    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Ren Klyce
    Hugo Philip Stockton and Eugene Gearty
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
    War Horse Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom

Sound Mixing

    The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Bo Persson
    Hugo Tom Fleischman and John Midgley
    Moneyball Deb Adair, Ron Bochar, Dave Giammarco and Ed Novick
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers, Jeffrey J. Haboush and Peter J. Devlin
    War Horse Gary Rydstrom, Andy Nelson, Tom Johnson and Stuart Wilson

Visual Effects

    Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 Tim Burke, David Vickery, Greg Butler and John Richardson
    Hugo Rob Legato, Joss Williams, Ben Grossman and Alex Henning
    Real Steel Erik Nash, John Rosengrant, Dan Taylor and Swen Gillberg
    Rise of the Planet of the Apes Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, R. Christopher White and Daniel Barrett
    Transformers: Dark of the Moon Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Matthew Butler and John Frazier

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

    The Descendants Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash
    Hugo Screenplay by John Logan
    The Ides of March Screenplay by George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
    Moneyball Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin. Story by Stan Chervin
    Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy Screenplay by Bridget O'Connor & Peter Straughan

Writing (Original Screenplay)

    The Artist Written by Michel Hazanavicius
    Bridesmaids Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
    Margin Call Written by J.C. Chandor
    Midnight in Paris Written by Woody Allen
    A Separation Written by Asghar Farhadi