Mainers will have two strong contenders to root for when Oscar time arrives this year. The nominations for Academy Awards announced Tuesday include work by Glenn Close, a part-time Scarborough resident, and Alexander Libby, a Freeport native.

Close was nominated for best actress for the film "Albert Nobbs." Libby was assistant to director Stephen Daldry in the making of the Tom Hanks film "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," which was nominated for best picture.

The two have taken very different paths to their nominations. Libby is 28 and worked in New York theater until he got the chance to make the film with Daldry. Close, 64, is a bona fide movie star who has now been nominated for Oscars six times. She came to be a part-time Maine resident after marrying Idexx Laboratories founder David Shaw in 2006.

Besides sharing a home with Shaw on Prouts Neck in Scarborough, Close helped to start a pet supply company in Portland, called FetchDog. Despite being at different stages of their careers, both Close and Libby sounded giddy after hearing the nomination news Tuesday.

Close, through her publicist, sent an email to The Portland Press Herald in which she first expressed her excitement for other nominees who worked on her film. Janet McTeer got a nomination for best supporting actress, and the film got a nomination for best makeup.

"I am thrilled for Janet, I am thrilled for our incomparable hair and makeup team," wrote Close. "It might be my sixth (nomination) but it feels like my first. Bravo team Nobbs." Close wrote the screenplay for the film and stars as a woman passing as a man in 19th-century Ireland.

Though Close has been nominated six times, she has never won an Oscar. Her competition for best actress includes Viola Davis for "The Help," Rooney Mara for "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," Meryl Streep for "The Iron Lady" and Michelle Williams for "My Week with Marilyn."

Libby found out about the best-picture nomination for "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close" while he was in London. He and Daldry are there to get ready for the 2012 Summer Olympics, for which Daldry will produce the opening ceremonies.

"I just found out a couple hours ago, so this doesn't seem real to me," Libby said from London. "It's especially gratifying because the film finished late (it was released nationwide Friday) and not a lot of people saw it," he said. "So it sort of came from behind to get nominated, which means enough people loved it."

Though Libby was Daldry's assistant, Daldry has said Libby's role in important decisions and research made him more like a co-producer. Libby's duties ranged from extensive research on the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center in New York to teaching Hanks how to use paper hand puppets.

The film is about a young boy who lost his father in the World Trade Center attacks. Libby, who grew up in Freeport and graduated from Cheverus High School in Portland, began working on theater productions in New York while he was in college, doing various stage manager-type jobs. He was hired as Daldry's assistant about two years ago. Daldry is primarily a theater director, though he has made other critically acclaimed films, including "The Hours" and "Billy Elliot."

The competition for the film in the best-picture category includes "The Artist," "The Descendants," "The Help," "Hugo," "Midnight in Paris," "Moneyball," "The Tree of Life" and "War Horse."

The Oscar ceremony is scheduled to be held Feb. 26 in Hollywood and to air live on ABC beginning at 7 p.m. Libby said he definitely will attend the ceremony but won't be one of the people who run onto the stage if the film wins. "I'll be sitting in the back somewhere," he said.

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The pewter-like alloy is poured slowly into a mold and cools quickly. But it takes 40 hours of precise and delicate work before Oscar is ready for the bright lights of Hollywood. The heart of the trophy - with its iconic square jaw, broad chest and sword - is swiftly hammered out in preparation for careful polishing.

Once every blemish is erased and Oscar shines like a mirror, the statue is hand-dipped in electrically-charged tubs of molten copper, nickel, silver and 24-carat gold. Then it's on to more polishing and a blinding lacquer before Oscar is finally screwed into his heavy base and carefully boxed using white gloves.

Hand-casting is a dying art, but one the Academy is willing to pay dearly for as it jealously guards the reputation of one of the most sought-after and recognized trophies in the world. The perils of seeking cheaper alternatives were on display at the Golden Globes last year when Robert De Niro showed up empty-handed in the press room after receiving a lifetime achievement award.

"The top fell off," he told reporters. "They'll have to solder it back on."R.S. Owens - which has been making Oscar since 1982 - is the last trophy manufacturer left in the United States. Most of the cheap trophies handed out at kids' sports tournaments are now made in China.

R.S. Owens has fought to hang on by focusing on "prestige" awards - like the Oscars, the Emmys, MTV Music Awards, and the London International Advertising Award - and the corporate market. Its display cases are filled with familiar figures like the Jolly Green Giant, the Planter's Peanut, the Pillsbury Doughboy, Tony the Tiger and a crystal, sunglass-wearing Starkist Tuna.

But it had to lay off around a third of its staff after the 2008 economic crisis took a huge bite out of the "employee recognition" market as it was already struggling to stem a slow, but steady loss of its "prestige" client base.

"In the past, many of the prestigious awards (contracts) that we lost didn't care that they were made in China," said Scott Siegel, whose father founded R.S. Owens in 1938. "They only cared about price, especially when the recession hit, that became even more important. I'm starting to see signs of that turning around. People are more interested in protecting jobs in the United States."

Some clients are coming back because of quality concerns - especially after the R.S. Owens tested a competitor's award that was handed out to children and found it was made of lead with no protective coating.

Others are coming back for ease of service, Siegel said. Shipments arrive sooner, as do repairs. Siegel takes particular pride in how his company responded when a shipment of 55 Oscars was stolen just weeks before the awards ceremony.

They worked day and night and managed to make replacements in just 10 days - a process that usually takes about six weeks. The stolen statues were found in a dumpster just days before the ceremony, but the Academy held on to the extras - and a handful more - to make sure it never gets caught empty-handed again. Nominations for the 84th Academy Awards will be announced Tuesday at 1330 GMT. The awards ceremony will be broadcast worldwide on February 26.

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Leonardo DiCaprio has admitted he'd love to bag an Oscar - but it's not what motivates him. Hollywood's highest paid actor, Leonardo has been nominated for an Academy Award three times. "I don't think anyone would say that they wouldn't want one. I think they would be lying," the star said. But Leonardo, 35, who could be nominated again for his title role in Clint EastWood's J Edgar Hoover biopic, said: "I don't think I ever expected anything like an Oscar ever, to tell you the truth. That is not my motivation when I do these roles.

"I really am motivated by being able to work with great people and create a body of work that I can look back and be proud of. "I grew up when I was 15 when I had my first opportunity in movies. I watched every great movie for a year and a half, and since then I've asked myself how I can emulate such artistry. "That's really my motivation. I want to do something as good as my heroes have done."

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"Wings," a World War I aerial dogfight epic made in 1927, won the first ever Oscar for best picture. Paramount Pictures, which is celebrating its centenary, has restored the classic silent action film and will present it with live organ accompaniment at the headquarters of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences on Wednesday, ahead of a Blu-ray release on January 24th.

William Wellman, a veteran World War I fighter pilot, directed "Wings," giving 1927 audiences a view of the world most had never seen. With cameras affixed to the flimsy bi-planes, a crew of flyers created dogfights featuring death-defying aerial stunts that continue to amaze viewers today.

"The thing about 'Wings' that's so exciting is that it was the 'Avatar' and the 'Star Wars' of its day. It was a state of the art action film," said Academy archivist Randy Haberkamp.

Set in Hollywood during the advent of sound, "The Artist" is not the only new movie focusing on early cinema. Martin Scorsese's 3D family film "Hugo" centers on French film pioneer Georges Melies, and in Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" Owen Wilson plays a modern screenwriter time traveling back to the 1920s.

"I think the zeitgeist is the realization that silent films are not a dead art form because true cinema is a very visceral and visually-generated thing," Haberkamp said.

In "Wings," Richard Arlen played David Armstrong, a small-town kid with a taste for speed. Immune to the affection of Mary (Clara Bow), the girl next door, he is smitten by city girl Sylvia (Jobyna Ralston). His rival in romance is Jack Powell (Charles Rogers), heir to a fortune.

Volunteering for service, the two men become fast friends through their wartime experience. Early on, they meet Gary Cooper playing a doomed pilot in one of his first screen appearances, a role that catapulted him to stardom.

WAY OVER BUDGET
Budgeted at what was then a record-setting $2 million dollars, "Wings" wound up costing way over that amount while Wellman spent idle days waiting for clouds, which he claimed were needed to offset the planes against the background.

Due to his bickering with studio brass, Wellman was not invited to the 1929 Oscar ceremony even though the movie was a hit. Powered by public enthusiasm for Charles Lindbergh's daring crossing of the Atlantic, "Wings" went on to become one of the top-grossing films of the decade.

Silent, black-and-white movie "The Artist", directed by Frenchman Michel Hazanavicius, is unlikely to become a major box office blockbuster despite having won more than 40 awards, including three Golden Globes last Sunday.

But it is considered a front-runner for the best film Oscar in February, and it may represent a reexamination of cinema's early roots in an era of dwindling movie goers.

"Through festivals and the availability of different kinds of materials on streaming and DVD release, I think people are experimenting with different types of films," said Paramount archive vice-president Andrea Kalas.

"People listen to the Beatles and the latest thing, and maybe something similar is happening with film too, where we're appreciating all sorts of different movies from different eras," Kalas said.

Oddly, early film technique has become more relevant in the modern era where a proliferation of digital effects has resulted in spectacle-driven box office. Consequently, action scenes are becoming longer and dialogue scenes shorter.

"Most of the movies that we go to see now are based on action sequences," said Haberkamp. "If you don't know how to cut an action sequence, if you don't know how to stage an action sequence, you don't know too much. Frankly, that's where the silent era really was phenomenal."

With all the technical advancements through the years, not a lot has changed, according to Haberkamp. What continues to make cinema past and present a unique art form is the transposition of images and the ability to manipulate time and space.

"In the end, I don't care whether it's silent or sound I just care whether it's compelling and well made," he said. "I think that's why there are so many people looking at silents going, 'Wait a minute, there's something going on here that is more than just a dated technology.'"

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A growing pack of fans is howling for Uggie the terrier to get a sniff at the Oscars after the Jack Russell stole the show in the silent movie The Artist that scooped a slew of Golden Globe awards.

The nine-year-old mutt last year took the unofficial Palm Dog prize at Cannes for his role in the French-directed movie that won best musical/comedy, best musical/comedy actor and best musical score in Sunday's Golden Globes.

It is time, say his many supporters across the world, for animals like Uggie, who was heading for a grim fate in an animal shelter before his trainer saved him, to be eligible for an Oscar.

Steven Spielberg has joined the campaign, even if his hopes are more equine than canine as he has his sights on a gong for the role of Joey, an English horse caught up in the horrors of battle in his latest movie War Horse.

"Consider Uggie" is the name of the Facebook and Twitter campaign for an Oscar nomination for the dog so he can take his place among the two-legged acting fraternity at the January 24 Oscar awards in Los Angeles.

Uggie, who previously starred in Water for Elephants and Mr Fix It, made no comment when he joined The Artist director Michel Hazanavicius on the stage to pick up the prizes at the Globes ceremony in Los Angeles.

Billed as a tribute to the silent movie era, the black-and-white film tells the story of silent star George Valentin (played by French actor Jean Dujardin) whose career is torpedoed by the arrival of the talkies.

The film is tipped to scoop the best picture award at the Oscars. Uggie has no chance to display his vocal range in the silent film, but he does get to show off his ability to play dead, walk on his hind legs and bury his head in his paws. He even saves George Valentin from a burning house. The Californian-born terrier's skateboarding and waterskiing abilities can be seen on internet videos.

The BBC interviewed him when he visited Britain last week on a promotional tour but he responded only with a bark when asked if he thought that what he was doing was really acting. His trainer, however, told the broadcaster that claims that his dog was only doing it for sausages were false.

"He is a real actor, I don't care what anybody says. He deserves an Oscar more than anybody I know," said Oscar Von Muller. Toby Rose, the organiser of the annual Palm Dog prize at the Cannes film festival, denounced what he called the "outrageous dogism" that was stopping Uggie from getting a shot at the Oscars.

He noted that "the homeland of this Gallic production has recognised the plucky pooch in the French equivalent of the Golden Globes, the Lumieres."There are of course some dissenting voices.

"Giving Oscars to animals is a beastly idea," was the headline on Monday of a tongue-in-cheek editorial in Britain's The Independent newspaper. "The Oscar recipient is supposed to sob while delivering a rambling homily to all the wonderful people who helped them to stardom. Until animals can show they can master that key skill, the case for animal Oscars cannot be said to be proven," it said.

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Jennifer Lopez pulled out of the Globes after she and other stars were warned by email through their agents that it could prevent them from appearing on the Oscars in February as presenters.

One source said, "There have been complaints about this from the studios and the agencies. The Globes lost Jennifer Lopez as a presenter, but many other stars took the view that they don't want to be told what to do."

Sources added that Christian Bale also declined to present at the Globes, but other sources close to yesterday's show insisted that "he was never confirmed." His rep later said he could not do the Globes because he was out of the country. Reps for the Golden Globes insisted they never were left with a shortage of A-list presenters.

Those taking to the stage yesterday included George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Johnny Depp, Tina Fey, Dustin Hoffman, Jessica Alba, Nicole Kidman, Madonna, Colin Firth and Gerard Butler.

A spokeswoman for the Golden Globes said, "The Globes are always the most hotly-anticipated show of the awards season and the party of the year. As always, the room was the most glamorous in town, packed full of the industry's biggest and brightest stars."

Academy president Tom Sherak said in a statement, "The Academy has always placed a premium on exclusivity, but, ultimately, each individual makes his or her own decisions."

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That's all she wrote for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's annual awards party--you can see all the winners and check out our live blogging of the show here-- and some might be wondering where that leaves some of the frontrunners and how the Globes may or may not help a movie, filmmaker or actor's chances either of getting a nomination or winning on Oscar night. Well, it won't do much of anything for nominations since the Oscar ballots deadline has already passed, which was partially the purpose of moving the Oscars up earlier to avoid the influence of other awards on Academy voters.

It was a really good night for Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist, which won the "Best Picture - Comedy or Musical" award, as well as honors for actor Jean Dujardin and for its original score. Hazanavicius himself didn't win the "Best Director," losing to veteran Martin Scorsese for his direction of Hugo. That certainly seemed to set-up a possible upset in the "Best Picture - Drama" category, but that went to Alexander Payne's The Descendants, which also won the "Best Actor" award for George Clooney.

The Golden Globes don't have a terrific track record for either Director or Best Picture winners going onto win on Oscar night with Fincher winning the Golden Globe last year for The Social Network, but losing Oscar night to The King Speech's Tom Hooper. James Cameron beat former wife Kathryn Bigelow at the Globes, but lost to her on Oscar night. Julian Schnabel was another director who won a Globe for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, but only received an Oscar nomination for his direction. The win by Scorsese does give him a boost, though it may be likely that the mostly foreign press that vote for the Globes went with the more familiar name rather than an unknown French director.

In the last ten years, only three movies that won the Golden Globes award for Best Picture - Drama went on to win the Best Picture at the Oscars, those being Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and Ron Howard's A Beautiful Mind. Many of the other winners got nominated but didn't win, but the Golden Globe win does give a nice much-needed boost to Payne's film, and Clooney's win (his second this week) puts him in line as frontrunner to win SAG and probably the Oscar as well.

So let's look at The Help, which won three awards at the Critics Choice Movie Awards earlier this week, but only Octavia Spencer was honored tonight for her supporting role while Viola Davis lost in the "Best Actress" category to her good friend Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. Streep received her eighth Golden Globe tonight, her last two wins being in the "Comedy/Musical" category. Since we still think Viola Davis stands a good chance at winning the SAG award and The Help could win Best Ensemble, Streep may still be fighting a losing battle, but her memorable Streep and Harvey Weinberg's desire to win every Oscar may make a big play in the next month. Viola Davis' Critics Choice speech was much stronger than Streep fumbling through hers, which might make all the difference for Academy voters.

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The most drastic change is the elimination of a committee system in the Documentary Feature category. Instead, all branch members will be eligible to vote in the nominating process, and the entire Academy will be permitted to vote for the winner, without the previous requirement that they see all five nominees in a theatrical setting.

Oscar-winning director Michael Moore), who spearheaded the move to change the system, discussed the new rules at length with TheWrap this week, and said that they will bring democracy to the process and help stop the practice of TV networks quietly sneaking films into theaters for theatrical runs before holding splashy television "premieres."

The most controversial of the new rules, which requires a review in the New York Times or the Los Angeles Times, was designed to halt this process. Under the previous system, a small number of voters judged each film in the early rounds, essentially giving each of those voters the chance to kill a film's chances.

The history of the documentary category is full of shocking snubs and omissions, from the failure of "Hoop Dreams" to be nominated in 1994 to this year's shortlist, which did not include the acclaimed documentaries "The Interrupters" (from the director of "Hoop Dreams," Steve James), "Into the Abyss" (Werner Herzog) and "Tabloid" (Errol Morris). Changes were also made in the Live Action Short and Animated Short categories.

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Members of Reliance Mediaworks' Global Imaging Technology Centre will receive the prestigious Oscar plaques at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences's Scientific and Technical Awards 2012, to be held February 11.

The technique for which the award is being given is for the development of "Lowry Process" - a system for the reduction of noise and other disturbances, thereby providing high quality images required by the filmmaking process.

The award will be received at the ceremony by John Lowry, Ian Caven, Kimball Thurston, Ian Godin and Tim Connolly. Reliance Mediaworks, the film and media services firm of the Reliance Group, has used the processing technique for restoration projects like the "James Bond" franchise, "Rashomon", "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp", as well as to new films like James Cameron's "Avatar" and David Fincher's "Social Network".

"Being selected for this award is a very rigorous process, which proves that the technology that started well over 10 years ago has become a powerful tool in the movie making space, and that our peers and customers in Hollywood respect the technology as a unique offering," Thurston, lead scientist at the Burbank-based Technology Centre, said in a press statement.

"I am extremely proud to have helped create this technology and be honoured with an award, and also proud of the rest of the team at RMW Burbank who continue to move the bar forward," he added. Anil Arjun, CEO, Reliance MediaWorks said: "We are extremely proud of the team and their invaluable contribution towards the development of the proprietary image processing technology. "Technology and innovation has been the cornerstone of our strategy and it is a great honour for the company to have its technology and members receive this prestigious recognition from the Academy."

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Thank goodness for Funny or Die. The comedy website teamed up with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year to create the funniest trailer we've seen for the Oscars as far back as we can remember.

While we aren't so sure Josh Duhamel and Megan Fox are actually the two people the Academy would turn to in a time of need, they certainly sell their roles here. It's their task to go find "The Host" -- aka Billy Crystal -- and convince him to host this year's Oscars. Along the way they get ordered around by William Fichtner, receive some clues from Vinnie Jones and get a ride in a barge from Robin Williams. Because why not.

The joy of this trailer is that it's actually really funny and clever, and more epic in scale than previous Oscar commercials. If you remember, last year's Anne Hathaway and James Franco ads featured them working out and going through a training course to prepare for their hosting duties.

We'd argue that this trailer appeals more to the Academy's much sought after younger demographic than the hiring of Hathaway and Franco did. Maybe the combination of a smart marketing campaign -- thank you again, Funny or Die -- and the return of Crystal as an Oscar host can help raise the viewership numbers that dropped last year.

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