84th Annual Academy Awards: Best Picture Nominees

The Descendants              

                                                 The Descendants

 While his wife is on life support, Matt King (George Clooney) learns she's been having an affair. With the help of his teenage daughter (Shailene Woodley), the land baron embarks on a quest to meet his wife's lover (Matthew Lillard) and become a better father.

The Help

Based on the best-selling novel set in the 1960s, Skeeter Phelan (Emma Stone) decides to write a book from the point of view of the African American maids (Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer) who work for white families (Bryce Dallas Howard, Jessica Chastain).

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell (Thomas Horn) searches all over New York City for a lock that matches a mysterious key left behind by his late father (Tom Hanks), who died in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. Sandra Bullock plays Oskar's mother.

                                                                              Moneyball

When Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) is tasked with revamping his team on a limited budget, he hires Peter Brand (Jonah Hill) to use computer-generated analyses to draft new players.

                            

              

                                                 Hugo

 An orphan (Asa Butterfield) who lives in the walls of a train station enlists the help of a new pal (Chloe Moretz) to solve a mystery involving his later father (Jude Law) and an automaton.

                                                              

                                                                                   The Artist  

Set in 1927, silent movie star George Valentin (Jean Dujardin) worries that the arrival of talking pictures will end his career. Along the way, he hits it off with Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo), a young dancer on the brink of stardom.

                                         

                                        Midnight in Paris

While visiting the French city for business and pleasure, screenwriter Gil Pender (Owen Wilson) realizes he's not on the same page with his fiancee (Rachel McAdams) due to his magical late night experiences in Paris.

                                      War Horse

After his horse, Joey, is sold to the cavalry, Albert Narracott (Jeremy Irvine) enlists to fight in WWI. His sojourn takes him out of England and across Europe in hopes of being reunited with his beloved thoroughbred.

                                  The Tree of Life

Brad Pitt and Jessica Chastain play a married couple with three sons. Hunter McCracken and Sean Penn share the role of their son, Jack O'Brien, who reminisces about his life as a teenager during the 1950s.