Nine films were nominated for best picture for the first time: The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball, The Tree of Life and War Horse.

Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris) scores his seventh best director nomination — his first in 17 years. He was last nominated for Bullets Over Broadway (1994).

“Midnight in Paris” is Allen’s most commercially popular picture to date, though if you take into account the inflation factor and ticket admission prices, “Annie Hall” in 1977 and “Hannah and Her Sisters” in 1986 were seen by many more viewers.

I consider “Annie Hall,” Manhattan” (1979), and “Hannah and Her Sisters” to be Allen’s three masterpieces in a career spanning over 40 years.