Week in Film: 2012 Oscar noms, Theo Angelopoulos RIP and Welles forgiven

The week saw the long-awaited announcement of the Oscar nominees for this year's 84th Academy Awards. Among predictable nods such as Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist and Martin Scorsese's Hugo for Best Picture and Best Director, there were also some shocking absentees including Lynne Ramsay's powerful drama We Need to Talk About Kevin, Steve McQueen's Shame and Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive.

Stars old and new were present in all the major categories including a Best Actor nomination for George Clooney in The Descendants, plus Best Actress nods for Rooney Mara's turn as Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Meryl Streep for her controversial role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady. The glitz and the glamour that surrounds the Oscars are always enjoyable, and whilst many remain cynical about the awards it is undoubtedly the one that all actors, directors and writers secretly - and not so secretly, in the case of sum - yearn to do well in.

It was also a sad day for world cinema yesterday with the announcement of Theo Angelopoulos' tragic death, aged 76, after he was killed in a traffic accident whilst working on his latest project, Mundo Invisível. The Greek director was know best for work such as Eternity and a Day, which won the Palme d'Or at Cannes in 1998. He was a filmmaker of incredible talent and will be sorely missed as a man and director.

This week boasts some incredibly strong cinematic releases including Alexander Payne's triumphant return with The Descendants (review), indie romance Like Crazy starring Felicity Jones (review), Bertrand Botello's sensual masterpiece House of Tolerance and Liam Neeson vs. a pack of hungry wolves in The Grey (review).

In other news, it has recently been announced that Orson Welles has been forgiven by the Hearst family, who were offended by the similarities of his most famous character, Charles Kane, with newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst.

Finally, the release of the trailer of Moonrise Kingdom (2012) from director Wes Anderson has caused something of stir. Featuring an all-star cast including Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton and (naturally) Bill Murray, this tale of young love looks to continue Anderson's already impressive oeuvre. If for some unknown reason you are yet to see Anderson's work, you really need to catch up before his latest film is released in May.

Joe Walsh