It was an Oscar nomination ceremony teeming with shock snubs and surprise newcomers, but the good news for Hugh Jackman, Naomi Watts, Jacki Weaver and Rick Findlater is they all have a ticket to next month's Academy Awards.

The bad news for Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban is they won't enjoy a dream double date.

Kidman and Urban were among the notable omissions when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled on Thursday its nominees for Hollywood's biggest night and the Aussie power couple was not alone in feeling a cold shoulder.

The most turmoil was in the directing category, with Tom Hooper (Les Miserables), Ben Affleck (Argo), Kathryn Bigelow (Zero Dark Thirty) and Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained) all left on the outer.

Jackman, who hosted the Oscar ceremony in 2009, almost missed out on hearing his name announced as a best actor nominee for Les Miserables.

Jackman was in Atlanta, Georgia, and had no intention of listening to the ceremony broadcast. "I hadn't planned to listen live to the announcements, but when I got into the car this morning to go to work, the driver had the nominations streaming as they were being broadcast," Jackman said. "To be honest, it's very exciting but all a bit surreal, and it hasn't fully sunk in yet."

The best actor favourite is Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln, with Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) and Denzel Washington (Flight) filling the other slots.

Watts, a nominee in 2004 for 21 Grams, didn't expect to be nominated as best actress for the tsunami survivor film The Impossible so her plan was to sleep through the ceremony, which began at 5.38am Los Angeles time.

Her sons, Sacha and Samuel, however kept her awake during the night.

"I had three different wake ups from the kids and couldn't go back to sleep," Watts told USA Today.

"I swore to myself I wouldn't turn on the TV because I was pretty sure it was not going to go that way."

When Watts turned on the TV her name was announced alongside Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook), Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) and Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild).

Two past Oscar winners, Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone) and Helen Mirren (Hitchcock), were the surprise snubs.

Wallis, a nine-year-old, is the youngest best actress nominee in the history of the Oscars, beating New Zealand's Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider) who was 13 when nominated in 2003.

On the flipside, 85-year-old Riva is the oldest best actress Oscar nominee, breaking the record held by Jessica Tandy who was 80 when nominated in 1989 for Driving Miss Daisy.

Weaver was in shock as she sat in her LA hotel bed, after flying in from Australia the day before, and saw her photo come up on the screen during the ceremony TV broadcast.

The 65-year-old, nominated two years ago for Animal Kingdom, expected her Silver Linings Playbook co-stars Cooper, Lawrence, Robert De Niro (supporting actor) and director David O'Russell to be nominated.

"I let out ... an expletive that I can't repeat on air," she told the Nine Network after hearing she was a supporting actress nominee.

"I was so surprised I jumped out of bed and ran around in circles for a while and then I rang my husband in Sydney and couldn't wake him up."

Back in the sleepy northern NSW hamlet of Georgica, it was 12.38am Friday when the nominees were announced and movie make-up and hairstylist Rick Findlater was on the internet attempting to find out if he was an Oscar nominee.

After a nervous search, he confirmed he was nominated for his work on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

The only company Findlater had on his four-hectare property was his black labrador Diesel.

"He was sitting there looking at me," Findlater laughed as he recalled his dog's reaction to his cheers.

There probably weren't too many cheers in the Kidman-Urban household.

Kidman was in the running for a best supporting actress nod for The Paperboy, but was squeezed out by Weaver, Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables), Amy Adams (The Master), Sally Field (Lincoln) and Helen Hunt (The Sessions).

Urban was a chance in the original song category for For You, featured in the action film Act of Valor, but British diva Adele's song Skyfall, from the latest James Bond blockbuster, along with Oscar host Seth MacFarlane's song from the comedy Ted, Everybody Needs a Best Friend, and Les Miserables' Suddenly, were triumphant.

Lincoln topped the overall nomination list with 12.

Ang Lee's Life of Pi tallied 11, with Les Miserables disappointing with only eight nominations.

Les Miserables was expected to pick up more than 10, but with director Tom Hooper one of the biggest snubs, a significant section of Academy voters were apparently not fans of the musical.

Silver Linings Playbook surprised with eight nominations, including director Russell.

He is up against Michael Haneke (Amour), Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild), Ang Lee (Life of Pi) and favourite Steven Spielberg (Lincoln).

The supporting actor category is stacked with talent and former winners, with De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook), Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master), Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln), Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) and Alan Arkin (Argo) nominated.

The films vying for best picture are: Les Miserables; Life of Pi; Lincoln; Silver Linings Playbook; Zero Dark Thirty; Amour; Argo; Beasts of the Southern Wild; and Django Unchained.

The 85th Academy Awards will be held on February 24. 

LIST OF 2013 ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEES AND MAJOR SNUBS: 

BEST PICTURE

* Les Miserables

* Life of Pi

* Lincoln

* Silver Linings Playbook

* Zero Dark Thirty

* Amour

* Argo

* Beasts of the Southern Wild

* Django Unchained 

BEST ACTOR

* Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)

* Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)

* Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook) 

* Joaquin Phoenix (The Master)

* Denzel Washington (Flight) 

BEST ACTRESS

* Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

* Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)

* Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

* Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)

* Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild) 

SUPPORTING ACTOR

* Alan Arkin (Argo)

* Robert De Niro (Silver Linings Playbook)

* Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master)

* Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)

* Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) 

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

* Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings Playbook)

* Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

* Amy Adams (The Master)

* Sally Field (Lincoln)

* Helen Hunt (The Sessions) 

DIRECTING

* Michael Haneke (Amour)

* Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

* Ang Lee (Life of Pi)

* Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)

* David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

* Chris Terrio (Argo)

* Lucy Alibar and Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

* David Magee (Life of Pi)

* Tony Kushner (Lincoln)

* David O Russell (Silver Linings Playbook) 

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

* Michael Haneke (Amour)

* Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained)

* John Gatins (Flight)

* Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)

* Mark Boal (Zero Dark Thirty) 

ANIMATED FEATURE

* Brave

* Frankenweenie

* ParaNorman

* The Pirates! Band of Misfits

* Wreck-It Ralph

CINEMATOGRAPHY

* Seamus McGarvey (Anna Karenina)

* Robert Richardson (Django Unchained)

* Claudio Miranda (Life of Pi)

* Janusz Kaminski (Lincoln)

* Roger Deakins (Skyfall) 

ORIGINAL SONG

* Skyfall (Skyfall) Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

* Suddenly (Les Miserables) Claude-Michel Schonberg, Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil.

* Before My Time (Chasing Ice) J. Ralph

* Everybody Needs a Best Friend (Ted) Walter Murphy and Seth MacFarlane

* Pi's Lullaby (Life of Pi) Mychael Danna and Bombay Jayashri 

MAKE-UP AND HAIRSTYLING

* The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (Rick Findlater, Peter King, Tami Lane)

* Hitchcock (Howard Berger)

* Les Miserables (Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell) 

VISUAL EFFECTS

* The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

* Life of Pi

* Marvel's The Avengers

* Prometheus

* Snow White and the Huntsman

MAJOR SNUBS

* Skyfall (best picture)

* Nicole Kidman (supporting actress - The Paperboy)

* Keith Urban (original song - For You)

* Tom Hooper (director - Les Miserables)

* Ben Affleck (director - Argo)

* Kathryn Bigelow (director - Zero Dark Thirty)

* Quentin Tarantino (director - Django Unchained)

* John Hawkes (best actor - The Sessions)

* Leonardo DiCaprio (supporting actor - Django Unchained)

* Marion Cotillard (actress - Rust and Bone)

* Greig Fraser (cinematography - Zero Dark Thirty)

* Kym Barrett (costume - Cloud Atlas). 

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