Although it’s easy to be underwhelmed by any dresses coming before the Oscars, there are some ladies who really turned it out last night. We put our top 10 at the beginning of the gallery for your viewing pleasure. All photos from Huffington Post Style.

Film

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

The Help

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role

Viola Davis, The Help

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role

Christopher Plummer, The Beginners

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Television

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series

Boardwalk Empire

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series

Modern Family

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series

Jessica Lange, American Horror Story

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series

Betty White, Hot in Cleveland

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries

Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

Stunts

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2

Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series

Game of Thrones

I always love when a comedic performance gets some recognition and while the film was excluded from the list of NINE Best Picture nominees, Kristen Wiig scored a nod for her brilliant screenplay with Annie Mumolo. Meanwhile, if that trash Diablo Cody can win for Juno, Wiig might want to ready her acceptance speech.

Hugo leads the pack with 11 nominations, including Best Director for Martin Scorsese – his seventh career Best Director nom and ninth overall — and Best Picture. It will compete against The Artist – a close second with 10 nominations — and out of seemingly nowhere, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, which has garnered mixed reviews and has been pretty much absent during awards season. But, c’mon, it’s a 9/11 movie, who’s really surprised?

Other Best Picture contenders include Steven Spielberg’s critically-mixed War Horse, Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life — which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes a while back –, The Help, Moneyball, The Descendants and Woody Allen‘s Midnight in Paris.

Allen, it should be noted, snatched his 22nd and 23rd Oscar nods. Take notes, kids.

Also racking up an ungodly amount of Oscar gold this year is (unsurprisingly) Meryl Streep, who scored her 17th Academy Award nomination for her role in The Iron Lady. She will face off against Michelle Williams, Viola Davis, frequent nemesis Glenn Close and surprise nominee Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Tilda Swinton was once again robbed of a nomination — this time for We Need to Talk About Kevin.

The Best Actor category has BFFs George Clooney and Brad Pitt going head-to-head, while relative unknown Demián Bichir snuck in for the little-seen indie film, A Better Life. The Artist‘s Jean Dujardin, fresh off his Golden Globe win, is also nominated and after decades of generally shutting shit down, Gary Oldman scored his first Oscar nomination for the British film, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Check out the full list of nominees below:

BEST PICTURE
The Artist
The Descendants
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close
The Help
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
Moneyball
The Tree of Life
War Horse

LEAD ACTOR
Demián Bichir – A Better Life
George Clooney – The Descendants
Jean Dujardin – The Artist
Gary Oldman – Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Brad Pitt – Moneyball

LEAD ACTRESS
Glenn Close – Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis – The Help
Rooney Mara – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Michelle Williams – My Week With Marilyn

BEST DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
Alexander Payne – The Descendants
Martin Scorsese – Hugo
Woody Allen – Midnight in Paris
Terrence Malick – The Tree of Life

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Kenneth Branagh – My Week with Marilyn
Jonah Hill – Moneyball
Nick Nolte – Warrior
Christopher Plummer –  Beginners
Max von Sydow – Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Bérénice Bejo – The Artist
Jessica Chastain – The Help
Melissa McCarthy – Bridesmaids
Janet McTeer – Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer – The Help

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
The Descendants – Alexander Payne & Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
Hugo – John Logan
The Ides of March - George Clooney & Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
Moneyball – Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin and Stan Chervin
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy –  Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
Bridesmaids – Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Margin Call – J.C. Chandor
Midnight in Paris – Woody Allen
A Separation – Asghar Farhadi

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
A Cat in Paris
Chico & Rita
Kung Fu Panda 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Bullhead, Belgium
Footnote, Israel
In Darkness, Poland
Monsieur Lazhar, Canada
A Separation, Iran

DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
Hell and Back Again
If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory
Pina
Undefeated

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
The Barber of Birmingham: Foot Soldier of the Civil Rights Movement
God Is the Bigger Elvis
Incident in New Baghdad
Saving Face
The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
Dimanche/Sunday
The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore
La Luna
A Morning Stroll
Wild Life

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
Pentecost
Raju
The Shore
Time Freak
Tuba Atlantic

ART DIRECTION
The Artist
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Midnight in Paris
War Horse

CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Artist
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
The Tree of Life
War Horse

COSTUME DESIGN
Anonymous
The Artist
Hugo
Jane Eyre
W.E.

FILM EDITING
The Artist
The Descendants
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball

MAKEUP
Albert Nobbs
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
The Iron Lady

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
The Adventures of Tintin
The Artist
Hugo
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
War Horse

MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Man or Muppet” from The Muppets
“Real in Rio” from Rio

SOUND EDITING
Drive
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

SOUND MIXING
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
Hugo
Moneyball
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
War Horse

VISUAL EFFECTS
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Transformers: Dark of the Moon

Link Love: LA Times – The Envelope

As big as the Globes’ crush is on Gosling, it can’t hold a candle to the raging boner the Hollywood Foreign Press has for George Clooney, who’s nominated for three awards — Best Director and Best Screenplay for The Ides of March and Best Actor for The Descendants. Why don’t you put it back in your pants, HFA?

And the other nominees are:

Best Motion Picture — Drama (or, films that no one has seen)

The Descendants

The Help

Hugo

The Ides of March

Moneyball

War Horse

Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical (or, wait, is My Week with Marilyn a comedy?)

50/50

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Midnight in Paris

My Week with Marilyn

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama

Glenn Close, Albert Noss

Viola Davis, The Help

Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Brendan Gleesen, The Guard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid Love

Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical

Jodie Foster, Carnage

Charlize Theron, Young Adult

 Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

 Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Kate Winslet, Carnage

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture

Berenice Bejo, The Artist

Jessica Chastain, The Help

Janet Mcteer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture

Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris

George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon - The Ides of March

Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash - The Descendants

Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin - Moneyball

Best Director — Motion Picture

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

George Clooney, The Ides of March

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Television Series — Drama

American Horror Story

Boardwalk Empire

Boss

Game of Thrones

Homeland

Best Television Series — Comedy or Musical (or, what the fuck about Community?)

Enlightened

Episodes

Glee

Modern Family

New Girl

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Kelsey Grammer, Boss

Jeremy Irons, The Borgias

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama

Claire Danes, Homeland

Mireille Enos, The Killing

Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Madeleine Stowe, Revenge

Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Comedy or Musical

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

David Duchovny, Californication

Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory

Thomas Jane, Hung

Matt Leblanc, Episodes

Alber Elbaz, designer of Lanvin, is such a fan of Glenn Close’s character on Damages, he’s basing a new Lanvin capsule collection on her featuring power suits with Italian tailoring for pre-spring.

LINKAGE: NY Mag