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The speech vs. the network

Colin Firth is the stuttering monarch in "The King's Speech."

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – The British monarchy saga "The King's Speech" leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.

Also nominated for best picture Tuesday were the psychosexual thriller "Black Swan"; the boxing drama "The Fighter"; the sci-fi blockbuster "Inception"; the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right"; the survival story "127 Hours"; the Facebook chronicle "The Social Network"; the animated smash "Toy Story 3"; the Western "True Grit" (2010); and the Ozarks crime thriller "Winter's Bone."

"True Grit" ran second with 10 nominations, including acting honors for Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld.

The favorites in the male-acting categories both were nominated, Globe winners Firth as best actor for "The King's Speech" and Christian Bale as supporting actor for "The Fighter."

The best-actress field shapes up as a two-woman race between Annette Bening for "The Kids Are All Right," who won the Globe for actress in a musical or comedy, and Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," who received the Globe for dramatic actress.

The supporting-actress Oscar could prove the most competitive among acting prizes. Melissa Leo won the Globe for "The Fighter," but she faces strong challenges from that film's co-star Amy Adams and 14-year-old newcomer Steinfeld, who missed out on a Globe nomination for "True Grit" but made the cut for supporting actress at the Oscars.

The Feb. 27 Oscar ceremony will be televised live on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism.

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