Oscars 2012: Meryl Streep favourite for Best Actress Only one film - Hugo, Martin Scorsese's 3D ode to early cinema - has more nominations but many of its nods are in technical categories. Streep, who last won an Oscar for 1982 movie Sophie's Choice, said she was "honoured" to be nominated. She is up against Michelle Williams for her role as screen siren Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn, Glenn Close for her turn as a woman disguised as a man in Albert Nobbs, Viola Davis (The Help), and Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo). Oldman - whose best actor rivals are Dujardin, George Clooney (The Descendants), Brad Pitt (Moneyball) and Mexican Demian Bichir (A Better Life) - described his nomination as "extremely humbling, gratifying and delightful." Britons Kenneth Branagh, 51, and Albert Nobbs star Janet McTeer, 50, are also in the running for the supporting actor categories. Branagh, nominated for his performance in My Week With Marilyn, said: "It was a rare honour to play Sir Laurence Olivier. To be recognised by the Academy for doing so is overwhelming. I'm absolutely thrilled. One Briton guaranteed to get his hands on an Oscar this year is Colin Firth. Firth, who carried away the best actor award last year for his performance as King George VI in The King's Speech, will present one of the trophies at this year's event. Steven Spielberg's War Horse, based on the National Theatre play inspired by Michael Morpurgo's novel, is among nine films up for best picture. The film, up for six awards, is pitted against The Artist, The Descendants, Extremely Loud And Incredibly Close, The Help, Hugo, Midnight In Paris, Moneyball and The Tree Of Life. The Artist's supporting actress contender Bejo said she was "overjoyed and filled with happiness." "I can't believe that a year ago I was learning how to tap dance and today I am nominated for an Academy Award," she said. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy's Peter Straughan is nominated for adapted screenplay with his late wife, Bridget O'Connor, who died of cancer at the age of 49. He picked up the Bafta equivalent earlier this month and paid tribute to O'Connor who died before the film came out, saying: "Bridget, I love you, I miss you, this is for you." Oscar nods had been predicted for British actress Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin, and Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, stars of Steve McQueen's tale of sex addiction, Shame, but they were ignored. In the short subject documentary, London-born film-maker Lucy Walker is nominated with Kira Carstensen for The Tsunami And The Cherry Blossom, which was made in Japan following the devastating tsunami. Saving Face, which follows London-based surgeon Mohammad Ali Jawad as he treats the victims of acid attacks in Pakistan, is also up for the award. London animators Sue Goffe and Grant Orchard are nominated for short film (animated) for A Morning Stroll, while the short film (live action) category includes Irish film-maker Peter McDonald's Pentecost and Terry and Oorlagh George's Northern Ireland-set short The Shore. The 84th Academy Awards, hosted by Billy Crystal, take place at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.