The First Time's Surreal, for Muppet, Man or Dragon Tattoo Girl We heard from a few more nominees today, including three first-timers: Bret McKenzie, Jonah Hill and Rooney Mara. First up, Bret McKenzie, who yelled, "Woohoo!" when the Bagger reached him at home in New Zealand, where he was celebrating being one of only two nominees for best song with a breakfast of Vegemite and toast. Mr. McKenzie, who wrote the meta-power ballad "Man or Muppet" for "The Muppets," is up against "Real in Rio" from "Rio," by Sergio Mendes and Carlinhos Brown, with lyrics by Siedah Garrett. "What's great is there's a 50 percent chance of winning," Mr. McKenzie said. I was very surprised that there were only two. The only thing that would be better is if there was only one nomination. Mr. McKenzie said he was familiar with his competitor, having seen the film, but didn't harbor any songwriter prejudice. "I have to listen to it again and then watch "Man or Muppet" and see which one I like better," he said. In the meantime, he was excited to be one of the few New Zealanders to win kudos from the Academy. "By the time I've done a few of these interviews, I'll have a joke about Peter Jackson," he said. "It's gone to my head already!" he added. Like Mr. Hill (see below), Mr. McKenzie said the whole idea of himself at the Oscars was surreal. "More awkward parties with the stars!" was how he enthusiastically put it. "What I'm excited about is being able to say "Academy Award nominee" when I introduce myself," he said. "I'm going to put that on the bottom of my emails: "Did you catch up with Mom? - Academy Award nominee Bret McKenzie." I'm quite formal with my mom. He planned to go to dinner with her to celebrate her birthday that evening. But, he said, his Academy honor would not go unnoticed in humble New Zealand. "There's a lot of Oscar buzz at my place," he confided. I get a lot more respect from my two-year-old. Then there's Jonah Hill, newly-minted best supporting actor nominee, who offered: "It just is so surreal; I feel like I got knighted or something." Mr. Hill was in Los Angeles, doing press from a trailer on the Sony lot for both "Moneyball," his Oscar-nominated film, and "21 Jump Street," his coming high-profile remake. "It just felt like a really big deal," he said of acting in the high-stakes, not exactly a comedy "Moneyball," directed by Bennett Miller, opposite fellow nominee Brad Pitt and with a script by nominees Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian. Aside from having to deal with questions from baseball fans - "I say, I'm an actor," said Mr. Hill, who is not the stats savant he plays in the film - and having lost a substantial amount of weight, in part at the urging of Mr. Pitt, the experience of making "Moneyball" has already changed his perspective. "I'm going to dedicate the next couple years to doing drama," he said. Rooney Mara wasn't as definitive, though she was certainly calm and cool on the phone. She said she was asleep at home in Los Angeles when the Oscar nominations were announced this morning. "I knew it was a very small possibility," she said "but there's so many incredible female performances this year and I really wasn't expecting it, so it was kind of an amazing surprise to wake up to." C'mon, she was really asleep? "Yes I was," she insisted. I just didn't want to watch. I knew my mom would be watching and she came running up and told me. In keeping with other nominees today, she took the diplomatic route. "I feel incredibly honored to be on a list with these other women, who I look up to and have been inspired by," she said. Ms. Rooney has been trying to get used to the awards-circuit chitchat, but added, "I'm not so good at this part of it - I'm quite shy." She would reveal that despite plaudits for her red-carpet turns, she's mainly interested in comfort - "so that's sort of what I look for in what I wear" - and that her next project would be with Terrence Malick. Oh, and that she's excited to be nominated but she just doesn't show it: "I'm jumping up and down on the inside, I promise."