Oscar: Acting, part 1

ACTING UP, PART ONE: We already told you the Best Picture nominees and geeked out about Adele's "Skyfall" giving 007 a more celebratory reason to don his tux. But we're not done fixating. What about the acting categories? You won't be surprised to learn that Daniel Day-Lewis got a nod for his magisterial Lincoln, or Hugh Jackman for his barricade-manning Jean Valjean in Les Mis. But you may be pleased to see Bradley Cooper included for his fine work in Silver Linings Playbook, Joaquin Phoenix for his living embodiment of rage in The Master, and Denzel Washington for his clay-footed hero pilot in Flight. The Best Actress category features the youngest (Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild) and the oldest (Emanuelle Riva, Amour) nominees ever, but handicappers tend to be split between Jessica Chastain’s dogged terrorist-hunter in Zero Dark Thirty, Jennifer Lawrence’s troubled romantic in Silver Linings and Naomi Watts’ survivor mom in The Impossible. Want more Oscar geekery? Read on. (1/10p)