Admit it: at some point in your life you've rehearsed a pretend Oscars acceptance speech. Well, some talented people in Hollywood with a little more potential to win one of those gold statues are practicing theirs right about now. That's because the nominees for the 84th annual Academy Awards were announced this morning.

Here are a few Character Approved nominees that we'll have our eyes on at the ceremony next month:

The Artist has been called a love letter to Hollywood, and the academy loved the movie right back. The black and white film got nominations in five categories, including Best Picture.

Another big name this morning is Brad Pitt, with his Best Actor nomination for Moneyball, one of three for the movie. And Pitt's Tree of Life got a couple of nods as well.

In other handsome-leading-man news: The Descendants landed four nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for George Clooney.

The Help also emerged as a film to watch, landing four nods.

Director Steven Spielberg will be busy on Oscar night, and so will his colleague Martin Scorcese, as both The War Horse and Hugo will be awaiting a potential Best Picture win.

One final nominee to watch: The very funny Melissa McCarthy was recognized in the Best Actress category for her hilarious work in Bridesmaids.

If you haven't seen all the movies on the list yet it's time to head to the theater, because the Oscars air on February 26. The envelope please...

[Image: Getty Images]