Mike Fleming

Harvey Weinstein OscarHarvey Weinstein’s films received a remarkable 16 Oscar nominations this morning. That beats his 13 noms last year but not Sony Pictures’ 21 or paramount’s 18 this year. Then again The Weinstein Company is a helluva lot smaller. Ten of its noms were for the French black-and-white silent film The Artist, which is clearly the one to beat for Best Picture. In his first statement about the Oscar nomination haul, Weinstein said: “The art of performing in a silent movie is a lost process, and I have to thank the director and brilliant ensemble of actors in The Artist. We wouldn’t be here today without their talent. The Artist is a love letter to classic American cinema, and today the Academy gave us a love letter back.

Oscars 2012 — Read More Reactions To Academy’s Nominations

“Special congratulations also goes to Meryl Streep from The Iron Lady,  Michelle Williams and Kenneth Branagh from My Week With Marilyn, and to all of our other film nominees including best documentary Undefeated.  Today is a great day for celebrating creative courage, visionary talent, and the power of independent cinema to inspire, to entertain, and to move people in all kinds of new and exciting ways.”

The Artist hauled in got Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Michel Havanavicius, Best Actor for Jean Dujardin, and Best Supporting Actress for Berenice Bejo. The Weinstein Company has two frontrunner in the Best Actress category with My Week With Marilyn’s Michelle Williams and Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. And Kenneth Branagh got a Best Supporting Actor for My Week With Marilyn.