Mark Wahlberg in "Ted"

Credit: Universal Pictures

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The American Cinema Editors (ACE) decided there was no rush and chose to hold its announcement for nominations honoring excellence in filmmaking until after the Oscar nominations landed. This despite being ready to announce on Tuesday. I applaud them for that. Just because the Academy says "jump" doesn't mean you have to.

The group has nominated films in four categories -- drama, comedy/musical, animated and documentary -- and nothing seems to be terribly amiss. "The Master" missed out on yet another industry award citation by falling out of the drama category, as did "Django Unchained."

On the comedy/musical side of things, the usual suspects are in the hunt. And we're reminded that, indeed, "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" still has its fans. But with "Les Misérables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" showing up there, I'd say most films are accounted for all around, save the two mentioned above.

Check out the full list of nominees below and as always, keep track of the season via The Circuit.

Drama:

"Argo"
"Life of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Skyfall"
"Zero Dark Thirty"

Comedy or Musical:

"The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
"Les Misérables"
"Moonrise Kingdom"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
"Ted"

Animated:

"Brave"
"Frankenweenie"
"Rise of the Guardians"
"Wreck-It Ralph"

Documentary:

"Samsara"
"Searching for Sugar Man"
"West of Memphis"

The 63rd annual ACE Eddie Awards will be held on February 16.

Kristopher Tapley
Editor-at-Large

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Kristopher Tapley has covered the film awards landscape for over a decade. He founded In Contention in 2005. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Times of London and Variety. He begs you not to take any of this too seriously.