The 2013 Oscar nominations were announced today by Seth MacFarlane and Emma Stone and, inevitably, the whole of the internet went into meltdown as everyone's emotions lurched from one state to the next like Carrie from Homeland. 

And so, to truly capture the rollercoaster of feelings that this year's awards season brings, let's take a quick look through the Oscar nominees - through the medium of Claire Danes' facial expressions.

As everyone expected, Lincoln leads the pack with a whopping 12 Oscar nominations. Best Director, Best Picture, Best Actor - you name it, Old Abe's got it. Life of Pi follows closely behind with 11 nominations, then Silver Linings Playbook with 8. 

So far, so predictable.

But things get better as you move down the list, with Les Miserables matched 7 for 7 with Ben Affleck's Argo - a deserving favourite among the Academy voters. But wait, what's this? No nomination for Argo in the Best Director category?

WHERE'S BAFFLECK?

Argo is, however, on the big fat Best Picture list, alongside the other expected players. Even Django Unchained makes the cut in one of the nicer surprises. That's why the extended list is good, because it gives a chance for the other smaller contenders to get some attention. You know, films like The Master. Which was accidentally left off the list. Silly Seth MacFarlane forgetting to read it out.

Wait, The Master isn't up for Best Picture at all? Doesn't that defeat the whole point of the Best Picture list? And Ted's excellent Original Song aside, why is Seth MacFarlane's potty-mouthed animation up for more Academy Awards (one) than Rust and Bone (zero)? Where's Marion Cotillard?

Still, at least Skyfall has received 5 nominations. And not just for Adele's song and Thomas Newman's (middling) score, but for technical nods too, including Roger Deakins' gorgeous cinematography. After 9 nominations, this could be the first time The Deaks actually wins that elusive award.

The technical categories also saw The Avengers get a nod for Best VFX. Which means we can now say "The Oscar-nominated Avengers". Which is awesome.

The Best Song category was nice to Chasing Ice too, including J. Ralph's Before My Time. Sung brilliantly by Scarlett Johansson at the end of the film, it's a lovely number guaranteed to make your face look like this:

Which is exactly how you'll feel when you realise that Chasing Ice missed out on an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary. Along with The Imposter.

And as if that wasn't enough, even the real life-inspired The Impossible didn't get a look in for Best Sound, despite its soundtrack (along with Berberian Sound Studio) featuring some of the best editing of the last five years.

WHAT THE HELL, OSCAR?

But keep hunting through the pile and there are still good things to find. Firstly, Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained (both up for 5) have been equalled by Michael Haneke's Amour, which sees a foreign film ranked alongside the big American players - and guarantees a live-tweeting session during the Oscar ceremony from the wonderfully demented Michael Haneke Twitter account.

Look past Haneke's beard, though, and you can see another unexpected name on the Best Director list: Benh Zeitlin. And he's not the only one from Beasts of the Southern Wild up for an award: the adorable Quvenzhané Walliis is up for Best Actress. At the age of 9, she's the youngest ever Oscar nominee - and is competing with Amour's Emmanuelle Riva, the oldest ever Oscar nominee. Awww.

In fact, Beasts of the Southern Wild is up for 4 awards in total, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay. It has a strong chance of winning at least one of them - a fantastic achievement for a debut feature. 

Add that to the fact that Pablo Larraín's No is up for Best Foreign Film and it's great to see some smaller fare get a bit of recognition alongside Lincoln.

Did I mention that Beasts of the Southern Wild is up for 4 Oscars?

It's a happy note to end this Oscar nominations roundup on.

Until six weeks time when when we remember that it's all meaningless garbage anyway.

The Oscars will be handed out on Sunday 24th February. The full list of nominees is below.

And here's a cut-out mask for you to wear when your favourite candidate doesn't win.

Best Picture

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Lincoln

Les Miserables

Life Of Pi

Amour

Django Unchained

Argo

Best Actor

Daniel Day Lewis - Lincoln

Denzel Washington - Flight

Hugh Jackman - Les Miserables

Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook

Joaquin Phoenix - The Master

Best Actress

Naomie Watts - The Impossible

Jessica Chastain - Zero Dark Thirty

Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook

Emmanuelle Riva - Amour

Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Best Supporting Actor

Christoph Waltz - Django Unchained

Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Master

Robert De Niro - Silver Linings Playbook

Alan Arkin - Argo

Tommy Lee Jones - Lincoln

Best Supporting Actress

Sally Field Lincoln

Anne Hathaway - Les Miserables

Jacki Weaver - Silver Linings Playbook

Helen Hunt - The Sessions

Amy Adams - The Master

Best Director

David O Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

Ang Lee - Life Of Pi

Steven Spielberg - Lincoln

Michael Haneke - Amour

Benh Zeitlin - Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Animated Feature

Frankenweenie

The Pirates

Wreck-It Ralph

Paranorman

Brave

Foreign Language Film

Amour

No

War Witch

A Royal Affair

Kon Tiki

Music (Song)

Before My Time - Chasing Ice

Suddenly - Les Miserables

Pi's Lullaby - Life Of Pi

Everybody Needs A Best Friend - Ted

Skyfall - Skyfall

Writing (Adapted)

Beasts Of The Southern Wild

Argo

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Life Of Pi

Writing (original)

Flight

Zero Dark Thirty

Django Unchained

Amour

Moonrise Kingdom

Production Design

Anne Karenina

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Les Miserables

Life Of Pi

Lincoln

Cinematography

Seamus McGarvey - Anna Karenina

Robert Richardson - Django Unchained

Claudio Miranda - Life Of Pi

Janusz Kaminski - Lincoln

Roger Deakins - Skyfall

Costume Design

Jacqueline Durran - Anna Karenina

Paco Delgado - Les Miserables

Joanna Johnston - Lincoln

Eiko Ishioka - Mirro Mirror

Colleen Atwood - Snow White And The Huntsman

Documentary Feature

5 Broken Cameras

The Gatekeepers

How To Survive A Plague

The Invisible War

Searching for Sugar Man

Documentary Short

Innocente

Kings Point

Mondays At Racine

Open Heart

Redemption

Editing

William Goldenberg - Argo

Tim Squyres - Life Of Pi

Michael Kahn - Lincoln

Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers - Silver Linings Playbook

Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg - Zero Dark Thirty

Short Film (Animated)

Adam And Dog

Fresh Guacamole

Head Over Heels

Maggie Simpson In The Longest Daycare

Paperman 

Short Film (Live Action)

Asad

Buzjkashi Boys

Curfew

Death Of A Shadow

Henry

Sound Editing

Argo

Django Unchained

Life Of Pi

Skyfall

Zero Dark Thirty

Sound Mixing

Argo

Les Miserables

Life Of Pi

Lincoln

Skyfall

Visual Effects

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Life Of Pi

The Avengers

Prometheus

Snow White And The Huntsman

Music (Score)

Dario Marianelli - Anna Karenina

Alexandre Desplat - Argo

Mychael Danna - Life Of Pi

John Williams - Lincoln

Thomas Newman - Skyfall