BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The British monarchy saga "The King's Speech" leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.

"This story has struck such a rich resonant chord with audiences of all ages, which is very exciting - to have your work honored by your industry peers is even better," Rush said in a statement.

Also nominated for best picture Tuesday were the psychosexual thriller "Black Swan"; the boxing drama "The Fighter"; the sci-fi blockbuster "Inception"; the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right"; the survival story "127 Hours"; the Facebook chronicle "The Social Network"; the animated smash "Toy Story 3"; the Western "True Grit"; and the Ozarks crime thriller "Winter's Bone."

"True Grit" ran second with 10 nominations, including acting honors for Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld.

The Feb. 27 Oscars set up a best-picture showdown between two favorites, "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network." "The Social Network" won best drama at the Golden Globes and was picked as the year's best by key critics groups, while "The King's Speech" pulled an upset last weekend by winning the Producers Guild of America Awards top prize, whose recipient often goes to claim best picture at the Oscars.

The favorites in the male-acting categories both were nominated, Globe winners Firth as best actor for "The King's Speech" and Christian Bale as supporting actor for "The Fighter."

The best-actress field shapes up as a two-woman race between Annette Bening for "The Kids Are All Right," who won the Globe for actress in a musical or comedy, and Natalie Portman for "Black Swan," who received the Globe for dramatic actress.

The supporting-actress Oscar could prove the most competitive among acting prizes. Melissa Leo won the Globe for "The Fighter," but she faces strong challenges from that film's co-star Amy Adams and 14-year-old newcomer Steinfeld, who missed out on a Globe nomination for "True Grit" but made the cut for supporting actress at the Oscars.

"The Social Network" casts Jesse Eisenberg as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who's depicted as an interpersonal lout in one-on-one relations but a genius for the masses, creating an online hangout where half a billion people now keep connected with friends.

"The King's Speech" stars Firth as Queen Elizabeth II 's father, the stammering George VI, who reluctantly came to the throne after his brother abdicated in 1936, a terrible time for a stuttering monarch as British subjects looked to their ruler for inspiration via radio as World War II approached.

The two films represent a showdown between classy, traditional Oscar bait and edgy, youthful, up-to-the-minute drama.

With its aristocrats, statesmen and perilous times, "The King's Speech" is a throwback to the majestic, eye-filling costume pageants that dominated film awards in Hollywood's earlier decades. Its nominations also include best director for Tom Hooper and supporting-acting slots for Bonham Carter as the king's devoted wife and Rush as his wily speech therapist.

"The Social Network" is an immediate story, set not in palaces but college dorm rooms, cluttered start-up space and anonymous legal offices where Zuckerberg battles former associates over the proceeds of his invention.

David Fincher is the best-directing favorite for "The Social Network" after winning that prize at the Globes.

Along with Firth and Eisenberg, best-actor contenders are Javier Bardem as a dying father in the Spanish-language drama "Biutiful," which also is up for best foreign-language film; Bridges as boozy lawman Rooster Cogburn in "True Grit," a role that earned John Wayne an Oscar for the 1969 adaptation of the Western novel; and James Franco in the real-life tale of a climber trapped in a crevasse after a boulder crushes his arm in "127 Hours."

Bening was nominated for best actress as a lesbian mom whose family is thrown into turmoil after her teenage children seek out their sperm-donor father in "The Kids Are All Right." Portman was nominated as a ballerina losing her grip on reality in "Black Swan."

Other best-actress nominees are Nicole Kidman as a grieving mother in "Rabbit Hole"; Jennifer Lawrence as a teen trying to find her missing father amid the Ozark Mountains' criminal underbelly in "Winter's Bone"; and Michelle Williams as a wife in a failing marriage in "Blue Valentine."

Joining Fincher among best-director picks are Darren Aronofsky for "Black Swan"; Joel and Ethan Coen for "True Grit"; Tom Hooper for "The King's Speech"; and David O. Russell for "The Fighter."

The directing category is back to an all-male lineup after Kathryn Bigelow became the first woman to win that prize last year for "The Hurt Locker," which also claimed best picture.

The Oscar ceremony will be televised live on ABC from Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

THE LIST:

Best Motion Picture of the YearBlack SwanThe FighterInceptionThe Kids are All RightThe King's SpeechThe Social Network127 HoursToy Story 3True GritWinter's Bone

Performance by an Actress in a Leading RoleAnnette Bening (The Kids are All Right)Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone)Natalie Portman (Black Swan)Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)

Performance by an Actor in a Leading RoleJavier Bardem (Biutiful)Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network)Colin Firth (The King's Speech)James Franco (127 Hours)Jeff Bridges (True Grit)

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting RoleChristian Bale (The Fighter)John Hawkes (Winter's Bone)Jeremy Renner (The Town)Mark Ruffalo (The Kids are All Right)Geoffrey Rush (The King's Speech)

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting RoleAmy Adams (The Fighter)Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech)Melissa Leo (The Fighter)Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit)Jacki Weaver (Animal Kingdom)

Best Animated Feature Film of the YearHow to Train Your DragonThe IllusionistToy Story 3

Best Documentary Short SubjectKilling in the NamePoster GirlStrangers No MoreSun Come UpThe Warriors of Qiugang

Best Short Film (Animated)Day & Night Teddy NewtonThe Gruffalo Jakob Schuh and Max LangLet's Pollute Geefwee BoedoeThe Lost Thing Shaun Tan and Andrew RuhemannMadagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois

Best Short Film (Live Action)The Confession Tanel ToomThe Crush Michael CreaghGod of Love Luke MathenyNa Wewe Ivan GoldschmidtWish 143 Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

Achievement in Art DirectionAlice in WonderlandHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1InceptionThe King's SpeechTrue Grit

Achievement in CinematographyBlack Swan (Matthew Libatique)Inception (Wally Pfister)The King's Speech (Danny Cohen)The Social Network (Jeff Cronenweth)True Grit (Roger Deakins)Achievement in Costume DesignAlice in Wonderland (Colleen Atwood)I Am Love (Antonella Cannarozzi)The King's Speech (Jenny Beaven)The Tempest (Sandy Powell)True Grit (Mary Zophres)

Achievement in DirectingDarren Aronofsky (Black Swan)David O. Russell (The Fighter)Tom Hooper (The King's Speech)David Fincher (The Social Network)Joel and Ethan Coen (True Grit)

Best Documentary FeatureExit through the Gift Shop Banksy, director (Paranoid Pictures)Gasland Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)Inside Job Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)Restrepo Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)Waste Land Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

Achievement in MakeupBarney's VersionThe Way BackThe Wolfman

Achievement in Film EditingBlack Swan (Andrew Weisblum)The Fighter (Pamela Martin)The King's Speech (Tariq Anwar)127 Hours (Jon Harris)The Social Network (Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall)

Best Foreign Language Film of the YearBiutiful (Mexico)Dogtooth (Greece)In a Better World (Denmark)Incendies (Canada)Hors la Loi (Algeria)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)How to Train Your Dragon (John Powell)Inception (Hans Zimmer)The King's Speech (Alexandre Desplat)127 Hours (A.R. Rahman)The Social Network (Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross)

Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)"Coming Home" from Country Strong Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey"I See the Light" from Tangled Music and Lyric by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater"If I Rise" from 127 Hours Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong"We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

Achievement in Sound EditingInceptionToy Story 3TRON: LegacyTrue GritUnstoppable

Achievement in Sound MixingInceptionThe King's SpeechSaltThe Social NetworkTrue Grit

Achievement in Visual EffectsAlice in WonderlandHarry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1HereafterInceptionIron Man 2

Adapted Screenplay127 Hours (Simon Beaufoy and Danny Boyle)The Social Network (Aaron Sorkin)Toy Story 3 (Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich)True Grit (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen)Winter's Bone (Debra Granik and Anne Rossellini)

Original ScreenplayAnother Year (Mike Leigh)The Fighter (Paul Attanasio, Lewis Colich, Eric Johnson, Scott Silverand Paul Tamasy)Inception (Christopher Nolan)The Kids are All Right (Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko)The King's Speech (David Seidler)___

Online:

http://www.oscars.org