Oscar Nominations Announced: ‘Avatar’ and ‘Hurt Locker’ Lead The Rest; Expanded Best Picture List Makes Room For Worthy and Not So Worthy Titles
The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and, no surprise there, Avatar and The Hurt Locker came out on top with nine each, including Best Picture and Best Director. It looks like the award show could turn into a battle of the exes between the formerly married James Cameron and Hurt Locker director Katherine Bigelow. Quentin Tarantino, who is also nominated for his WWII epic Inglourious Basterds may get lost in the shuffle. This years expanded list of Best Picture nominations made room for worthy titles that wouldn’t have made it in years past like An Education and A Serious Man. It also made room for not so worthy titles like The Blind Side. The ceremony will be telecast March 7.
Full List of Nominations:
BEST PICTURE
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air
BEST ACTOR
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up in the Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
BEST DIRECTOR
James Cameron – Avatar
Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Ajami - Israel
El Secreto de Sus Ojos – Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow – Peru
Un Prophete – France
The White Ribbon – Germany
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
District 9
An Education
In the Loop
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Up in the Air
BEST ART DIRECTION
Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers
Which Way Home
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin
BEST FILM EDITING
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKE-UP
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog”
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″
“Take It All” from “Nine”
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart”
BEST ANIMATED SHORT
French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants
BEST SOUND EDITING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up
BEST SOUND MIXING
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek