The nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced this morning. This year the number of nominations for Best Picture was expanded from five to 10. To absolutely no one's surprise, the juggernaut that is Avatar is well-represented among the categories, picking up nods in the Best Picture and Best Direction categories as well as nominations for art direction, editing, original score, and several other technical categories for a total of nine. The Hurt Locker, a film about a bomb disposal squad in the Iraq war, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, has also garnered nine nominations, including those for Best Picture and Best Direction.
The Best Picture nominees include two animated features this year. While Avatar and Up are the big-budget blockbusters in this category, The Blind Side has been very profitable given its relatively modest production costs but its inclusion here probably comes as a surprise to a lot of people. An Education and Joel and Ethan Coen's A Serious Man have been critically well-received but seen by relatively few viewers.
The Oscars award ceremony will be televised on Sunday, March 7 at 8 pm EST on ABC. This year's show will be co-hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Martin is one of my favorite people, simultaneously goofy and sophisticated, and Baldwin's certainly proven his comedic chops in recent years, so hopefully they'll be able to keep the boredom at bay. Below are the nominees in some of the major categories. For a complete list of nominees in all categories, visit the Oscars official website.
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 Direction
- 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
Actor in a Leading Role
- Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
- George Clooney in Up in the Air
- Colin Firth in A Single Man
- Morgan Freeman in Invictus
- Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker
Actress in a Leading Role
- Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
- Helen Mirren in The Last Station
- Carey Mulligan in An Education
- Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire
- Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
Actor in a Supporting Role
- Matt Damon in Invictus
- Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
- Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
- Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
- Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Actress in a Supporting Role
- Penélope Cruz in Nine
- Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
- Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
- Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
- Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire