James Cameron's "Avatar" and Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" led all films with nine Oscar nominations as contenders for the 82nd Academy Awards were announced Tuesday morning at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The Best Picture nominees also included "Inglourious Basterds," with eight nominations, and "Up in the Air" and "Precious," with six apiece. Rounding out the category, which the Academy expanded from five to 10 nominees for the first time in more than 60 years, were "District 9" (four noms), "The Blind Side" (two), "An Education" (three), "A Serious Man" (two) and animated feature "Up" (five).
Best Actor and Best Actress nominees include Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart"), George Clooney ("Up in the Air"), Meryl Streep ("Julie & Julia") and Sandra Bullock ("The Blind Side"). In the Supporting Actor and Supporting Actress Categories, favorites Christoph Waltz ("Inglourious Basterds") and Mo'Nique ("Precious") led a lineup that also includes Woody Harrelson, Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga.
"Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" are considered the Best Picture race's two frontrunners. "Avatar" won the Golden Globe for Best Movie - Drama and Best Director, but "The Hurt Locker" has picked up the lion's share of awards so far this season, including the Critics Choice Movie Award and crucial wins at the Producers Guild and Directors Guild Awards.
Actress Anne Hathaway and Academy president Tom Sherak announced the nominations in 10 categories in a televised event from AMPAS headquarters.
Here's the complete list of nominees:
- 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”
- 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”
- 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”
- 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”
- “Coraline” Henry Selick
- “Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson
- “The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements
- “The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore
- “Up” Pete Docter
- “Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
- “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
- “Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
- “Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
- “The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray
- “Avatar” Mauro Fiore
- “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel
- “The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd
- “Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson
- “The White Ribbon” Christian Berger
- “Bright Star” Janet Patterson
- “Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier
- “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme
- “Nine” Colleen Atwood
- “The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell
- “Avatar” James Cameron
- “The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow
- “Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino
- “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels
- “Up in the Air” Jason Reitman
- “Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
- “The Cove” Nominees to be determined
- “Food, Inc.”
