And the nominees are … “Nine,” “Red Cliff," "An Education," "District 9,” “The Stoning of Soraya M.” and lots of other films spread out across 22 different film categories.
But the Satellite Awards, which used to be called the Golden Satellite Awards and are presented by a 13-year-old organization of entertainment journalists called the International Press Academy, are a perplexing potpourri notable mostly because their nominations come so early in awards season.
The slate, which was announced on Sunday, includes six nominees for “Best Motion Picture (Drama)” and six more for “Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)” – but somehow both “Inglourious Basterds” and “(500) Days of Summer” aren’t on either list, even though they did make the IPA’s “10 Best Films of 2009” list. And Neill Blomkamp secured one of only six best-director nominations even though his film, “District 9,” isn’t one of the 14 films that won best-picture nominations or made the 10 best list.
The dramatic films that did receive nominations were “Bright Star,” “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker,” “The Messenger,” “Precious” and “The Stoning of Soraya M.” On the comedy-or-musical side, the nominees are “The Informant,” “It’s Complicated,” “Julie & Julia,” “Nine” (left), “A Serious Man” and “Up in the Air.”
For best actor, which is also separated into drama and comedy-or-musical categories, the expected names (George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner) are joined by the likes of Hugh Dancy for “Adam,” Johnny Depp for “Public Enemies” and Bradley Cooper for “The Hangover.”
Best-actress nominees range from Meryl Streep, Carey Mulligan and Abbie Cornish to Shohreh Aghsashloo (“Soraya M.”), Emily Blunt (“The Young Victoria”), Catalina Saavedra (“The Maid”) and Katherine Heigl (“The Ugly Truth”) … but not Gabourey Sidibe from “Precious” or Helen Mirren from “The Last Station.” (Sidibe did win the “Outstanding New Talent” award.)
“Nine” picked up the most total nominations, 10, plus a special award for best ensemble cast. John Woo’s action film "Red Cliff" had seven nominations, though none in the best-picture, director or acting categories. "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," Precious" and "Up in the Air" picked up five nominations each, while "Bright Star," "A Serious Man," "District 9," "Public Enemies," "It Might Get Loud" and "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus" landed four.
Winners will be announced on December 20 in Century City.
The Satellite Awards website is here. The IPA also nominates achievements in television, DVD and video games.
The complete list of film nominees:
Best Motion Picture (Drama)
“Bright Star”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“The Messenger”
“Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
“The Stoning of Soraya M.”
Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)
“The Informant!”
“It’s Complicated”
“Julie & Julia”
“Nine”
“A Serious Man”
“Up in the Air”
Best Director
Jane Campion, “Bright Star”
Neill Blomkamp, “District 9″
Lone Scherfig, “An Education”
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
Rob Marshall, “Nine”
Lee Daniels, “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
Best Actress (Drama)
Shohreh Aghdashloo, “The Stoning of Soraya M.”
Emily Blunt, “The Young Victoria”
Abbie Cornish, “Bright Star”
Penélope Cruz, “Broken Embraces”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Catalina Saavedra, “The Maid”
Best Actor (Drama)
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Hugh Dancy, “Adam”
Johnny Depp, “Public Enemies”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker”
Michael Sheen, “The Damned United”
Best Actress (Comedy Or Musical)
Sandra Bullock, “The Proposal”
Marion Cotillard, “Nine”
Zooey Deschanel, “(500) Days of Summer”
Katherine Heigl, “The Ugly Truth”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Best Actor (Comedy Or Musical)
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Bradley Cooper, “The Hangover”
Matt Damon, “The Informant!”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Nine”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”
Best Supporting Actress
Emily Blunt, “Sunshine Cleaning”
Penélope Cruz, “Nine”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mozhan Marnò, “The Stoning of Soraya M.”
Mo’nique, “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
Best Supporting Actor
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
James McAvoy, “The Last Station”
Alfred Molina, “An Education”
Timothy Spall, “The Damned United”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Best Original Screenplay
Jane Campion, “Bright Star”
Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber, “(500) Days of Summer”
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Joel and Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Bob Peterson and Pete Docter, “Up”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, “District 9″
Nick Hornby, “An Education”
Nora Ephron, “Julie & Julia”
Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Best Motion Picture (Animated or Mixed Media)
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“Up”
“Where the Wild Things Are”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Broken Embraces”
“I Killed My Mother”
“The Maid”
“Red Cliff”
“The White Ribbon”
“Winter in Wartime”
Best Documentary Feature
“The Beaches of Agnes”
“The Cove”
“Every Little Step”
“It Might Get Loud”
“The September Issue”
“Valentino: The Last Emperor”
Best Art Direction
Terry Gilliam, Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
Nathan Crowley, Patrick Lumb and William Ladd Skinner, “Public Enemies”
Eddy Wong, “Red Cliff”
Chris Kennedy, “The Road”
Ian Philips and Dan Bishop, “A Single Man”
Barry Chusid and Elizabeth Wilcox, “2012″
Best Cinematography
Robert Richardson, “Inglourious Basterds”
Guillermo Navarro and Erich Roland, “It Might Get Loud”
Dion Beebe, “Nine”
Dante Spinotti, “Public Enemies”
Lu Yue and Zhang Yi, “Red Cliff”
Roger Deakins, “A Serious Man”
Best Costume Design
Consolata Boyle, “Chéri”
Monique Prudhomme, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
Colleen Atwood, “Nine”
Tim Yip, “Red Cliff”
Sandy Powell, “The Young Victoria”
Best Film Editing
Julian Clarke, “District 9″
Chris Innis and Bob Murawski, “The Hurt Locker”
Greg Finton, “It Might Get Loud”
Claire Simpson and Wyatt Smith, “Nine”
Angie Lam, Yang Hongyu and Robert A. Ferretti, “Red Cliff”
David Brenner and Peter S. Elliot, “2012″
Best Original Score
Gabriel Yared, “Amelia”
Marvin Hamlisch, “The Informant!”
Elliot Goldenthal, “Public Enemies”
Michael Giacchino, “Up”
Rolfe Kent, “Up in the Air”
Carter Burwell and Karen O, “Where the Wild Things Are”
Best Original Song
“The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart” (T Bone Burnett and Ryan Bingham)
“We are the Children of the World” from “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Terry Gilliam)
“Cinema Italiano” from “Nine” (Maury Yeston)
“I See in Color” from “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire” (Mary J. Blige)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Randy Newman)
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Randy Newman)
Best Sound (Mixing and Editing)
“It Might Get Loud”
“Nine”
“Red Cliff”
“Terminator Salvation”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
“2012″
Best Visual Effects
“District 9″
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Red Cliff”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”
“2012″
Best Ensemble
“Nine”
Outstanding New Talent
Gabourey Sidibe
Auteur Award
Roger Corman
Tesla Award (Achievement in Technology)
Roger Deakins
Mary Pickford Award (Outstanding Artistic Contribution)
Michael York
Ten Best Films of 2009
“Bright Star”
“An Education”
“(500) Days of Summer”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Nine”
“Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”
“A Serious Man”
“The Stoning of Soraya M.”
“Up in the Air”
