And The Nominees Are…

This morning, the Academy Award nominations were announced.  The big news this year: the expansion of the Best Picture Category from 5 nods to 10.  As the list proves, this was done in order to pay homage to not only the “good” films but also to the popular films that everyday joes are likely to have seen.  There is also another first among the nominees which I will get to.

And AWAAAAAAY We Go

Best Actress In A Supporting Role:

  • 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 Actor In A Supporting Role:

  • Matt Damon (Invictus)
  • Woody Harrelson (The Meesenger not for the other big WH movie of the year: Zombieland)
  • Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
  • Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
  • Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Best Actress In A Leading Role:

  • Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side… the sweetheart of this year’s list)
  • Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
  • Carey Mulligan (An Education)
  • Gabourey Sidibe (Precious…, the Dark horse in this race
  • Meryl Streep (Julie/Julia… enough said)

Best Actor In A Leading Role:

  • Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
  • George Clooney (Up in the Air… speculation of a Bridges/Clooney battle)
  • Colin Firth (A Single Man)
  • Morgan Freeman (Invictus… portrayals of historical figures, hmm)
  • Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Best Animated Feature:

  • Coraline (Henry Selick, director)
  • Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson)
  • The Princess and the Frog ( John Musker and Ron Clements… Disney’s first classic animation feature since the Pixar revolution)
  • The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore)
  • Up (Pete Docter… Disney/Pixar’s best to date)

Best Director:

  • James Cameron (Avatar)
  • Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker… Mr. Cameron’s ex-wife the first time a former couple has ever been nominated for the award… she could also come off as the first female Best Director winner)
  • Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
  • Lee Daniels (Precious…)
  • Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

Best Picture:

  • Avatar (James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers)
  • The Blind Side (Nominees to be determined?  Don’t we know who produced it?)
  • District 9 ( Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers)
  • An Education (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers)
  • The Hurt Locker (Nominees to be determined?)
  • Inglourious Basterds (Lawrence Bender, Producer)
  • Precious…(Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness, and Gary Magness, Producers)
  • A Serious Man (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers)
  • Up (Jonas Rivera, Producer)
  • Up in the Air (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman, and Jason Reitman, Producers)

There you have them.  The MAJOR nominees for this years Oscar parties.  Grab your ballots, make your choices, and watch ABC on March 7th when Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin co-host the  81st (or is it 82nd… conflicting details) Annual Academy Awards.  Co-hosts?  For the rest of the nominees, check them out at abc.com

Final Tally:

  • Avatar and The Hurt Locker tied with 9 nods apiece
  • Inglourious Basterds with 8
  • Precious and Up in the Air with 6
  • Up received 4 nominations