Academy Announces Oscar Nominees

On Tuesday, the Academy announced the nominees for the 2010 Oscars which will take place March 7th in Hollywood, California. The latest blockbuster sensation Avatar,  and the modern war epic The Hurt Locker, led the Oscars race with nine nominations each.

Avatar and The Hurt Locker will join the longest list of “Best Picture” nominees (from 5 to 10 nominees)  in the history of the special award show. The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up and Up in The Air claimed the final eight spots.

The “Best Director” category will likely generate some tension, given that two of the directors nominated, Avatar’s James Cameron and The Hurt Locker‘s Kathryn Bigelow, were once married to each other.  The couple divorced in 1991 and claim to maintain a friendly rivalry. The momentum, however, is with Bigelow after she won the “Directors Guild of America” honor last week.

Check out the complete listing of nominees below:

BEST PICTURE
“Avatar”
“The Blind Side”
“District 9”
“An Education”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“A Serious Man”
“Up”
“Up in the Air”

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”

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon, “Invictus“ 
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station“ 
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones“ 
Christopher Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds” 

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bulllock, “The Blind Side” 
Helen Mirren,  ”The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education“ 
Gabourey Sidibe, ”Precious”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia“ 

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart” 
George Clooney, “Up in the Air” 
Colin Firth, “A Single Man“ 
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus” 
Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker” 

DIRECTOR
James Cameron, “Avatar” 
Katherine Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker” 
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds” 
Lee Daniels, “Precious” 
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air” 

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, “District 9″
Nick Hornby, “An Education”
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche, “In the Loop”
Geoffrey Fletcher, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”;
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman, “The Messenger”;
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, “A Serious Man”
Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Tom McCarthy, “Up”

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“The Princess and the Frog”
“The Secret of Kells”
“Up”

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Ajami,” Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow,” Peru
“Un Prophete,” France
“The White Ribbon,” Germany

ART DIRECTION
“Avatar”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“Sherlock Holmes”
“The Young Victoria”

CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Avatar”
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“The White Ribbon”

SOUND MIXING
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen”

SOUND EDITING
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Star Trek”
“Up”

ORIGINAL SCORE
“Avatar,” James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox,” Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker,” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes,” Hans Zimmer
“Up,” Michael Giacchino

ORIGINAL SONG
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog,” Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36,” Reinhardt Wagner and Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine,” Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart,” Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

COSTUME
“Bright Star”
“Coco Before Chanel”
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
“Nine”
“The Young Victoria”

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Burma VJ”
“The Cove”
“Food, Inc”
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
“Which Way Home”

DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
“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”

FILM EDITING
“Avatar”
“District 9″
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

MAKE-UP
“Il Divo”
“Star Trek”
“The Young Victoria”

ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“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”

LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“The Door”
“Instead of Abracadabra”
“Kavi”
“Miracle Fish”
“The New Tenants”

VISUAL EFFECTS
“Avatar”
“District 9″
“Star Trek”