The Nominees Are...

By Dave

Oscar nominees are here! Here are a couple of categories. For a full list go here.

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

DIRECTING:
* James Cameron (Avatar)
* Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
* Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
* Lee Daniels (Precious)
* Jason Reitman (Up in the Air)

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)

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
* Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
* Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
* Carey Mulligan (An Education)
* Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
* Meryl Streep (Julie and Julia)

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
* Matt Damon (Invictus)
* Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
* Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
* Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
* Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

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)

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
* District 9 (Written by Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell)
* An Education (Screenplay by Nick Hornby)
* In the Loop (Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche)
* Precious (Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher)
* Up in the Air (Screenplay by Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
* The Hurt Locker (Written by Mark Boal)
* Inglourious Basterds (Written by Quentin Tarantino)
* The Messenger (Written by Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman)
* A Serious Man (Written by Joel Coen, Ethan Coen)
* Up (Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy)

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
* Coraline
* Fantastic Mr. Fox
* The Princess and the Frog
* The Secrets of Kells
* Up

VISUAL EFFECTS:
* Avatar (Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham, Andrew R. Jones)
* District 9 (Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros, Matt Aitken)
* Star Trek (Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh, Burt Dalton)

I still have some catching up to do. So far, the best things I've seen this year are Avatar, Inglorious Basterds, (500) Days of Summer, Coraline, Up and The Hurt Locker. I don't know about anybody else but I was underwhelmed by District 9. It was good, but not great. So, I'm not really rooting for it. I'm disappointed (500) Days of Summer didn't get a nod for anything, not even screenplay. Although I loved Coraline, the first 10 minutes of Up are masterful. I was literally in tears. So my guess is its a shoe-in for Best Animated Film (but probably no chance of Best Picture). The Hurt Locker was great, definitely the best movie about the Iraq War, but I don't know if it was the best, given the list. Also I hope Christoph Waltz wins for Best Supporting Actor, he was awesome in Inglorious. 

See anything left off their list? What are your predictions?