82nd Oscar Nominations Announced

This morning Anne Hathaway joined Academy President Tom Sherak in announcing the 82nd Annual Academy Awards nominations in 10 of the 24 categories. "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker" were the two movies running the show. Both lead the race with nine nominations, but not by a landslide.

"Avatar" was nominated for Best Picture, Cinematography, Art Direction, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score) Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Visual Effects.

"The Hurt Locker" was nominated in the following categories: Best Picture, Actor in a Leading Role, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing (Original Screenplay).

"Inglourious Basterds" was next in line with eight nominations in these categories: Best Picture, Actor in a Supporting Role, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing (Original Screenplay).

"Up in the Air" and "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" received six nominations. "Up" has five. All were nominated for Best Picture.

Interestingly enough, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" received only one nomination for Cinematography. I found this surprising. No Visual Effects nom. But the bar was set very high in 2009 with "Avatar" and "District 9," along with "Star Trek," which all received nominations for Visual Effects.

The big surprise of the morning came when "The Blind Side" was announced for Best Picture contention. (Not that it does not deserve the nod.) I had predicted "Invictus" would take that spot. The other films filling out the Best Picture category are "A Serious Man" and "An Education."




Here is the full list:
Best motion picture of the year

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
• “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
• “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing)
• “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
• “A Serious Man” (Focus Features)
• “Up” (Walt Disney)
• “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
• George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
• Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
• Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
• Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
• Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
• Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
• Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
• Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
• Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
• Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
• Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year

• “Coraline” (Focus Features), Henry Selick
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Wes Anderson
• “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), John Musker and Ron Clements
• “The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS), Tomm Moore
• “Up” (Walt Disney), Pete Docter

Achievement in art direction

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg, Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro, Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• “Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• “Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood, Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• “The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Art Direction: Patrice Vermette, Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Achievement in cinematography

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Mauro Fiore
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.), Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Robert Richardson
• “The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), Christian Berger

Achievement in costume design

• “Bright Star” (Apparition), Janet Patterson
• “Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics), Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics), Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Sandy Powell

Achievement in directing

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Cameron
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Kathryn Bigelow
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Quentin Tarantino
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Lee Daniels
• “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios), Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature

• “Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), A Magic Hour Films Production, Anders østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• “The Cove” (Roadside Attractions), An Oceanic Preservation Society Production, Nominees to be determined
• “Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures), A Robert Kenner Films Production, Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”, A Kovno Communications Production, Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• “Which Way Home”, A Mr. Mudd Production, Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan, Province”, A Downtown Community Television Center Production, Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”, A Just Media Production, Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”, A Community Media Production, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• “Music by Prudence”, An iThemba Production, Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• “Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution), An MS Films Production, Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Achievement in film editing

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year

• “Ajami” (Kino International), An Inosan Production, Israel
• “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Haddock Films Production, Argentina
• “The Milk of Sorrow”, A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogrà/Vela Production, Peru
• “Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics), A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production, France
• “The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics), An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production, Germany

Achievement in makeup

• “Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box), Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• “The Young Victoria” (Apparition), Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox), Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.), Hans Zimmer
• “Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Giacchino

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• “Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney), Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• “Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” (Sony Pictures Classics), Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas
• “Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company), Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• “The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight), Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best animated short film

• “French Roast” , A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production, Fabrice O. Joubert
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films), A Brown Bag Films Production, Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• “The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)”, A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production, Javier Recio Gracia
• “Logorama” (Autour de Minuit), An Autour de Minuit Production, Nicolas Schmerkin
• “A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations), An Aardman Animations Production, Nick Park

Best live action short film

• “The Door” (Network Ireland Television), An Octagon Films Production, Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• “Instead of Abracadabra”, (The Swedish Film Institute), A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production, Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• “Kavi”, A Gregg Helvey Production, Gregg Helvey
• “Miracle Fish”, (Premium Films), A Druid Films Production, Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• “The New Tenants”, A Park Pictures and M & M Production, Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Achievement in sound editing

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Wylie Stateman
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• “Up” (Walt Disney), Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Achievement in sound mixing

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount), Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Achievement in visual effects

• “Avatar” (20th Century Fox), Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) , Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment), Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Adapted screenplay

• “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing), Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics), Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• “In the Loop” (IFC Films), Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate), Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) , Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Original screenplay

• “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment), Written by Mark Boal
• “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company), Written by Quentin Tarantino
• “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories), Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• “A Serious Man” (Focus Features), Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• “Up” (Walt Disney), Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by ABC beginning at 5 p.m. PT/8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Download the well designed Official Oscar Ballot here.