By Kam Williams
Everyone expected James Cameron’s Avatar to land a bunch of Academy Award nominations. After all, the billion-dollar movie is on the brink of breaking the box office record as the best money-maker in screen history. But that 3D, sci-fi spectacular’s 9 nominations has been matched by The Hurt Locker, a super-realistic, Iraq War saga which barely made back its $11 million budget.
What’s equally interesting is the fact that The Hurt Locker’s director, Kathryn Bigelow, is Cameron’s ex-wife, so the former spouses’ films will be pitted up against each other in not only the Best Picture, Cinematography, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Original Score categories, but head-to-head for Best Director as well.
Among the other multiple nominees are Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds (8), Lee Daniels’ Precious (6), Jason Reitman’s Up in the Air (6) and the endearing Disney cartoon Up (6). A welcomed surprise was newcomer Gabby Sidibe’s being recognized for her compelling portrayal of the title character in Precious, especially since in earning the spot she had to beat out some stiff competition like Tilda Swinton (Julia), Gwyneth Paltrow (Two Lovers), Zooey Deschanel (500 Days of Summer) and Charlotte Gainsbourg (Antichrist).
The 82nd Academy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, March 7th at 8:00 PM ET/5 PM PT, and will be co-hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.
1. Best Picture: “Avatar,” “The Blind Side,” “District 9,” “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “A Serious Man,” “Up,” “Up in the Air.”
2. Actor: Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”; George Clooney, “Up in the Air”; Colin Firth, “A Single Man”; Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”; Jeremy Renner, “The Hurt Locker.”
3. Actress: Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”; Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”; Carey Mulligan, “An Education”; Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”; Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia.”
4. Supporting Actor: Matt Damon, “Invictus”; Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”; Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”; Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”; Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds.”
5. Supporting Actress: 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.”
6. Directing: James Cameron, “Avatar”; Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”; Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”; Lee Daniels, “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”; Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air.”
7. Foreign Language Film: “Ajami,” Israel; “El Secreto de Sus Ojos,” Argentina; “The Milk of Sorrow,” Peru; “Un Prophete,” France; “The White Ribbon,” Germany.
8. 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.”
9. 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.”
10. Animated Feature Film: “Coraline”; “Fantastic Mr. Fox”; “The Princess and the Frog”; “The Secret of Kells”; “Up.”
11. Art Direction: “Avatar,” “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “Nine,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “The Young Victoria.”
12. Cinematography: “Avatar,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “The White Ribbon.”
13. Sound Mixing: “Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Star Trek,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.”
14. Sound Editing: “Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Star Trek,” “Up.”
15. 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.
16. 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.
17. Costume: “Bright Star,” “Coco Before Chanel,” “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus,” “Nine,” “The Young Victoria.”
18. Documentary Feature: “Burma VJ,” “The Cove,” “Food, Inc.” “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers,” “Which Way Home.”
19. 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.”
20. Film Editing: “Avatar,” “District 9,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.”
21. Makeup: “Il Divo,” “Star Trek,” “The Young Victoria.”
22. 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.”
23. Live Action Short Film: “The Door,” “Instead of Abracadabra,” “Kavi,” “Miracle Fish,” “The New Tenants.”
24. Visual Effects: “Avatar,” “District 9,” “Star Trek.”
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