'Avatar', 'Hurt Locker' lead 2010 Oscar race

[dutchman]

Avatar and The Hurt Locker have bagged nine nominations apiece to lead the pack at the 2010 Academy Awards.


James Cameron's record-breaking sci-fi blockbuster has secured nods for 'Best Picture' and 'Best Director', along with recognition in technical categories and a 'Best Score' nomination for James Horner.

The Hurt Locker helmer Kathryn Bigelow will compete with her ex-husband Cameron for the 'Picture' and 'Director' award, while her leading man Jeremy Renner is a surprise nomination for 'Best Actor'.

The remaining movies nominated in the newly-expanded 'Best Picture' category are The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up and Up In The Air.

Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up In The Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man) and Morgan Freeman (Invictus) complete the 'Best Actor' line-up, while Brit stars Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Helen Mirren (The Last Station) are up against Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) for 'Best Actress'.

In Full: Oscars 2010 nominees:

Best Picture
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

Director
James Cameron (Avatar)
Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Lee Daniels (Precious)
Jason Reitman (Up In The Air)

Best Actor
Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart)
George Clooney (Up In The Air)
Colin Firth (A Single Man)
Morgan Freeman (Invictus)
Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker)

Best Actress
Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side)
Helen Mirren (The Last Station)
Carey Mulligan (An Education)
Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia)

Best Supporting Actor
Matt Damon (Invictus)
Woody Harrelson (The Messenger)
Christopher Plummer (The Last Station)
Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)
Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds)

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz (Nine)
Vera Farmiga (Up In The Air)
Maggie Gyllenhaal (Crazy Heart)
Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air)
Mo'Nique (Precious)

Adapted Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell (District 9)
Nick Hornby (An Education)
Armando Iannucci, Simon Blackwell, Jesse Armstrong, Ian Martin, Tony Roche (In The Loop)
Geoffrey Fletcher (Precious)
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (Up In The Air)

Original Screenplay
Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker)
Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds)
Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman (The Messenger)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (A Serious Man)
Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Thomas McCarthy (Up)

Animated Feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Princess And The Frog
The Secret Of Kells
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk Of Sorror
A Prophet
The White Ribbon

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

Costume Design
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
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

Editing
Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Makeup
Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Original Score
James Horner (Avatar)
Alexandre Desplat (Fantastic Mr Fox)
Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders (The Hurt Locker)
Hans Zimmer (Sherlock Holmes)
Michael Giacchino (Up)

Original Song
'Almost There' (The Princess And The Frog)
'Down In New Orleans' (The Princess And The Frog)
'Loin de Paname' (Paris 36)
'Take It All' (Nine)
'The Weary Kind' (Crazy Heart)

Sound Editing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Sound Mixing
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

Visual Effects
Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Animated Short
French Roast
Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty
The Lady And The Reaper
Logorama
A Matter Of Loaf And Death

Live Action Short
The Door
Instead Of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

The 2010 Academy Awards will be held on Sunday, March 7, 2010 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.