Oscars 2010: Nominations announced!

The most exciting time of year for movie gong geeks has arrived... the Oscars 2010 are here.

The nominations have been announced, so you can start officially arguing with your mates about whether James Cameron or Kathryn Bigelow should take home Best Director, whether Carey Mulligan is Britain’s brightest hope, and whether Brad Pitt should take out full-page ads in Variety complaining that he missed out on any acting recognition for his Inglourious Basterds accent.

Frankly, we think it’s scandalous that totalfilm.com friend Duncan Jones isn’t up for Best Picture for Moon, and that Sam Rockwell's missed out on a well-deserved Best Actor nod for the same film, but we’re glad that District 9 has been recognised.

But there are no real surprises in there - save for District 9 getting in the Best Picture line-up and In The Loop being written into Oscar history with a Best Adapted Screenplay nom - all the movies and movie people who have been muttered about for the past few months are present and correct.

Oscars 2010

Jason Reitman might be flying home with Best Adapted Screenplay for Up In The Air, Christoph Waltz's glorious Inglourious Basterds supporting turn has been recognised, and Avatar is in with a titanic chance of taking home Best Picture.

What does surprise us is the fact that, compared to the past few years, Blighty is severely underrepresented, with only Nick Hornby, Colin Firth, Carey Mulligan, Helen Mirren and the In The Loop Boys raising the flag for our fine country.

Still, we’ll be there on 7 March when the winners are announced, slightly bleary-eyed (because we’re tired, NOT because we’re crying with joy if Jeremy Renner wins for Hurt Locker. Okay, maybe a little bit).

Keep your eye on the site for more Oscar goodness. But first, take a gander at the full list of noms below and tell us – who are some of your favourites?

Best 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

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Matt Damon - Invictus

Woody Harrelson - The Messenger

Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones

Cristoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Best 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 & Julia

Best 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

Best Director

James Cameron - Avatar

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker

Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Lee Daniels - Precious

Jason Reitman - Up In The Air

Best Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

The Messenger

A Serious Man

Up

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9

An Education

In The Loop

Precious

Up In The Air

Best Foreign Language Film

Ajami

El Secreto De Sus Ojos

La Teta Asus Tada

A Prophet

The White Ribbon

Best Animated Film

The Fantastic Mr Fox

Coraline

The Princess and The Frog

Up

The Secret of Kells

Best Picture

Avatar

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious

A Serious Man

Up

Up in the Air

Best Cinematography

Avatar

The White Ribbon

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Best Editing

Avatar

District 9

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Precious


Best Art Direction

Avatar

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Nine

Sherlock Holmes

The Young Victoria


Best Costume Design

Bright Star

Coco avant Chanel

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Nine

The Young Victoria

Best Makeup

Il divo

Star Trek

The Young Victoria

Best Original Score

Avatar - James Horner

Fantastic Mr. Fox - Alexandre Desplat

The Hurt Locker - Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders

Sherlock Holmes - Hans Zimmer

Up - Michael Giacchino

Best Original Song

Crazy Heart - "The Weary Kind"

Faubourg 36 - "Loin de Paname"

Nine - "Take It All"

The Princess and the Frog - "Down in New Orleans"

The Princess and the Frog - "Almost There"

Best Sound Mixing

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Sound Editing

Avatar

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

Star Trek

Up

Best Visual Effects

Avatar

District 9

Star Trek

Best Documentary, Features

Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land

The Cove

Food, Inc.

The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers

Which Way Home

Best Documentary, Short Subjects

China's Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province

The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner

The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant

Królik po berlinsku

Music by Prudence

Best Short Film, Animated

French Roast

Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty

La dama y la muerte

Logorama

Wallace and Gromit in 'A Matter of Loaf and Death'


Best Short Film, Live Action

The Door

Istället för abrakadabra

Kavi

Miracle Fish

The New Tenants

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Sam Ashurst is a London-based film maker, journalist, and podcast host. He's the director of Frankenstein's Creature, A Little More Flesh + A Little More Flesh 2, and co-hosts the Arrow Podcast. His words have appeared on HuffPost, MSN, The Independent, Yahoo, Cosmopolitan, and many more, as well as of course for us here at GamesRadar+.