Oscars 2010: Nominations announced!
And the Academy Award for biggest surprise goes to...
 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.
  
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
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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+.


