Oscar nominees announced

[Gerald Cooperberg]

There were definitely some surprises this morning as the nominees were announced for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. The expanded Best Picture field didn't disappoint as not only did Up crack the top ten as an animated film but District 9 and maybe more surprisingly The Blind Side were honored. Maggie Gyllenhaal also won citation for her work in Crazy Heart, not predicted by many since most of the buzz has been around Jeff Bridges. Both Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren were also highlighted for The Last Station, a film that hasn't received quite the attention of bigger nominees. And shockingly to me, both Ponyo and Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs were passed over in the Animated Feature category in favor of The Secret of Kells, which had me running to Google. 9 nominations each for Avatar and The Hurt Locker with Inglourious Basterds running close behind with 8. And only 1 for Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen! Here's the whole list:

Actor in a Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
• George Clooney in Up in the Air
• Colin Firth in A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman in Invictus
• Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

Actor in a Supporting Role

• Matt Damon in Invictus
• Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds

Actress in a Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren in The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan in An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
• Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Actress in a Supporting Role

• Penélope Cruz in Nine
• Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
• Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart
• Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
• Mo’Nique in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Animated Feature Film

• Coraline Henry Selick
• Fantastic Mr. Fox Wes Anderson
• The Princess and the Frog John Musker and Ron Clements
• The Secret of Kells Tomm Moore
• Up Pete Docter

Art Direction

• Avatar Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
• Nine Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
• Sherlock Holmes Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• The Young Victoria Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

• Avatar Mauro Fiore
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Bruno Delbonnel
• The Hurt Locker Barry Ackroyd
• Inglourious Basterds Robert Richardson
• The White Ribbon Christian Berger

Costume Design

• Bright Star Janet Patterson
• Coco before Chanel Catherine Leterrier
• The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus Monique Prudhomme
• Nine Colleen Atwood
• The Young Victoria Sandy Powell

Directing

• Avatar James Cameron
• The Hurt Locker Kathryn Bigelow
• Inglourious Basterds Quentin Tarantino
• Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Lee Daniels
• Up in the Air Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)

• Burma VJ Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
• The Cove Nominees to be determined
• Food, Inc. Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
• The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
• Which Way Home Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

• China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
• The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
• The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
• Music by Prudence Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
• Rabbit à la Berlin Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

• Avatar Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
• District 9 Julian Clarke
• The Hurt Locker Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
• Inglourious Basterds Sally Menke
• Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

• Ajami Israel
• El Secreto de Sus Ojos Argentina
• The Milk of Sorrow Peru
• Un Prophète France
• The White Ribbon Germany

Makeup

• Il Divo Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
• Star Trek Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
• The Young Victoria Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (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

Music (Original Song)

• Almost There from “The Princess and the Frog[/i] Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• Down in New Orleans from “The Princess and the Frog[/i] Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
• Loin de Paname from “Paris 36[/i] Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas
• Take It All from “Nine[/i] Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
• The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart) from “Crazy Heart[/i] Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

• Avatar James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
• The Blind Side Nominees to be determined
• District 9 Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
• An Education Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
• The Hurt Locker Nominees to be determined
• Inglourious Basterds Lawrence Bender, Producer
• Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
• A Serious Man Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
• Up Jonas Rivera, Producer
• Up in the Air Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

• French Roast Fabrice O. Joubert
• Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
• The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte) Javier Recio Gracia
• Logorama Nicolas Schmerkin
• A Matter of Loaf and Death Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

• The Door Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
• Instead of Abracadabra Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
• Kavi Gregg Helvey
• Miracle Fish Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
• The New Tenants Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

• Avatar Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
• The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson
• Inglourious Basterds Wylie Stateman
• Star Trek Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
• Up Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

• Avatar Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• Inglourious Basterds Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• Star Trek Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

• Avatar Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
• District 9 Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
• Star Trek Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• District 9 Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
• An Education Screenplay by Nick Hornby
• In the Loop Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
• Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
• Up in the Air Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• The Hurt Locker Written by Mark Boal
• Inglourious Basterds Written by Quentin Tarantino
• The Messenger Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
• A Serious Man Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
• Up Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

-Coop

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

Sound Mixing

• Avatar Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• Inglourious Basterds Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• Star Trek Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Does anyone see a name (or names) constantly appearing over and over again every year for the award in this category?

Gary Summers and Andy Nelson are good friends, and a brilliant mixers. This category is a tough one for me, because I have friends nominated and I want them all to win.

Good luck to my fellow MPSE members Chris, Gary, Andy, and Anna.

[Gerald Cooperberg]

Sound Mixing

• Avatar Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
• The Hurt Locker Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
• Inglourious Basterds Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
• Star Trek Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Does anyone see a name (or names) constantly appearing over and over again every year for the award in this category?

Gary Summers and Andy Nelson are good friends, and a brilliant mixers. This category is a tough one for me, because I have friends nominated and I want them all to win.

Good luck to my fellow MPSE members Chris, Gary, Andy, and Anna.

It must be strange to Andy and Gary to be in a scenario where both of them might win, or just one of them, or neither of them. Luckily I have a hunch that it might come out in their favor.

-Coop

[Smokey]

Best Picture

Avatar James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

Haven't seen the movie, but winner in this catagory seem like a sure bet.

[Gerald Cooperberg]

Haven't seen the movie, but winner in this catagory seem like a sure bet.

I'm not so sure that's true. The Hurt Locker has won several of the awards that are traditionally considered 'indicators' of an eventual Oscar win-- the Directors' Guild, Producers' Guild, and Writers' Guild, for example. Of course, Avatar did win the Golden Globe and there's also the fact of its immense popularity with moviegoers... Oscar bloggers get seriously wonky about this stuff to the point that they sometimes lose track of the big picture (pun only partially intended) but I've read several scenarios that predict an upset of Avatar-- some have even claimed that Inglourious Basterds or Precious have a shot at the top prize.

-Coop

[Kam]

what's interesting about hte best picture category this year is how they changed the vote counting system. we could have a best picture winner that didn't get the most #1 votes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/mo.../05carpet.html

So it's more important to get that #2 and #3 spot for the people who vote for the 'losers' of the first few rounds. Hurt Locker might not be as much a lock as it was before, and Avatar has a better chance now I think, since most people may not want to give Cameron another Best Picture after the last one, but would still vote Avatar the 2nd or 3rd best film.

I think Bigelow gets best Director and Avatar has a shot at Best Picture.

[Sir Terrence the Terrible]

It must be strange to Andy and Gary to be in a scenario where both of them might win, or just one of them, or neither of them. Luckily I have a hunch that it might come out in their favor.

-Coop

This has happened so many times in their careers they are probably used to it by now. LOL

[Gerald Cooperberg]

I think Bigelow gets best Director and Avatar has a shot at Best Picture.

I think you're probably right, but there'll still be some suspense...

Is anyone up for doing an Oscar pool? Just for bragging rights?

-Coop

[Kam]

I think you're probably right, but there'll still be some suspense...

Is anyone up for doing an Oscar pool? Just for bragging rights?

-Coop

sure! entries gotta be posted before showtime starts!

Edit: For the tie breaker, how about whoever gueses the closest running time of the show?

[Troy]

My interest in the oscars® seems to have been cut in half since they doubled the number of best picture noms.

Avatar sweep, ho hum.

[Hyfi]

• Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Like I said in my review:
Forget about Meryl Streep, Amy Adams steels the show here.

Yes Streep did a good job as Julia Child but she was not the movie nor would the movie have been any good without the performance Amy Adams gave.

[Gerald Cooperberg]

• Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia

Like I said in my review:
Forget about Meryl Streep, Amy Adams steels the show here.

Yes Streep did a good job as Julia Child but she was not the movie nor would the movie have been any good without the performance Amy Adams gave.

I'm generally a fan of Amy Adams' work (and I guess her performance isn't really at fault here as much as the script) but her character in Julie & Julia seemed to me to be one of the most thoroughly unlikeable to grace the screen this year. To my tastes, the movie lit up whenever it was following Streep but absolutely died whenever Adams' character was manufacturing narcissistic melodrama.

-Coop