Oscar Nominations 2010

So, the nominations for this years' 82nd academy awards have been announced, and as usual, there are few surprises. Not much in the way of comedy, and there is a preference for worthy, preachy movies with lots of hammy acting (you know who you are The Blind Side and Precious). But the odd decent film, like Armando Iannucci's caustic political satire In The Loop has thankfully managed to sneak through. 

Reaffirming Hollywood's ability to win stuff on it's own turf after last years' big shock with Slumdog Millionaire, I predict a big sweep by James Cameron's Avatar. As previously predicted by myself, The Hurt Locker's gritty documentary style portrayal of life on the front line of bomb disposal in Iraq has won fans in the Academy, setting up a rather juicy confrontation for director Kathryn Bigelow with her former husband James Cameron. And of course, there's a big noise going for Sandra Bullocks' performance in The Blind Side. 


I'm glad to see Austrian Christoph Waltz in there for his show (and heart) stopping performance as Colonel Landa in  Inglourious Basterds, and District 9, with its' South Africa location taking it outside the usual Academy Award territory.
Here are the nominations in full, with a 'H' for my Hack bet for who will win:

Best Picture      

Avatar 'H'

The Blind Side

District 9

An Education

The Hurt Locker

Inglourious Basterds

A Serious Man

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Up

Up in the Air

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker 'H'

James Cameron – Avatar

Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire

Jason Reitman – Up in the Air

Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds 

Best Actor          

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart as Bad Blake

George Clooney – Up in the Air as Ryan Bingham

Colin Firth – A Single Man as George Falconer

Morgan Freeman – Invictus as Nelson Mandela

Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker as Sgt. William James 'H'

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side as Leigh Anne Tuohy 'H'

Helen Mirren – The Last Station as Sofya Tolstoy

Carey Mulligan – An Education as Jenny Miller

Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Clarieece "Precious" Jones

Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia as Julia Child

Best Supporting Actor  

Matt Damon – Invictus as François Pienaar

Woody Harrelson – The Messenger as Capt. Tony Stone

Christopher Plummer – The Last Station as Leo Tolstoy

Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones as George Harvey

Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds as Col. Hans Landa 'H' (pictured)

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz – Nine as Carla Albanese

Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air as Alex Goran 'H'

Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart as Jean Craddock

Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air as Natalie Keener

Mo'Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire as Mary Lee Johnston

Best Original Screenplay             

The Hurt Locker – Mark Boal

Inglourious Basterds – Quentin Tarantino

The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman

A Serious Man – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen 'H'

Up – Tom McCarthy, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9 – Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

An Education – Nick Hornby

In the Loop – Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Ianucci and Tony Roche

Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire – Geoffrey Fletcher

Up in the Air – Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best Animated Feature

Coraline – Henry Selick

Fantastic Mr. Fox – Wes Anderson

The Princess and the Frog – Ron Clements and John Musker

The Secret of Kells – Tomm Moore

Up – Pete Docter 'H' (pictured left)

Best Foreign Language Film

Ajami (Israel) in Arabic and Hebrew – Scandar Copti and Yaron Shani

El Secreto de Sus Ojos (Argentina) in Spanish – Juan José Campanella

The Milk of Sorrow (Peru) in Spanish and Quechua – Claudia Llosa

A Prophet (France) in French, Corsican and Arabic – Jacques Audiard 'H'

The White Ribbon (Germany) in German – Michael Haneke