Few surprises in Academy Awards nominees - SFGate Few surprises in Academy Awards nominees MOVIES In a big change for Oscar, 10 titles compete for best picture. Here's how to handicap the list of nominees. Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, February 3, 2010 Image 1of/40 Meryl Streep as "Julia Child" in Columbia Pictures' JULIE & JULIA. Meryl Streep as "Julia Child" in Columbia Pictures' JULIE & JULIA. Photo: Columbia Pictures Image 3 of 40 In this film publicity image released by Fox Searchlight films, Jeff Bridges is shown in a scene from, "Crazy Heart." In this film publicity image released by Fox Searchlight films, Jeff Bridges is shown in a scene from, "Crazy Heart." Photo: Lorey Sebastian, AP Image 4 of 40 The character Neytiri, voiced by Zoe Saldana, left, and the character Jake, voiced by Sam Worthington are shown in a scene from, "Avatar." The film was nominated for an Oscarfor best picture.

The character Neytiri, voiced by Zoe Saldana, left, and the character Jake, voiced by Sam Worthington are shown in a scene from, "Avatar." The film was nominated for an Oscarfor best picture. Photo: 20th Century Fox, AP Image 5 of 40 In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Jeremy Renner is shown in a scene from, "The Hurt Locker." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. In this film publicity image released by Summit Entertainment, Jeremy Renner is shown in a scene from, "The Hurt Locker." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Photo: Jonathan Olley, AP Image 6 of 40 Animated characters Russell, left, and Carl Fredricksen are shown in a scene from the film, "Up." The film was nominated Tuesday for an Oscar for best picture. Animated characters Russell, left, and Carl Fredricksen are shown in a scene from the film, "Up." The film was nominated Tuesday for an Oscar for best picture.

Photo: Disney/Pixar, AP Image 7 of 40 Quint Aaron and Sandra Bullock are shown in a scene from, "The Blind Side." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Quint Aaron and Sandra Bullock are shown in a scene from, "The Blind Side." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Photo: Ralph Nelson, AP Image 8 of 40 From left, Sharlto Copley, Mandla Gaduka and Kenneth Nkosi are shown in a scene from, "District 9." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. From left, Sharlto Copley, Mandla Gaduka and Kenneth Nkosi are shown in a scene from, "District 9." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Photo: Anonymous, AP Image 9 of 40 Fred Melamed, left, and Sari Lennick are shown in a scene from, "A Serious Man." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Fred Melamed, left, and Sari Lennick are shown in a scene from, "A Serious Man." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture.

Photo: Wilson Webb, AP Image 10 of 40 George Clooney, left, and Vera Farmiga are shown in a scene from "Up in the Air." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. George Clooney, left, and Vera Farmiga are shown in a scene from "Up in the Air." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Photo: Dale Robinette, AP Image 11 of 40 Gabourey Sidibe is shown in a scene from "Precious." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Gabourey Sidibe is shown in a scene from "Precious." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Photo: Anne Marie Fox, AP Image 12 of 40 Brad Pitt is shown in a scene from, "Inglourious Basterds." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Brad Pitt is shown in a scene from, "Inglourious Basterds." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture.

Photo: Francois Duhamel, AP Image 13 of 40 Carey Mulligan is shown in a scene from, "An Education." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Carey Mulligan is shown in a scene from, "An Education." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best picture. Photo: Kerry Brown, AP Image 14 of 40 Actress Anne Hathaway, left, and Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, announces the nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards in Beverly Hills, California, Tuesday, February 2, 2010. (Adrian Sanchez-Gonzalez/Landov/MCT) less Actress Anne Hathaway, left, and Tom Sherak, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science, announces the nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards in Beverly Hills, California, Tuesday, February 2, ...

more Photo: Adrian Sanchez-gonzalez, MCT Image 15 of 40 Actors Anthony Mackie, left, and Jeremy Renner embrace after they learned about Jeremy's Oscar nomination for Best Actor for "The Hurt Locker" on NBC's "Today" show, in New York, on Tuesday. Actors Anthony Mackie, left, and Jeremy Renner embrace after they learned about Jeremy's Oscar nomination for Best Actor for "The Hurt Locker" on NBC's "Today" show, in New York, on Tuesday. Photo: Peter Kramer, AP Image 16 of 40 Publicists sort through nominations lists for the 82nd Academy Awards in the lobby of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills after nominations were announced. Publicists sort through nominations lists for the 82nd Academy Awards in the lobby of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hills after nominations were announced.

Photo: Chris Pizzello, AP Image 17 of 40 Meryl Streep portrays Julia Child in a scene from, "Julie & Julia." Streep was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for her role in "Julie & Julia." Meryl Streep portrays Julia Child in a scene from, "Julie & Julia." Streep was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for her role in "Julie & Julia." Photo: Jonathan Wenk, AP Image 18 of 40 Writer-director James Cameron, foreground right, reviews a scene with actors, from left, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore and Sam Worthington during the filming of, "Avatar." Cameron was nominated for an Oscar for best director for, "Avatar." less Writer-director James Cameron, foreground right, reviews a scene with actors, from left, Sigourney Weaver, Joel David Moore and Sam Worthington during the filming of, "Avatar." Cameron was nominated for an ...

more Photo: Mark Fellman, AP Image 19 of 40 Director Quentin Tarantino is shown on the set of, "Inglourious Basterds." Tarantino was nominated for an Oscar for best director for, "Inglourious Basterds." Director Quentin Tarantino is shown on the set of, "Inglourious Basterds." Tarantino was nominated for an Oscar for best director for, "Inglourious Basterds." Photo: Francois Duhamel, AP Image 20 of 40 Director Kathryn Bigelow, center, is shown on the set of "The Hurt Locker." Bigelow was nominated for an Oscar for best director for, "The Hurt Locker." Director Kathryn Bigelow, center, is shown on the set of "The Hurt Locker." Bigelow was nominated for an Oscar for best director for, "The Hurt Locker." Photo: Jonathan Olley, AP Image 21 of 40 George Clooney, left, and director Jason Reitman are shown on the set of "Up in the Air." Reitman was nominated for an Oscar for best director and Clooney was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role in, "Up in the Air."

 less George Clooney, left, and director Jason Reitman are shown on the set of "Up in the Air." Reitman was nominated for an Oscar for best director and Clooney was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role ...

more Photo: Dale Robinette, AP Image 22 of 40 Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren are shown in a scene from, "The Last Station." Plummer was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor and Mirren was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for their roles in, "The Last Station." less Christopher Plummer and Helen Mirren are shown in a scene from, "The Last Station." Plummer was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor and Mirren was nominated for an Oscar for best actress for their ... more Photo: Stephan Rabold, AP Image 23 of 40 Jeff Bridges, left, and Maggie Gyllenhaal are shown in a scene from, "Crazy Heart." Bridges was nominated for an Oscar for best actor and Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress for their roles in, "Crazy Heart." less Jeff Bridges, left, and Maggie Gyllenhaal are shown in a scene from, "Crazy Heart." Bridges was nominated for an Oscar for best actor and Gyllenhaal was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress for ...

more Photo: Lorey Sebastian, AP Image 24 of 40 Mo'Nique is shown in a scene from "Precious." Mo'Nique was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in, "Precious." Mo'Nique is shown in a scene from "Precious." Mo'Nique was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in, "Precious." Photo: Anne Marie Fox, AP Image 25 of 40 Director Lee Daniels, left, speaks with actors Gabourey Sidibe, center, and Xosha Roquemore on the set of "Precious." Daniels was nominated for an Oscar for best director and Sidibe was nominatedfor an Oscar for best actress for their roles in the film. less Director Lee Daniels, left, speaks with actors Gabourey Sidibe, center, and Xosha Roquemore on the set of "Precious." Daniels was nominated for an Oscar for best director and Sidibe was nominatedfor an Oscar ...

more Photo: Anne Marie Fox, AP Image 26 of 40 Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela in a scene from, "Invictus." Freeman was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role in, "Invictus." The 82nd Academy Awards will bepresented on March 7. Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela in a scene from, "Invictus." Freeman was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role in, "Invictus." The 82nd Academy Awards will bepresented on March 7. Photo: Keith Bernstein, AP Image 27 of 40 Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela, left, and Matt Damon portrays Francois Pienaar in a scene from the film, "Invictus." Damon was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor and Freeman wasnominated for best actor for his role in, "Invictus." less Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela, left, and Matt Damon portrays Francois Pienaar in a scene from the film, "Invictus." Damon was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actor and Freeman wasnominated ...

more Photo: Keith Bernstein, AP Image 28 of 40 Colin Firth, left, and Julianne Moore are shown in a scene from, "A Single Man." Firth was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role in, "A Single Man." Colin Firth, left, and Julianne Moore are shown in a scene from, "A Single Man." Firth was nominated for an Oscar for best actor for his role in, "A Single Man." Photo: Eduard Grau, AP Image 29 of 40 Magaly Solier is shown in a scene from "The Milk of Sorrow." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture. Magaly Solier is shown in a scene from "The Milk of Sorrow." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture. Photo: AP Image 30 of 40 Argentine actor Ricardo Darin, right, and Argentine actress Soledad Villamil are seen during the shooting of the film “El Secreto de Tus Ojos” in Buenos Aires. The Argentine movie is among the five Oscar nominees for best foreign language film.

less Argentine actor Ricardo Darin, right, and Argentine actress Soledad Villamil are seen during the shooting of the film “El Secreto de Tus Ojos” in Buenos Aires. The Argentine movie is among the five Oscar ... more Photo: AP Image 31 of 40 Penelope Cruz is shown in a scene from "Nine." Cruz was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in, "Nine." Penelope Cruz is shown in a scene from "Nine." Cruz was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress for her role in, "Nine." Photo: David James, AP Image 32 of 40 Soledad Villamil, left, and Ricardo Darin are shown in a scene from "The Secret in Their Eyes" (El Secreto de Sus Ojos). The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture. Soledad Villamil, left, and Ricardo Darin are shown in a scene from "The Secret in Their Eyes" (El Secreto de Sus Ojos). The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture.

Photo: Maria Antolini, AP Image 33 of 40 A scene is shown from, "The Secret of the Kells." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. A scene is shown from, "The Secret of the Kells." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. Photo: AP Image 34 of 40 Niels Arestrup is shown in a scene from, "A Prophet. (Un Prophete). The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture. Niels Arestrup is shown in a scene from, "A Prophet. (Un Prophete). The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture. Photo: Roger Arpajou, AP Image 35 of 40 Leonard Proxauf is shown in a scene from, "The White Ribbon." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture. Leonard Proxauf is shown in a scene from, "The White Ribbon." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best foreign picture.

Photo: Anonymous, AP Image 36 of 40 Princess Tiana, voiced by Anika Noni Rose, right, is shown with frog Prince Naveen, voiced by Bruno Campos, in a scene from the animated film, "The Princess and the Frog." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. less Princess Tiana, voiced by Anika Noni Rose, right, is shown with frog Prince Naveen, voiced by Bruno Campos, in a scene from the animated film, "The Princess and the Frog." The film was nominated for an Oscar ... more Photo: Disney, AP Image 37 of 40 The character Mr. Fox is shown in a scene from, "Fantastic Mr. Fox." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. The character Mr. Fox is shown in a scene from, "Fantastic Mr. Fox." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. Photo: Fox Searchlight, AP Image 38 of 40 Animated character Carl Fredricksen is shown in a scene from the film, "Up." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature.

Animated character Carl Fredricksen is shown in a scene from the film, "Up." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. Photo: Disney/Pixar, AP Image 39 of 40 A scene is shown from the animated film, "Coraline." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. A scene is shown from the animated film, "Coraline." The film was nominated for an Oscar for best animated feature. Photo: Focus Features, AP Articles about 82nd Academy Awards - latimes Event television scores again with Oscar ratings March 9, 2010 | By Joe Flint >>> Maybe it's the Neil Patrick Harris effect. Once again an award show featuring the star of CBS' hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" saw its ratings grow. While his opening number on Sunday night's Oscar telecast will not exactly go down in history as one of the show's greatest moments, it didn't send viewers running out the door either. About 41.3 million people watched ABC's coverage of the 82nd Academy Awards, according to Nielsen.

That's roughly 39 million more than went to see best picture winner "The Hurt Locker" and a 14% gain from last year's Oscars when "Slumdog Millionaire" was the big winner. Advertisement Event television scores again with Oscar ratings March 9, 2010 | By Joe Flint >>> Maybe it's the Neil Patrick Harris effect. Once again an award show featuring the star of CBS' hit sitcom "How I Met Your Mother" saw its ratings grow. While his opening number on Sunday night's Oscar telecast will not exactly go down in history as one of the show's greatest moments, it didn't send viewers running out the door either. About 41.3 million people watched ABC's coverage of the 82nd Academy Awards, according to Nielsen. That's roughly 39 million more than went to see best picture winner "The Hurt Locker" and a 14% gain from last year's Oscars when "Slumdog Millionaire" was the big winner.

ENTERTAINMENT Adam Shankman: Just call him Oscar's choreographer March 7, 2010 | By Amy Kaufman Adam Shankman's love affair with the Oscars began with an act of petty larceny. Back when he was a little boy, his father -- an entertainment lawyer and manager -- attended the Academy Awards. "He brought home the program from the show, and I stole it," said Shankman, 45. "I kept it and would look through that program for years. I just thought it was the most glorious thing in the world." After being long-transfixed by the entertainment industry, Shankman has suddenly been catapulted directly into the center of it as the co-producer of the 82nd Academy Awards. IMAGE Stylists aim for picture perfection at the Oscars March 5, 2010 | By Melissa Magsaysay, Los Angeles Times When the stars hit the red carpet at the 82nd Academy Awards, the gathering will represent the culmination of a process that includes designer meetings, fittings and hours of stylists' stress, all geared to get an actress looking her absolute best.

Those stylists have been working since fall to create the right look and feeling for their clients, and each has his or her own approach to cutting through the craziness, pressure and politics of award season. "The No. 1 thing is to get everything done ahead of time," says Cristina Erlich, stylist to lead supporting actress nominee Penelope Cruz. ENTERTAINMENT Adam Shankman: Just call him Oscar's choreographer March 7, 2010 | By Amy Kaufman Adam Shankman's love affair with the Oscars began with an act of petty larceny. Back when he was a little boy, his father -- an entertainment lawyer and manager -- attended the Academy Awards. "He brought home the program from the show, and I stole it," said Shankman, 45. "I kept it and would look through that program for years. I just thought it was the most glorious thing in the world." After being long-transfixed by the entertainment industry, Shankman has suddenly been catapulted directly into the center of it as the co-producer of the 82nd Academy Awards.

ENTERTAINMENT Oscars' big plot twist: 10 best-picture nominees, not 5 June 25, 2009 | Geoff Boucher, Rachel Abramowitz and Claudia Eller In January, all of Hollywood wondered exactly how close "The Dark Knight" came to earning an Oscar nomination for best picture. Now we know the answer: It missed by 12 months. If the "The Dark Knight" had been released this summer instead of last, it would have been part of the new Academy Awards era that began Wednesday with the out-of-the-blue announcement that the best picture category at the Oscars will double in size to 10 films. ENTERTAINMENT Scene Dissection: Screenwriter Mark Boal breaks down one of 'The Hurt Locker's' most pivotal moments February 20, 2010 | By Paul Gaita Mark Boal's experience as a journalist in Iraq yielded "Death and Dishonor," a 2004 feature for "Playboy" about a veteran who was murdered by fellow soldiers after his deployment, and the effects of war-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on returning military personnel.

The story was later adapted by Paul Haggis for the Oscar-nominated feature "In the Valley of Elah." Boal himself stepped into screenwriting (and producing) with "The Hurt Locker," which explores the devastating affect of repeated exposure to high-intensity combat situations on the members of an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. ENTERTAINMENT Quick Takes November 12, 2009 | Paul Gaita It looks like the Oscars' best picture race won't be the only category getting a boost in nominees this year. Twenty animated films have been submitted for consideration in the best animated feature film race for the 82nd Academy Awards. According to the rules of the category, a maximum of five films can be nominated in a year when the field of eligible entries number at least 16. Since animated features got their own Oscar in 2001, there has only been one year -- 2002 -- when the number of nominated films has exceeded three contenders. ENTERTAINMENT How many surprises are in store for the Oscar nominations?

February 1, 2010 | By Susan King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Movie fans are eagerly waiting to learn Tuesday morning if "The Hangover" gets an Oscar nomination for best picture. Don't laugh. The raucous R-rated comedy won the Golden Globe for best comedy or musical, and the screenplay is nominated for the Writers Guild of America top prize. And with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expanding its best picture nomination list from five to 10, such highly commercial films as "The Hangover," "Star Trek" and even "District 9" have a chance at the brass ring. IMAGE Stylists aim for picture perfection at the Oscars March 6, 2010 | By Melissa Magsaysay, Los Angeles Times When the stars hit the red carpet at the 82nd Academy Awards, the gathering will represent the culmination of a process that includes designer meetings, fittings and hours of stylists' stress, all geared to get an actress looking her absolute best. Those stylists have been working since fall to create the right look and feeling for their clients, and each has his or her own approach to cutting through the craziness, pressure and politics of award season. "The No.

1 thing is to get everything done ahead of time," says Cristina Erlich, stylist to lead supporting actress nominee Penelope Cruz. NEWS Who will win the Oscars? March 6, 2010 | By Susan King, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer Will double the hosts and double the nominees add up to double the fun and ratings? We'll find out at 5 p.m. Sunday on ABC when the 82nd annual Academy Awards air live from the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. To bolster sagging ratings, the three-hour-plus telecast boasts two hosts -- the wild and crazy Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, who just starred as rivals for Meryl Streep's heart in "It's Complicated." Martin has hosted the Academy Awards before and was a funny, cerebral, emcee.

ENTERTAINMENT Scene Dissection: Screenwriter Mark Boal breaks down one of 'The Hurt Locker's' most pivotal moments February 20, 2010 | By Paul Gaita Mark Boal's experience as a journalist in Iraq yielded "Death and Dishonor," a 2004 feature for "Playboy" about a veteran who was murdered by fellow soldiers after his deployment, and the effects of war-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on returning military personnel. The story was later adapted by Paul Haggis for the Oscar-nominated feature "In the Valley of Elah." Boal himself stepped into screenwriting (and producing) with "The Hurt Locker," which explores the devastating affect of repeated exposure to high-intensity combat situations on the members of an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team. ENTERTAINMENT Oscars' big plot twist: 10 best-picture nominees, not 5 June 25, 2009 | Geoff Boucher, Rachel Abramowitz and Claudia Eller In January, all of Hollywood wondered exactly how close "The Dark Knight" came to earning an Oscar nomination for best picture. Now we know the answer: It missed by 12 months.

If the "The Dark Knight" had been released this summer instead of last, it would have been part of the new Academy Awards era that began Wednesday with the out-of-the-blue announcement that the best picture category at the Oscars will double in size to 10 films. ENTERTAINMENT Prime choices March 7, 2010 SUNDAY With the field expanded from five films to 10, there's no room here to list all of the best-picture nominees for "The 82nd Academy Awards." In fact, there's barely enough space to tell you that Alec Baldwin, below left, and Steve Martin will . . . (ABC, 5:30 p.m.) MONDAY The long dry spell is over, "Gossip Girl" fans: Get the latest dish on Serena and Nate (Blake Lively, Chace Crawford) and all of your favorite Upper East Siders as the teen-themed nighttime soap returns with the first of 10 new episodes.

2008 Academy Awards® Winners and History Kung Fu Panda (2008) Actor: SEAN PENN in "Milk," Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" Actress: KATE WINSLET in "The Reader," Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married," Angelina Jolie in "Changeling," Melissa Leo in "Frozen River," Meryl Streep in "Doubt" Supporting Actor: HEATH LEDGER in " The Dark Knight ," Josh Brolin in "Milk," Robert Downey, Jr. in "Tropic Thunder," Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt," Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" Supporting Actress: PENELOPE CRUZ in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Amy Adams in "Doubt," Viola Davis in "Doubt," Taraji P.

Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" Director: DANNY BOYLE for "Slumdog Millionaire," Stephen Daldry for "The Reader," David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon," Gus Van Sant for "Milk” 2008 represented the continued rise of smaller studios and development companies, proven by the dominance of the Best Picture-winning independent film Slumdog Millionaire. The low-budget film was made for only $15 million, had no American superstars, lots of foreign-language dialogue, and it struggled to find a distributor. It also had a 'feel-good' theme and romantic sub-plot, a song/dance finale, an Oscar-winning song "Jai Ho," while at the same time exhibiting the extreme poverty of India. Its major competitor, the big-budget The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, was produced by a major studio (a co-production between Warner Bros. and Paramount), featured major stars, an extensive marketing campaign, a well-respected director, and expensive CGI-effects.

And it suffered a record loss among films with 13 nominations -- it had the fewest wins for any film with that many nods. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a Warner Bros./Paramount Film co-production Frost/Nixon, from Universal The Reader, from The Weinstein Company Slumdog Millionaire, from Fox Searchlight All five titles of the Best Picture-nominated films referred to the film's characters (this also occurred in 1964), and were mostly tales from the past.

The Best Picture winner became more strongly favored as the Oscar season progressed: director Danny Boyle's dark horse crowd-pleasing Slumdog Millionaire (with 10 nominations and 8 wins), based on the novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup, about an impoverished, 18 year-old orphaned slum thief Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who is arrested for cheating (presumably due to his unsavory, lower-class background), when only one question away from winning the top prize of 20 million rupees in the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"; the film's other wins included Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song ("Jai Ho"); [Note: Slumdog Millionaire was only the fifth film in the past 50 years to win without any acting nominations, repeating the feat of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) , Braveheart (1995), The Last Emperor (1987), and Gigi (1958).

It was one of only eleven films in all of Academy history that have won Best Picture without receiving a single acting nomination.] The other Best Picture nominees were: director David Fincher's sweeping 2 3/4ths hour, big-budget fantasy epic The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (with 13 nominations and only 3 wins, including Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Art Direction), based on F.

Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 jazz age short story (from Eric Roth's screenplay from a screen story by Roth and Robin Swicord) that followed the life of 'curious' everyman Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) and was set in New Orleans - the title character was born in his 80s and aging in reverse, growing younger rather than older; the film was one of the most nominated films in Academy history, and had the largest box-office revenue of the five nominees, just over $100 million, although it lost in most of its categories - [Note: Out of eight films from the past with thirteen nominations, five films have won Best Picture, including: Gone With the Wind (1939) , From Here to Eternity (1953) , Forrest Gump (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Chicago (2002). Those that lost were: Mary Poppins (1964), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

(1966) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) .] director Gus Van Sant's Milk (with 8 nominations and 2 wins, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay), a historical biography about California's first openly-gay, openly-elected public official, mayoral aide Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) who was assassinated alongside San Francisco's mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) director Stephen Daldry's The Reader (with 5 nominations and 1 win), the story of a young German teen Michael Berg's (David Kross and Ralph Fiennes) complex relationship with an illiterate train conductor/ex-Nazi concentration camp guard Hanna Schmitz (Best Actress-winning Kate Winslet) in the 1950's, and his dealing with her past decades later, based on Bernhard Schlink's best-selling and controversial 1995 novel director Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon (with 5 nominations and no wins), an adaptation of the successful Tony-winning Broadway drama about the famous series of interviews of Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) conducted by British talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen) that aired on May 19, 1977,

 during which Frost memorably had Nixon admitting complicity in the Watergate scandal ("When the President does it, it's not illegal") For the first time in three years, all five Best Picture directors were nominated for Best Director – a rare occurrence!

This happened only four other times in Oscar history: 1957, 1964, 1981, and 2005.

The nominated directors included two first-time nominated directors, one of whom won the Best Director Oscar: 52 year-old British director Danny Boyle (with his first nomination and win) for Slumdog Millionaire, who had previously directed such films as Trainspotting (1996), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), and 28 Days Later (2002) The four other Best Director nominees included: 46 year-old former music video director David Fincher (with his first nomination) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, after directing such films as Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), and Zodiac (2007) 54 year-old Ron Howard (with his second directorial nomination) for Frost/Nixon, previously winning two Oscars: Best Picture (as producer) and Best Director for A Beautiful Mind (2001) 47 year-old Stephen Daldry (with his third nomination) for The Reader, previously nominated for Billy Elliott (2000) and The Hours (2002) - he became the first director ever to receive Best Director nominations for his first three films 

56 year-old Gus Van Sant (with his second nomination) for Milk, previously nominated for Good Will Hunting (1997) All of the nominated Animated Feature Films were CGI creations.

The winner was the overwhelming favorite: Wall-E (Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation) (with six nominations and this sole Oscar win), Pixar's 9th film and their 4th Best Animated Feature Film Oscar win -- a science fiction tale about a lonely garbage-compacting robot Wall-E stranded on post-apocalyptic, trash-laden Earth who encounters a sleek metallic female robot Eve who seeks plant life to signal a colony ship's return after 700 years of exile [Note: It tied with Beauty and the Beast (1991) as the most nominated animated film.] The other two nominees in the category were: Bolt (Walt Disney Pictures), about dog actor Bolt (voice of John Travolta) who believes the science fiction/action television show he stars in is real, and learns he has no superpowers when lost from the set Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks Animation), a martial arts comedic fantasy about a slovenly, fat kung fu-obsessed giant panda named Po (voice of Jack Black) who is thrust unwittingly into the role of Dragon Warrior to save the countryside from a dangerous villain snow leopard Tai Lung (voice of Ian McShane) A bit of an upset occurred in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.

The overwhelming favorite was the animated documentary Waltz With Bashir (Israel) (the Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Language Film), the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. But the category was won by Departures (Japan) (aka Okuribito), a film about an unemployed cello player who became a mortician preparing bodies (and "assisting departures") for funerals and burials. It was the first Japanese film to ever win a competitive Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. [Note: Three Japanese films were previously given honorary Oscars before the official category of Best Foreign Language Film was created in 1956 - Rashomon (1950, Jp.), Gate of Hell (1953, Jp.) (aka Jigokumon), and Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954, Jp.).] There were nine first-time nominees in the 20 acting performance slots. Five of the acting nominees were previous winners: Sean Penn, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Marisa Tomei. Sean Penn became the ninth actor in Academy history to win a second Best Actor Oscar.

All four Oscar-winning performers this year: Penn, Winslet, Ledger, and Cruz, had been nominated at least once before, something that hadn't happened since 1994.

The Best Actor winner was: 48 year-old Sean Penn (with his fifth nomination – all for Best Actor -- winning for Mystic River (2003) and now for his role as openly pioneering San Francisco gay camera store owner Harvey Milk who successfully was serving in public office as mayoral aide, and was killed in 1978 at the same time as the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber), in Milk; Penn was also previously nominated for Dead Man Walking (1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and I Am Sam (2001) The other Best Actor nominees were: 61 year-old Richard Jenkins (with his first nomination and his first leading role) as lonely widower college professor Professor Walter Vale, who finds two squatters (Haaz Sleiman, Danai Jekesai Gurira) living in his little-used Manhattan apartment, in writer/director Tom McCarthy's The Visitor (2007) (the film's sole nomination - the film debuted in Canada in 2007, but was Oscar eligible only after its 2008 US release) 71 year-old Frank Langella (with his first nomination) for

 his reprised Tony-award winning role (in 2007) as shamed ex-President Richard Nixon who was a talk show guest on Frost on America, where he battled wits with host David Frost (Michael Sheen, reprising his stage role as well), in Frost/Nixon [Note: Langella is the second actor to be nominated for Best Actor for playing Nixon (Anthony Hopkins was also nominated for Nixon (1995) but lost to Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas (1995)) 45 year-old Brad Pitt (with his second nomination, previously nominated for his supporting role in 12 Monkeys (1995)) for his role as Benjamin Button, who is born an elderly man and grows younger through the years, in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 56 year-old Mickey Rourke (with his first nomination) as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a broken-down, formerly famous 80s headliner pro wrestler who now fights in the small circuit 20 years later; the role is best known for his inspiring closing speech ("I'm still standing here and I'm The Ram"), in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler (with 2 nominations including Best Supporting Actress

, and no wins); [Rourke had been a longtime Oscar snub, being overlooked for such roles as Diner (1982), Rumble Fish (1983), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), 9 1/2 Weeks (1986), Angel Heart (1987), and Barfly (1987).] The Best Actress nominees included two oft-nominated Oscar favorites - Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet, with the latter winning her first Oscar: 33 year-old British actress Kate Winslet (with her 6th nomination, her 4th Best Actress nomination and her first win!) for her role as Hanna Schmitz, an illiterate train conductor/ex-Nazi concentration camp guard who had an affair with a fifteen year old boy, in The Reader; Winslet was previously nominated in a leading role for Titanic (1997), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Little Children (2006), and in a supporting role for Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Iris (2001) [Note: With her sixth nomination, Winslet became the youngest individual (at age 3

3) to have six Oscar nominations.

She was one year younger than Bette Davis who (at age 34) received her sixth for Now, Voyager (1942) ] The other Best Actress nominees included: 26 year-old actress Anne Hathaway (with her first nomination) as Kym, a recovering drug addict who is given a day pass from her rehabilitation clinic to attend her sister Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding, in Rachel Getting Married (its sole nomination); Hathaway had memorably been snubbed for her supporting role in Brokeback Mountain (2005) 33 year-old actress Angelina Jolie (with her second nomination, having won for her supporting role in Girl, Interrupted (1999)) for her role as real-life Christine Collins, a desperate Los Angeles single mother during the Great Depression whose son vanishes, and is given another boy who is claimed to be the missing son by the corrupt police department, in director Clint Eastwood's Changeling (with three nominations and no wins) 48 year-old Melissa Leo (with her first nomination), the former NBC-TV star of Homicide: Life on the Street, in her role as Ray Eddy, a struggling, cash-needy lower

-class single mother of two in upstate New York who becomes involved in a people-smuggling ring across the US/Canadian border in an attempt to avoid losing her home, in the independent drama Frozen River (with two nominations and no wins) 59 year-old Meryl Streep (with her astonishing 15th nomination - an all-time record, and her 12th Best Actress nomination (tying her with Katharine Hepburn), and a winner in 1979 and 1982) for her role as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the suspicious, domineering strict head of a Bronx Catholic school in New York City in the 1960s who believes that progressive new priest Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a pedophile, in writer/director John Patrick Shanley's adaptation of the Broadway play Doubt (with five nominations and no wins, including Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Supporting Actor, and two Best Supporting Actress nominations) The Best Supporting Actor winner was the heavily-favored 28 year-old deceased Australian actor Heath Ledger (with his second nomination, following a Best Actor nomination for Brokeback Mountain (2005)) as the wildly psychotic villain, The Joker, in

 Christopher Nolan's moody cape-and-cowl superhero sequel The Dark Knight (with 8 nominations and only 2 wins, including Best Sound Editing); this was the seventh posthumous nomination in Academy history (won only once previously by Peter Finch).

The other Best Supporting Actor nominees were: 40 year-old Josh Brolin (with his first nomination after being snubbed for lead roles in No Country for Old Men (2007) and this year's President Bush biopic W.) as conservative former fireman Dan White, an alcoholic who is married with children (and possibly closeted gay), elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors along-side openly-gay Harvey Milk; he later murders Milk along with Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) in 1978 during a drunken tirade, in Milk 43 year-old Robert Downey, Jr.

(wth his second nomination, following his Best Actor nomination for Chaplin (1992)), in the over-the-top comedic role as obsessive, faux-black white Australian Method actor Kirk Lazarus who has medical surgery to transform himself into a black man to completely immerse himself in a dark-horse role in a Vietnam war movie, in Ben Stiller's comedy Tropic Thunder (its sole nomination) 41 year-old Philip Seymour Hoffman (with his third nomination, following a win for his lead role in Capote (2005) and nominated supporting role in Charlie Wilson's War (2007), this year's only back-to-back nominee) as Father Brendan Flynn, a progressive priest in 1960s New York City whose keen interest in his Bronx Catholic school's first black student inspires suspicion from its head nun (Meryl Streep), in Doubt 34 year-old Michael Shannon (with his first nomination) as John Givings, an unstable mathematician and wrongfully-interred mental institution patient who makes brutally honest, incisive observations about his unhappily-married neighbors and hosts Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunited in their first pairing since Titanic (1997

)) and his parents during a dinner party in 1950s Connecticut, in Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road (with 3 nominations) The Best Supporting Actress winner was: 34 year-old Spanish-born actress Penélope Cruz (with her second nomination and first win) as Maria Elena, a newly-divorced, crazy Spanish artist/temptress, who experienced a menage a trois with her ex-husband painter/lothario Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) and inquisitive, traveling American photographer Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (its sole nomination and win) [Note: Cruz previously had a lead nomination for Volver (2006, Sp.) when she became the first Spanish woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for a non-English speaking role; with her win, she became the first Spanish-born actress to win an Oscar] [Note: Cruz' win joined her with two other Woody Allen actresses who have won Best Supporting Actress Oscars: Dianne Wiest (twice) for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Bullets Over Broadway (1994), and Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite (199

5); she was, in fact, the 4th 'Woody Allen' actress to receive an Oscar, if Diane Keaton's Annie Hall (1977) Best Actress Oscar win was also counted; other 'Woody Allen' actresses with Supporting Actress nominations (nine in total) include: Maureen Stapleton for Interiors (1978), Mariel Hemingway for Manhattan (1979), Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives (1992), Jennifer Tilly for Bullets Over Broadway (1994), and Samantha Morton for Sweet and Lowdown (1999)] [Note: Cruz became one of many actors/actresses to receive a nomination for a role performed in two different languages, following after, for example, Ingrid Bergman's Swedish language-role in Autumn Sonata (1978), Robert DeNiro's Sicilian in The Godfather Part II (1974) , Meryl Streep's Polish/German in Sophie's Choice (1982), and Benicio Del Toro's Spanish in Traffic (2000).

Sophia Loren's Italian in Two Women (1960) (aka La Ciociara), Roberto Benigni's Italian in La Vita è bella (1997) (aka Life is Beautiful), and Marion Cotillard's French in La Vie En Rose (2007) were fully in one language.] [Note: If Woody Allen had been nominated for Best Original Screenplay, it would have been his 15th Best Original Screenplay nomination.] The remaining Best Supporting Actress nominees included two nominees for Doubt: 34 year-old Amy Adams (with her second nomination, following her supporting nod for Junebug (2005)) as sensitive and innocent novitiate Sister James, in Doubt 43 year-old Viola Davis (with her first nomination) in a 12-minute scene as African-American Mrs. Miller, the conflicted mother of a student who is suspected of being sexually-abused by a new Catholic priest (nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman) at his 1960s New York City school, in Doubt 38 year-old Taraji P.

Henson (with her first nomination) as African-American Queenie, a New Orleans nursing-home employee who rescues abandoned old man-child Benjamin Button and adopts him ("You are as ugly as an old post but you're still a child of God"), in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 44 year-old Marisa Tomei (with her third nomination, following her semi-controversial win for her supporting role in My Cousin Vinny (1992), and her supporting role nomination for In the Bedroom (2001)) as Cassidy, a middle-aged, tattooed exotic stripper and single mother who forms a bond with has-been wrestler Randy Robinson (fellow nominee Mickey Rourke), in The Wrestler Doubt became the 4th film in Academy history to receive 4 acting nominations WITHOUT a Best Picture nomination. The other three were: My Man Godfrey (1936) , I Remember Mama (1948) , and Othello (1965). Jerry Lewis, who was never nominated for an Academy Award, was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Although Doubt had tied the record for four acting nominations, it did not receive either a Best Director or Best Picture nomination and came away empty-handed. Christopher Nolan's box-office blockbuster and popular summer hit - the despairing comic book Batman tale The Dark Knight scored eight nominations (mostly technical areas, and scored two wins for Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Editing), but was devoid of a Best Picture or Best Director nomination. It became the most nominated superhero film in Academy Award history. [Note: Dreamgirls (2006) also had eight nominations without a nomination for Best Picture or Best Director.] Although Jonathan Demme's innovative and critically-hailed Rachel Getting Married had a single acting nomination (and lost), it had no other nominations (specifically Best Director or Best Picture, and Rosemarie DeWitt's supporting role). And most glaringly, there were no nominations for actor/director Clint Eastwood, either for his dramatic role in Gran Torino or for his directing of Changeling. Remarkably, Slumdog Millionaire was lacking in any acting nominations (for Dev Patel and Freida Pinto), fairly rare for a Best Picture-winning film.

Director Darren Aronofsky was denied an Oscar nomination for The Wrestler, and the film's nominations were unsuccessful. And Oliver Stone's biopic W. starring Josh Brolin as President George W. Bush was devoid of any Oscars' recognition - and it was a surprise that Brolin was nominated for his supporting role in Milk instead. Unfortunately, there were no acting nominations for Saul Dibb's splendid 18th century costume drama The Duchess (with two nominations and one win (Best Costume Design) and Best Art Direction), although they were deserved for Keira Knightley as the title character - a witty and attractive 17 year-old naive aristocrat Georgiana Spencer, who was set up and then trapped in an emotionally-distant, arranged marriage with callous, loathsome, but regal and powerful Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish (Ralph Fiennes). Best Animated Feature Film winner Wall-E was not nominated for Best Picture (although it had six nominations total and only one win), thereby preserving Beauty and the Beast (1991) as the only animated feature to be nominated for the top Oscar.

Wall-E's six nominations tied it with Beauty and the Beast (1991) as the most-nominated animated film. It was a surprise to have Kate Winslet nominated for her lesser role in The Reader (which then became a momentous first Oscar win for her), rather than as a Best Actress candidate for her husband/director Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road, and that her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio for the latter was un-nominated for his portrayal of Winslet's husband. Two glaring acting omissions included Sally Hawkins for her role as North London schoolteacher Poppy in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, and Kristin Scott Thomas as released and ravaged murder convict Juliette Fontaine in writer/director Philippe Claudel's debut French film I've Loved You So Long, as well as nominations for Jeffrey Wright (as Muddy Waters) and Beyonce Knowles (as Etta James) for their performances in writer/director Darnell Martin's fictionalized musical biopic of the 1950s-60s Chicago-based Chess Records saga, Cadillac Records.

In addition, Michelle Williams was left out for her role as struggling, downtrodden and broke drifter Wendy with her dog Lucy, in director Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy. Three other performances were overlooked: Benicio del Toro as the revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's two-part epic biopic Che, Philip Seymour Hoffman as regional theater director Caden Cotard staging his magnum opus in New York City in first-time director Charlie Kaufman's black comedy Synechdoche, New York, and James Franco as Harvey Milk's (Sean Penn) pre-election gay lover Scott Smith in Milk. There was some question about Brad Pitt's nomination for his CGI-assisted role as the title character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, when his role as unscrupulous gym trainer Chad Feldheimer in the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading was more memorable, while Pitt's co-star Cate Blanchett was ignored for her role as Benjamin Button's romantic soulmate Daisy. Many critics were surprised by the blatant snub-omission of Bruce Springsteen in the Best Original Song category (he won the Golden Globe Award) for the theme song (in the closing credits) for The Wrestler.

Oscar Animated Film Nominee Contenders - Dark Horizons Dark Horizons Oscar Animated Film Nominee Contenders By - Thursday, November 12th 2009 6:28 am Twenty features have been submitted for consideration in the Animated Feature Film category for the 82nd Academy Awards® which automatically raises the award to an estimated five nominated films (at least sixteen films must be entered to increase the nomination number from three to five). The list of potential nominees includes: Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Astro Boy Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs Coraline Disney’s A Christmas Carol The Dolphin – Story of a Dreamer Fantastic Mr. Fox Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Mary and Max The Princess and the Frog The Secret of Kells Tinker Bell and the Lost Treasure A Town Called Panic Up Around seven of the films are still yet to open or meet both the categories qualifying rules and the theatrical release requirements needed to be considered, but its unlikely that at least five of those will fall of the list in the remaining time which means that the five-nominee shortlist seems pretty certain this year. That shortlist will be announced with the rest of the Oscar nominees on February 2nd.

The awards themselves will be presented on Sunday, March 7th 2010. SHARE Dawna Lee Heising of Eye on Entertainment Covers Oscar Red Carpet Set-up for the 82nd Academy Awards® Dawna Lee Heising of Eye on Entertainment Covers Oscar Red Carpet Set-up for the 82nd Academy Awards® Share Article David McNeil Photographs the Oscar Red Carpet Set-up for the 2010 Academy Awards Which Be Televised Live in More than 200 Countries Worldwide Huntington Beach, CA (PRWEB) March 9, 2010 Dawna Lee Heising and David McNeil of Eye on Entertainment on Time Warner Cable covered the set-up of the red carpet for the 2010 Academy Awards. The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network beginning at 5 p.m. PT/ 8 p.m. ET. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

Jeff Margolis will executive produce the red carpet arrivals show “Countdown to the Oscars 2010” for the 82nd Academy Awards®, producers Adam Shankman and Bill Mechanic announced today. The show will air on the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PT, immediately preceding the Oscar® telecast. Margolis is an award-winning producer-director with three decades of experience in crafting more than 100 television events. For 12 years, he has executive produced the “Screen Actors Guild Awards,” directing the show for the past four. Margolis has been nominated for eight Emmy® Awards, six for directing Academy Awards telecasts; he took the Emmy home in 1995 for his work on the 67th Academy Awards telecast. He also won Directors Guild Awards for helming the 62nd and 65th Academy Awards.

His other credits include more than 20 “American Music Awards,” “Academy of Country Music Awards,” “Motown 45,” “CBS… 50 Years from Television City,” “Michael Jackson One Night Only,” “Sammy Davis, Jr.’s 60th Anniversary Celebration,” for which he won an Emmy as a co-producer, and “Richard Pryor Live in Concert.” Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman will produce the 82nd Academy Awards® telecast. Mechanic is the chairman and CEO of Pandemonium Films and the former chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment. While at Fox, the studio released titles including “True Lies” (1994), “Braveheart” (1995), “Titanic” (1997), “The Full Monty” (1997), “There’s Something About Mary” (1998), “Boys Don’t Cry” (1999) and “Cast Away” (2000) among many others. Prior to Fox, he served in executive positions at the Walt Disney Company and Paramount.

Mechanic’s producer credits include this year’s animated feature “Coraline” and the thriller “Dark Water” (2005). Shankman’s directorial credits include “Bedtime Stories” (2008), “Hairspray” (2007), “A Walk to Remember” (2002) and “The Wedding Planner” (2001). His upcoming projects include “Rock of Ages,” “Sinbad,” “Bob: The Musical” and “Bye Bye Birdie.” In addition to directing, Shankman, along with his sister, Jennifer Gibgot, produce films through their shingle, Offspring Entertainment. Together they are currently producing “The Last Song,” “Going the Distance” and “Step Up 3D,” all set for 2010 release. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts of the 82nd Academy Awards®. For more information, please contact Leslie Unger.

To see Eye on Entertainment on Time Warner Cable intro, please visit: Nominations For 82nd Academy Awards: 9 Each For 'Avatar' vs 'Hurt Locker'; 8 For 'Inglourious Basterds', 6 for 'Precious' & 'Up In The Air', 5 for 'Up'; So Who Got Robbed? | Deadline Nominations For 82nd Academy Awards: 9 Each For 'Avatar' vs 'Hurt Locker'; 8 For 'Inglourious Basterds', 6 for 'Precious' & 'Up In The Air', 5 for 'Up'; So Who Got Robbed? ‘Hurt Locker’ Oscar Credits Controversy UPDATE: Let me say from the outset that, for Best Picture, Star Trek was robbed. So was Invictus. And (500) Days of Summer. And The Messenger. And A Single Man. And Coraline. Meanwhile, the only real tension on March 7th will be whether Avatar or The Hurt Locker, and James Cameron or Kathryn Bigelow, and Meryl Streep or Sandra Bullock, take the Oscar.

The rest of the marquee categories are shoo-ins (Jeff Bridges, Mo’Nique, Christoph Waltz, The White Ribbon). Which is a tad more uncertainty and excitement than the world’s most boring broadcast has experienced in years past. Maybe ratings will be up… The studio scorecard shows Sony Pictures Classics tied with The Weinstein Company for most nominations, 13. Overall, Sony had the most nominations with 18 (including 13 for Sony Classics) but only 1 for a film developed in-house, Fox was next with 14 (including 3 for Fox Searchlight), The Weinstein Co had 13, Paramount 12, Universal 11 (including 2 for Focus Features and Working Title Films, and 1 for just Focus Features), Summit Entertainment 9, Disney 8, Warner Bros 7, and Lionsgate 6.

Here is the scorecard by film: “Avatar” 9, “The Hurt Locker” 9, “Inglourious Basterds” 8, “Precious” 6, “Up in the Air” 6, “Up” 5, “District 9” 4, “Nine” 4, “Star Trek” 4, “Crazy Heart” 3, “An Education” 3, “The Princess and the Frog” 3, “The Young Victoria” 3, “The Blind Side” 2, “Fantastic Mr. Fox” 2, “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” 2, “Invictus” 2, “The Last Station” 2, “The Messenger” 2, “A Serious Man” 2, “Sherlock Holmes” 2, “The White Ribbon” 2. Meryl Streep’s nomination for “Julie & Julia” is her 16th, further distancing herself from Katharine Hepburn, 12, and Jack Nicholson, 12.

(Though Hepburn won 4 Best Actress Oscars and Nicholson 2 Best Actor Academy Awards as well as 1 Best Supporting Actor, Streep has just 1 Best Actress Oscar and 1 Best Supporting Actress.) Peter Jackson and his team of collaborators in New Zealand have the distinction of garnering nominations with 3 films: the 4 nominations for “District 9”, Stanley Tucci’s Best Supporting Actor nomination for “The Lovely Bones”, and Weta Digital’s work on “Avatar”. — At 5:38 AM PT: It’s the crack of dawn, and nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards were just announced by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President Tom Sherak and Oscar-nominated actress Anne Hathaway at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.

Nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards Best motion picture of the year “Avatar” A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers (20th Century Fox) “The Blind Side” An Alcon Entertainment Production Nominees to be determined (Warner Bros.) “District 9” A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers (Sony Pictures Releasing) “An Education” A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers (Sony Pictures Classics) “The Hurt Locker” A Voltage Pictures Production Nominees to be determined (Summit Entertainment) “Inglourious Basterds” A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures) “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers “A Serious Man” A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers (Focus Features) “Up” A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera,

 Producer (Walt Disney) “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers Achievement in directing “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures) Quentin Tarantino “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman Performance by an actor in a leading role Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company) Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.) Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Performance by an actress in a leading role Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.) Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures

 Classics) Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Performance by an actor in a supporting role Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.) Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics) Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks with Film4, Distributed by Paramount) Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Performance by an actress in a supporting role Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Best animated feature film of the year “

Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick “Fantastic Mr.

Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements “The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore “Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter Adapted screenplay Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell – “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Nick Hornby – “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche – “In the Loop” (IFC) Geoffrey Fletcher – “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner – “Up in the Air” (Paramount with Cold Spring and DW) Original screenplay Mark Boal – “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Quentin Tarantino – “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman – “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope) Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – “A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Bob Peterson, Pete Docter – “Up” (Walt Disney) Achievement in

 cinematography “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson “The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger Achievement in costume design “Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson “Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Classics) Monique Prudhomme “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood “The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell Best documentary feature “Burma VJ” A Magic Hour Films Production (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller “The Cove” An Oceanic Preservation Society Production (Roadside Attractions) Nominees to be determined “Food, Inc.” A Robert Kenner Films Production (Magnolia Pictures) Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein “The Most Dangerous Man in America” A Kovno Communications Production Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith “Which

 Way Home” A Mr.

Mudd Production Rebecca Cammisa “China’s Unnatural Disaster” A Downtown Community TV Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert “Music by Prudence” An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett “Rabbit à la Berlin” An MS Films Production (Deckert Distribution) Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra Achievement in film editing “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz Best foreign language film of the year Israel – “Ajami” An Inosan Production (Kino International) Argentina – “El Secreto de Sus Ojos” A Haddock Films Production (Sony Pictures

 Classics) Peru – “The Milk of Sorrow” A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production France – “Un Prophète” A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production (Sony Pictures Classics) Germany – “The White Ribbon” X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production (Sony Classics) Achievement in makeup “Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow “The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score) “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner “Fantastic Mr.

Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders “Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer “Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song) “Almost There” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog” “Down in New Orleans” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman from “The Princess and the Frog” “Loin de Paname” (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas from “Paris 36” “Take It All” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston from “Nine” “The Weary Kind” (Theme from “Crazy Heart”) (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett Best animated short film “French Roast” A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O.

Joubert “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell “The Lady and the Reaper” Kandor Graphics & Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia “Logorama” An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin “A Matter of Loaf and Death” An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park Best live action short film “The Door” An Octagon Films Production (Network Ireland Television) Juanita Wilson and James Flynn “Instead of Abracadabra” A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production (Swedish Film Institute) Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström “Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey “Miracle Fish” A Druid Films Production Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey “The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson Achievement in sound editing “Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J.

Ottosson “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin “Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers Achievement in sound mixing Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount with Hasbro) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson Achievement in visual effects Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R.

Jones “District 9” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken “Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton Achievement in art direction Set Decoration: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg Art Direction: Kim Sinclair “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

Question: Which animated film won an Oscar in 2010 at the 82nd Academy Awards honouring films released in 2009?
Answer: Up