Academy announces nominees for 2009

On Tuesday, Feb. 2, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominations for the 82nd annual Academy Awards.

This year, the Academy nominated ten films for Best Picture instead of the traditional five. “Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker,” and “Up in the Air” received expected nominations, with surprise nominations for crowd-pleaser “The Blind Side,” sci-fi success “District 9,” the Coen Brothers film “A Serious Man” and the drama “An Education.” “Inglorious Basterds,” “Precious,” and the animated “Up” were also nominated in the Best Picture category.

Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”), George Clooney (“Up in the Air”), Colin Firth (“A Single Man”), Morgan Freeman (“Invictus”) and Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”) were nominated in the Best Actor category, with Bridges being the clear favorite among Oscar pundits.

The Best Actress category is filled with diversity. Meryl Streep received her sixteenth nomination for the biopic “Julie & Julia,” while nominees Carey Mulligan (“An Education”) and Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious”) will be competing for Oscar for the first time. Veteran actress and Oscar-winner Helen Mirren (“The Last Station”) has received rave reviews for her nominated performance, but the obvious favorite to win is Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”), who has been getting unprecedented Oscar buzz since the film’s release.

The Best Supporting Actor category offered few surprises, with nominees Matt Damon (“Invictus”), Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”), Christopher Plummer (“The Last Station”), Stanley Tucci (“The Lovely Bones”) and Chistoph Waltz (“Inglorious Basterds”) having been on most Oscar pundits’ short lists.

The Best Supporting Actress category, however, was a bit more surprising. Likely winner Mo’Nique was nominated for “Precious,” and the likely vote-splitting dual “Up in the Air” nominees (Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick) were practically shoo-ins. However, Oscar-winner Penélope Cruz was nominated for the much-maligned “Nine,” and most surprisingly, Maggie Gyllenhaal received a nomination for “Crazy Heart,” a film that’s press has focused almost entirely on Jeff Bridges’ performance.

The Best Director race will likely come down to former couple Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) and James Cameron (“Avatar”). However, fellow nominees Lee Daniels (“Precious”), Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”) and Quentin Tarantino (“Inglorious Basterds”) have all received good press for their work, so a win from any of them is not unlikely.

The 82nd annual Academy Awards will air Sunday, March 7 on ABC.