82ND OSCAR NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED!

The Oscars were announced earlier this morning in Los Angeles by Anne Hathaway and Academy President Tom Sherak. As expected, AVATAR got a ton of kudos with 9 total nominations but in a pleasant surprise it was tied with THE HURT LOCKER which also had 9 noms. This was the first year that 10 nominees were announced for Best Picture allowing movies like DISTRICT 9, THE BLIND SIDE and UP to make their way into the top category. UP becomes the first animated film since BEAUTY AND THE BEAST to be nominated for Best Picture.

Of course, everyone wants to know surprises and snubs. Some obvious surprises include THE BLIND SIDE for Best Picture, which I know I didn’t see coming. Sandra Bullock was an obvious choice for Best Actress but Best Picture? Maggie Gyllenhaal also snuck in a surprise Best Supporting Actress nomination for CRAZY HEART. Matt Damon was nominated for an acting trophy this year but sadly it wasn’t for his best performance, which was in THE INFORMANT! Instead he was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for INVICTUS.

As far as snubs, you’ll see that STAR TREK didn’t make the cut for Best Picture though I think it had more of an outside chance to be nominated anyway. The biggest snub I noticed was the absence of Melanie Laurent in INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS. I’m guessing she was bounced in favour of Maggie Gyllenhaal and how you could watch those two films and say that CRAZY HEART sported the Best Supporting Actress performance is beyond me.

The Oscars, which will be hosted by Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin, will be presented on February 22.

To view the Nominations see: here