Academy Award Nominations Announced

When the Academy Award nominations were announced this morning, I doubt that there were very many surprises in the acting categories. Most of the actors nominated were those previously nominated at the Golden Globes and SAG Awards.

The debate over whether Sandra Bullock or Meryl Streep will take home the win continues since both of these actresses were nominated in the same category. Mo’Nique and Gabourey Sidibe both took nominations for the film Precious. And Jeff Bridges and Christoph Waltz who took both the Golden Globe and the SAG in the Actor and Supporting Actor categories were both nominated as well.

The big issue this year is the Best Picture race since it marks the first year that there are ten nominees instead of five.

Among those nominated were James Cameron’s smash hit Avatar, The Hurt Locker which seems to be a favorite of the critics, Inglourious Basterds, Up in the Air, and An Education. The animated film Up took home nominations for both Best Picture and Best Animated Picture. The Coen Brothers' film, A Serious Man, was also nominated for Best Picture as was Precious, District 9, and The Blind Side.

Personally, I was pulling for last summer’s Star Trek to be nominated. Though the film did take home several nominations for special effects and sound, there was some talk about a possible Best Picture nod for it.

The Academy Awards will air on March 7 and will be hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin.