OSCARS 2010 NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED: A BATTLE OF THE SEXES AND THE EXES

The 2010 Oscar nominations were announced this morning and not only will this year be a Battle of the Sexes, but also a Battle of the Exes.  Director James Cameron (Avatar) will be going head-to-head with his former wife Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker) in major categories like Best Director and Best Picture.  Each director garnered an astounding nine nominations. 

For the time ever, the format of the Best Picture category has been ammended to include ten films this year.  This year's nominees include:  Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up, Up in the Air, Avatar, An Education, The Hurt Locker, The Blind Side and District 9.  Although my heart leans towards The Blind Side as a personal favourite, in all probability this will be Avatar's year.

Finalists in the Best Actor category are: Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).  Make no mistake about it, it's all about Bridges in this category.

Nominees for Best Actress are: Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious) and Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia).  I think most of my readers will agree as per a recent poll here, that this will be Bullock's year.

Best Supporting Actor contenders are: Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (The Last Station), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones) and Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds).  Based on the important pre-cursor ceremony results, Waltz should be a shoe-in for this category.  He was terrifying in Inglourious Basterds.

Best Supporting Actress candidates include: Penélope Cruz (NINE), Vera Farmiga (Up in the Air), (Crazy Heart), Anna Kendrick (Up in the Air) and Mo’Nique (Precious).  A very, very competitive field full of superb performances, but alas Mo'Nique does not appear to be in any danger of defeat here.  I loved all these ladies' performances.

For Best Director, this truly is a strong year with the following in contention: James Cameron (Avatar), Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker), Quentin Tarantino (Inglourious Basterds), Lee Daniels () and Jason Reitman (Up in the Air).  Although some will disagree, many will agree that this will go to Cameron.  Personally I feel first time director Daniels deserves it for the quality of performances he brought out of his ensemble cast in Precious.

On another note, my beloved NINE by Rob Marshall, garnered a total four Oscar nominations for Best Original Song, Best Costumes and Best Art Direction, in addition to Cruz's nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Congrats.

For a complete list of nominees, visit the Oscars official website here. (Photo Credit: WireImage)