OSCAR WATCH: Nominees For The 82nd Academy Awards

Months of guessing and second-guessing are over, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences have announced the nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards. “Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” lead the pack with nine nominations, while “Precious” and “The Blind Side” had strong showings.

Find out who takes home the Oscars with Red Carpet Crash, the MungleShow and BigFanBoy.com on Sunday, March 7 at the Lakewood Theater at the biggest Oscar Watching Party in North Texas presented by Lone Star Beer and the Dallas Observer:

Best Picture

• “Avatar”
• “The Blind Side”
• “District 9″
• “An Education”
• “The Hurt Locker”
• “Inglourious Basterds”
• “Precious”
• “A Serious Man”
• “Up”
• “Up in the Air”

Best Director

• Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”)
• James Cameron (“Avatar”)
• Lee Daniels (“Precious”)
• Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”)
• Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)

Actor In A Leading Role

• Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”)
• George Clooney (“Up in the Air”)
• Colin Firth (“A Single Man”)
• Morgan Freeman (“Invictus”)
• Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”)

Actress In A Leading Role

• Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”)
• Helen Mirren (“The Last Station”)
• Carey Mulligan (“An Education”)
• Gabby Sidibe (“Precious”)
• Meryl Streep (“Julie & Julia”)

Actor In A Supporting Role

• Matt Damon (“Invictus”)
• Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”)
• Christopher Plummer (“The Last Station”)
• Stanley Tucci (“The Lovely Bones”)
• Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”)

Actress In A Supporting Role

• Penelope Cruz (“Nine”)
• Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”)
• Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Crazy Heart”)
• Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”)
• Mo’Nique (“Precious”)

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

• Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche (“In The Loop”)
• Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (“District 9″)
• Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”)
• Nick Hornby (“An Education”)
• Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”)

Writing (Original Screenplay)

• Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker”)
• Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”)
• Ethan Coen and Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
• Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (“Up”)
• Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)

Best Animated Feature Film

• “Coraline”
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
• “The Princess and the Frog”
• “The Secret of Kells”
• “Up”

Best Foreign Language Film

• “A Prophet” (France)
• “The White Ribbon” (Germany)
• “Ajami” (Israel)
• “Winter in Wartime” (Netherlands)
• “The Milk of Sorrow” (Peru)

Best Achievement in Cinematography

• “Avatar”: Mauro Fiore
• “Das weisse Band – Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte”: Christian Berger
• “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince”: Bruno Delbonnel
• “The Hurt Locker”: Barry Ackroyd
• “Inglourious Basterds”: Robert Richardson

Best Achievement in Editing

• “Avatar”: Stephen E. Rivkin, John Refoua, James Cameron
• “District 9″: Julian Clarke
• “The Hurt Locker”: Bob Murawski, Chris Innis
• “Inglourious Basterds”: Sally Menke
• “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire”: Joe Klotz

Best Achievement in Art Direction

• “Avatar”: Rick Carter, Robert Stromberg
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”: Anastasia Masaro
• “Nine”: John Myhre
• “Sherlock Holmes”: Sarah Greenwood
• “The Young Victoria”: Patrice Vermette

Best Achievement in Costume Design

• “Bright Star”: Janet Patterson
• “Coco avant Chanel”: Catherine Leterrier
• “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”: Monique Prudhomme
• “Nine”: Colleen Atwood
• “The Young Victoria”: Sandy Powell

Best Achievement in Makeup

• “Il divo”
• “Star Trek”
• “The Young Victoria”

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures – Original Score

• “Avatar”: James Horner
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox”: Alexandre Desplat
• “The Hurt Locker”: Marco Beltrami, Buck Sanders
• “Sherlock Holmes”: Hans Zimmer
• “Up”: Michael Giacchino

Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures – Original Song

• “Crazy Heart”: T-Bone Burnett, Ryan Bingham (“The Weary Kind”)
• “Faubourg 36″: Reinhardt Wagner, Frank Thomas (“Loin de Paname”)
• “Nine”: Maury Yeston (“Take It All”)
• “The Princess and the Frog”: Randy Newman (“Down in New Orleans”)
• “The Princess and the Frog”: Randy Newman (“Almost There”)

Best Achievement in Sound

• “Avatar”
• “The Hurt Locker”
• “Star Trek”
• “Up”
• “Inglourious Basterds”

Best Achievement in Sound Editing

• “Avatar”
• “The Hurt Locker”
• “Inglourious Basterds”
• “Star Trek”
• “Up”

Best Achievement in Visual Effects

• “Avatar”
• “District 9″
• “Star Trek”

Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

• “Coraline”
• “Fantastic Mr. Fox”
• “The Princess and the Frog”
• “The Secret of Kells”
• “Up”

Best Documentary (Feature-Length)

• “Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land”
• “The Cove”
• “Food, Inc.”
• “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
• “Which Way Home”

Best Documentary (Short Subject)

• “China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
• “The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
• “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant”
• “Królik po berlinsku”
• “Music by Prudence”

Best Short Film (Animated)

• “French Roast”
• “Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty”
• “La dama y la muerte”
• “Logorama”
• “Wallace and Gromit in ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’”

Best Short Film (Live Action)

• “The Door”
• “Istället för abrakadabra”
• “Kavi”
• “Miracle Fish”
• “The New Tenants”

8:38 am: We’re underway at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre. Let’s do this!

8:35 am: Anne Hathaway has seen her shadow, and run back into her dressing room. Holding pattern time.

8:22 am: The most telling award “The Hurt Locker” has under its belt might be Kathryn Bigelow’s win at Saturday’s Directors Guild Of America awards. In the last 60 years, 58 of the winners of the DGA award went on to win Best Director at the Oscars, and 54 of their films won Best Picture.

8:12 am: While we’re waiting for Anne to take the stage, let’s look at the two heavyweight contenders for Best Picture. “The Hurt Locker” has the critical mass behind it, having won Best Picture honors from the Austin Film Critics Association, Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards, Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, the Gotham Awards, the Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards, Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards… you get the idea. “Avatar” won the Golden Globe for Best Pic, and has earned more money than most could spend in a lifetime.

7:54 am: Sadly, “I Got You, Babe” was not playing on my clock radio when it went off this morning.

7:45 am: Coffee brewed, E! on the set, and previous awards coverage pulled up. If the Oscars are the “Super Bowl” of Tinseltown, then the announcement day is conference championship weekend. We finally get to see what films benefit from expanding the Best Picture field to ten films; whether Lee Daniels gets to crack the Best Director color barrier for “Precious”; which actresses will make the cut in both Lead and Supporting roles. Enjoy!