Oscar Nominations 2010.... zzzzzzzz

With the Academy introducing an additional five nominees to the Best Picture category, they predictably failed to meet any of the optimistic possibilities that could have arisen from the decision. Instead, the extra slots opened the door for populist bullshit like The Blind Side, instead of perhaps the first Best Picture nomination for a foreign-language film, like The White Ribbon or even Broken Embraces; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was the last foreign-language film to have received a Best Picture nomination in 2001, if you don't count Babel. Pixar's Up did make the cut, becoming just the second animated feature to be nominated in the category; Beauty and the Beast was the first in 1992. The Best Animated Feature category also upped its nominees to five for the second time since the category was introduced in 2001 as a result of the eligible titles surpassing 16.

But, of course, the nominees yielded no great surprises. Tilda Swinton (for Julia) and Mélanie Laurent (for Inglourious Basterds) would have been worthy (er... worthier) inclusions, but In the Loop's nod in the Adapted Screenplay category was the only (kinda) surprise that was worth getting excited over. In the acting categories, Morgan Freeman, Penélope Cruz, Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren are the only former acting winners (though George Clooney and Matt Damon have both won in the Screenplay category). The first-time nominees: Colin Firth, Jeremy Renner, Sandra Bullock (ugh), Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe, Christopher Plummer (surprisingly never nominated before), Stanley Tucci, Christoph Waltz, Vera Farmiga, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Anna Kendrick and Mo'Nique.

The Director's Guild of America unveiled their winners Saturday night. Kathryn Bigelow is now the first woman to have taken home the prize in the Feature Film Category for The Hurt Locker. Louie Psihoyos won in the Documentary category for The Cove, which is the front-runner for the Oscar docs. A list of the major Oscar nominees are below; the ceremony will take place on 7 March.

Best Motion Picture

Avatar, d. James Cameron
The Blind Side, d. John Lee Hancock
District 9, d. Neill Blomkamp
An Education, d. Lone Scherfig
The Hurt Locker, d. Kathryn Bigelow
Inglourious Basterds, d. Quentin Tarantino
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, d. Lee Daniels
A Serious Man, d. Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up, d. Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Up in the Air, d. Jason Reitman

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Lee Daniels, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds

Best Actor

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker

Best Actress

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabourey Sidibe, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor

Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress

Penélope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo'Nique, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire

Best Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker - Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds - Quentin Tarantino
The Messenger - Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman
A Serious Man - Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
Up - Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Thomas McCarthy

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9 - Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
An Education - Nick Hornby
In the Loop - Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire - Geoffrey Fletcher
Up in the Air - Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

Best Foreign Language Film

Ajami, d. Scandar Copti, Yaron Shani, Israel
A Prophet [Un prophète], d. Jacques Audiard, France
The Milk of Sorrow [La teta asustada], d. Claudia Llosa, Peru
The Secret in Their Eyes [El secreto de sus ojos], d. Juan José Campanella, Argentina
The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band], d. Michael Haneke, Germany

Best Documentary Feature

Burma VJ: Reporting from a Closed Country [Burma VJ: Reporter i et lukket land], d. Anders Østergaard
The Cove, d. Louie Psihoyos
Food, Inc., d. Robert Kenner
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, d. Judith Ehrlich, Rick Goldsmith
Which Way Home, d. Rebecca Cammisa

Best Animated Feature

Coraline, d. Henry Selick
Fantastic Mr. Fox, d. Wes Anderson
The Princess and the Frog, d. Ron Clements, John Musker
The Secret of Kells [Brendan et le secret de Kells], d. Tomm Moore, Nora Twomey
Up, d. Pete Docter, Bob Peterson

Best Cinematography

Barry Ackroyd, The Hurt Locker
Christian Berger, The White Ribbon [Das weiße Band]
Bruno Delbonnel, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Mauro Fiore, Avatar
Robert Richardson, Inglourious Basterds