The nominations are outand the race for the Academy Awards is on.
The Academy doubled the number of nominees for best picture to 10.
No surprise "Avatar", "The Hurt Locker", "The Blind Side", "Precious", Inglorious Basterds and "Up in the Air" were on the list.
Tuesday morning actress Anne Hathaway and Academy president Tom Sherak took the stage to unveil the nominations.
Falling into the 'populist people-pleaser' category, Disney/Pixar's animated "Up" and Sony's lower-budget hit, "District 9" were both nominated for best picture.
More niche films that were also nominated: "A Serious Man," a modern day interpretation of the story of Job, and "An Education."
Here's a link to the full list of nominees: http://oscar.go.com/
It's a battle of the EXES.
James Cameron and Katherine Bigelow were both nominated for best picture and best director, for "Avatar" and "Hurt Locker" respectively.
Both films swept the other nominations as well. Cameron and Bigelow are ex husband and wife—they were married from 1989 to 1991.
They continued to work together after they were divorced; Bigelow's "Strange Days" in 1995 was written and produced by Cameron.
This must be the first time two exes have faced off in such a massive forum.
A couple other films drew a bunch of nominations, a good indication of Academy interest in them and their chances of wining.
Quentin Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterds" won eight nominations including best picture. "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire" won five nominations including best picture and best supporting actress, for which 'Mo'Nique' is considered a shoo-in.
And "Up in the Air," from Jason Reitman, who was last nominated for "Juno" snagged six nominations, including one for George Clooney, as well as its lead and supporting actress.
Doubling the number of best picture noms was intended to increase the number of popular films, and it seems to have worked.
Though some industry watchers expected "Star Trek" to get the nod, or even "The Hangover," which was nominated for a Golden Globe for best comedy or musical.
But the fact that animated "Up" was included in the Best Picture group, rather than just best animated movie shows that the perception barriers are starting to break down.
