Academy Award nominations announced

February 2, 2010

“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” are heading for a showdown on Oscar night, with the announcement Tuesday morning of the nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards. [Deadline Hollywood]

Both the science fiction 3-D thriller and the war-on-terror drama scored nine nominations each, including Best Picture and Best Director for former husband-and-wife James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow. Bigelow is only the fourth woman ever nominated for Best Director.

Other films with multiple nominations include: Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglorious Bastards” (8), “Precious” (6), “Up in the Air” (6), and “Up” (5).

For the first time since 1943, the Best Picture category has been expanded to include 10 nominees. The other eight in competition this year: “The Blind Side,” “District 9,” “An Education,” “Inglorious Basterds,” “Precious,” “A Serious Man,” “Up,” and “Up in the Air.”

The Academy Awards will be presented March 7 in a ceremony on ABC from the Kodak Theater in Hollywood.