They're in. They're here. They're predictably all pointing towards Avatar and The Hurt Locker. Shame about the first bit there, but Cameron and Mrs Non-Cameron are squaring up with nine nominations apiece for their movies. And maybe, just maybe, The Hurt Locker might bag the majority of those.
Naturally, they're both up for the two biggies, but it's nice to see Kathryn Bigelow's brilliant war film pick up a Best Actor nomination for Jeremy Renner too. Although with Jeff Bridges in there for Crazy Heart, it's likely the Oscar is going his way - sorry, Colin Firth, but it's not a year for British actors.
British Actresses, on the other hand. Well, we've got Helen Mirren for The Last Station, as well as Carey Mulligan for An Education. Neither will get it with Sandra Bullock up for grabs, but hey, it's good to have our ladies honoured in passing at least. As for Supporting Actors, those are pretty much a given, too, with Mo'Nique and Christoph Waltz both nominated for their award-winning roles.
The best news for me is Best Adapted Screenplay, which sees not only Nick Hornby pick up his first nod for An Education, but also Armando Ianucci for In the Loop. I'll just repeat that again: In the Loop. Armando Ianucci. It's worth repeating, partly because it's brilliant but also because Academy President Tom Sherak can't pronounce his name correctly. Once again: Ianucci.
Anne Hathaway had no problem reeling off the other names on the list, with Costume and Art Direction seeing The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus receive some worthy creative attention - alongside Avatar, of course. Visual Effects obviously also mentioned the blue people (who thankfully didn't get any writing nominations), but it's stuff like Editing where Avatar might easily lose out to Bigelow's The Hurt Locker; while each have a raft of contenders, some of the technical categories could easily swing any which way.
Animation, naturally, sees Up at the front of the pack - with Fantastic Mr Fox, Coraline and even Princess and the Frog, but curiously no Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. But Up is also now playing with the big boys over in the Best Picture arena. Yes, with the major Oscar now extended to 10 entries, there's a chance for the more audience friendly fare to get a look in. Naturally, that means that Moon, Star Trek, A Single Man and (500) Days of Summer are nowhere near any of them. Instead we have Avatar, Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds (which is too heavily nominated with 8), Up in the Air (a solid 6 nods), Precious, A Serious Man, An Education, District 9 (a pleasant inclusion), Up and The Blind Side. Yes, The Blind Side. The Sandra Bullock thing.
So with no Moon, no Road and no (500) Days of Summer anywhere on the list, this year's Oscars are the usual mix of America-friendly biopics, box office smashes and heartfelt dramas. It's great to have an outsider like District 9 step into position, not to mention the wonderful A Serious Man, but if Young Victoria and Coco Before Chanel can get in there for Costumes, it seems unfair to completely dismiss Clint Mansell's score for Moon, or (500) Days' screenplay. Still, Jason Reitman's nominated for stuff. So I'm happy. The rest I blame on Sandra Bullock.
The Oscars will be happening live here on Sunday 7th March - expect big, multi-platform, cross-blogging coverage - in the wee small hours of the morning. I'll put up my predictions in the interim weeks. Until then, read on for the full list of nominees. And then leave your angry comments below.
