Avatar, The Hurt Locker top nominations

Science-fiction epic Avatar and gritty Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker will battle for supremacy at the Oscars after topping the nominations with nine nods each yesterday.

James Cameron's Avatar - the most expensive movie ever made and the highest grossing film of all time - picked up a slew of nominations including best picture and best director.

The low-budget The Hurt Locker earned nine nominations including a nod for director Kathryn Bigelow - Mr Cameron's ex-wife - as well as best picture, best actor and best original screenplay.

Yesterday's nominations were released in a dawn announcement at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly Hills attended by Hollywood star Anne Hathaway.

Ms Bigelow is only the fourth woman ever to be nominated for directing and the first since Sofia Coppola received a nod for Lost in Translation in 2003. No woman director has ever won the Oscars top prize.

However, The Hurt Locker, a tense thriller about a US army bomb disposal squad operating in Iraq, has emerged as the favourite to land the Oscars top best picture prize when the 82nd Academy Awards are presented on March 7.

Ms Bigelow's film has already won a slew of awards this year which are regarded as reliable indicators of likely Oscars success.

This year's best picture race was expanded to 10 films by the Academy in a move analysts have said was intended to boost television ratings for the awards show.

Vying for the best picture race alongside Avatar and The Hurt Locker are Quentin Tarantino's bloody World War II revenge film Inglourious Basterds, which weighed in with eight nominations.

It was followed by the independent Precious, about the struggles of an illiterate abused teenager, which scored six nominations, including best picture and best director.

Other films in the best picture race include District 9, South African director Neill Blomkamp's dazzling science-fiction film about aliens stranded in a Johannesburg township, and Up, Pixar's charming animated film about a crotchety widower who ties balloons to his house and floats to South America.

It is the only second time in Oscars history that an animated film has made it into the best picture race following Disney's Beauty and the Beast in 1992.

Other best picture nominees include British drama An Education, recession-era comedy-drama Up In the Air, Joel and Ethan Coen's A Serious Man and the Sandra Bullock film The Blind Side.

There were few major surprises in the acting nominations, where Jeff Bridges and Ms Bullock are widely tipped to win the best actor and actress honours after dominating this year's awards circuit.

Mr Bridges was nominated for his performance as a washed-up country singer in Crazy Heart. Other nominees included George Clooney for Up In the Air, Colin Firth for A Single Man, Morgan Freeman for Invictus and Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker.

Ms Bullock's rivals for best actress include veteran Meryl Streep - picking up her record 16th nomination for Julie and Julia. Other nominees included Britain's Helen Mirren for The Last Station, Gabby Sidibe for Precious and Carey Mulligan for An Education.

In the best supporting actress category, Mo'Nique is expected to prevail for her powerful performance as an abusive parent in Precious. She faces competition from last year's winner Penélope Cruz, nominated again for Nine, and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart.

Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick round out the nominees for their performances in Up In the Air.

As expected, Christoph Waltz is nominated in the best supporting actor category for Inglourious Basterds, along with Matt Damon for Invictus, Woody Harrelson for The Messenger, Christopher Plummer for The Last Station and Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones.

In the race for best foreign language film, Germany's The White Ribbon was nominated along with France's Un Prophète and Israel's Ajami.

South America was well represented, with Peru's The Milk of Sorrow, and Argentina's El Secreto de Sus Ojos.

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

Best Foreign Language Film
Ajami - Israel
El Secreto de Sus Ojos - Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow - Peru
Un Prophète - France
The White Ribbon - Germany

Best animated feature
Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of Kells
Up

List of nominees in main categories

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