Movies Features

Avatar, The Hurt Locker battle for best picture honour

Mar 1, 2010, 9:35 GMT

An undated handout picture provided by Warner Bros on 02 February 2010 shows (L-R) Sam Worthington, Michelle Rodriguez, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Moore performing in \'Avatar\'. EPA/MARK FELLMAN / COURTESY OF TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX / HO

Los Angeles - For the first time since 1944, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has increased the number of nominees for Best Picture from five to 10. The following are the nominations: '#'

The Blind Side: Directed by John Lee Hancock, The Blind Side stars Sandra Bullock as a conservative southern woman who takes in a homeless and traumatized African-American child and helps him become a star football player. Based on the true story of NFL lineman Michael Oher, the film was made for less than 30 million dollars and has earned over 238 million dollars, making it one of the most successful sport dramas ever.

District 9: Undoubtedly one of the most original films of the year, District 9 is a science fiction thriller made by South African director Neill Blomkamp and produced by Lord of the Rings' Peter Jackson. It tells the story of an Afrikaner bureaucrat who is assigned to relocate an alien race that is interred in a Johannesburg slum. The title and story of the 30-million-dollar film were inspired by events in District Six, Cape Town, during the apartheid era, when the regime declared it a whites-only area and forced more than 60,000 people to relocate to a bleak township.

An Education: This is a British coming-of-age drama about a bright school girl who is charmed by an older man and his thrilling and elegant life in the early 1960s. The movie features newcomer Carey Mulligan in a widely acclaimed lead role. It was directed by Lone Scherfig and co-written by Nick Hornby.

Inglourious Basterds: A Quentin Tarantino World War II epic about two plots to assassinate the Nazi political leadership, one by the French-Jewish resistance and the other by a team of Allied Jewish soldiers led by Lieutenant Aldo Raine, played by Brad Pitt. The 70- million-dollar movie has earned some 320 million dollars at the US box office and is nominated for eight Academy Awards.

A Serious Man: A black comedy by Oscar-winning directors Joel and Ethan Coen, A Serious Man tells the story of a dysfunctional Jewish family. Set in the Coen's hometown of Minneapolis at the time of their childhood, the movie is regarded as their most personal work to date. Made with a 7-million-dollar budget, the film has earned 20 million dollars so far at the worldwide box office.

Up: Only the second animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar, Up is another brilliant adventure comedy from the Pixar Animation Studios that have also brought viewers WALL-E and the Toy Story franchise. The film tells the story of an old curmudgeon who fulfills his dream of solitude by using thousands of balloons to take his house on a voyage, only to find that a pesky boy scout has somehow climbed aboard.

Avatar: The most expensive movie ever made, Avatar was directed by Titanic's James Cameron and racked up more than 1 billion dollars in global ticket sales in its first three weeks alone. The film has been lauded for its revolutionary 3D technology and motion-capture animation system. Its plot revolves around a disabled marine who is sent to the planet Pandora to help humans gain control of a valuable mineral. He inhabits an avatar of the native Navi people, falls in love with the chief's daughter and eventually helps the indigenous population defeat their human invaders.

Up In The Air: Directed by Jason Reitman (Juno), Up in the Air is a dark recession-era comedy starring George Clooney as a cold-hearted corporate downsizer who flies around the United States firing people. His viewpoint changes when he becomes a victim of cost-cutting.

The Hurt Locker: A critical favourite directed by Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker has racked up numerous awards in the run up to the Oscars. Starring Jeremy Renner, Guy Pearce and Ralph Fiennes, the low budget movie revolves around a US army bomb squad in Iraq who receive a reckless new leader with just weeks left before their tour of duty ends.

Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire: The film is an inspirational drama based on the life of Claireece Precious Jones, an illiterate, overweight Harlem teenager who has been raped by her father and abused by her mother. But she begins to change her life after giving birth to her father's second baby and enters a halfway house and an alternative school. Her new spirit endures even when she discovers she has been infected with HIV by her father who died of AIDS. <#>