There are very few certainties in life, but waking up today it was fairly safe to say that the groundhog would see his shadow condemning us with more winter and that "Avatar" was going to be nominated for Best Picture. James Cameron's blue-centric blockbuster lead the pack for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards with 9 nominations, tied with "The Hurt Locker." And while there were a few disappointments (No "(500) Days of Summer" nominations broke our heart as much as the movie did — but we'll muse more about that later on today!) and surprises this morning (Maggie Gyllenhaal for Best Supporting Actress, for one, and hey, "The Blind Side", how the heck did you get on the Best Pic list? Pretty sneaky...) it was a rather predictable list of nominees.
Besides the impending "Oceans 11" reunion on the red carpet (George Clooney and Matt Damon are up for acting awards, while Brad Pitt's film "Inglourious Basterds" is in the Best Picture race) there are a few Oscar nominations that Hollywood Crush is particularly excited about. It was only a matter of time for one of the "Twilight" stars to break through and capture the attention of the Academy, Anna Kendrick took the initiative and became a Best Supporting Actress nominee for her funny and raw performance in "Up in the Air." We sure would have loved to heard her congratulatory phone calls this morning!
Speaking of super talented ladies to snag their first nominations, Anna's fellow Vanity Fair cover girl, the elegant Carey Mulligan will go toe-to-toe with likes of Meryl Streep and Sandra Bullock for her turn in the coming-of-age film "An Education." We were also thrilled to see breakout star Gabourey Sidibe get a very deserving spot in the Best Actress race for her heartbreaking performance in "Precious." For anyone who has seen Gabourey on talk shows, you know just how charming and down-to-earth (she's a major NSYNC fan!) the first-time actress is.
Of course, there was a talented fellow that captured our attention this morning (not to mention the Academy) as hot (yes, we mean literally) star Jeremy Renner garnered his first-ever nomination for Best Actor for his performance in the nerve-rattling war movie "The Hurt Locker." The actor, who learned of his nomination while on this morning's "Today" show, previously starred in movies like "28 Weeks Later" has officially joined Hollywood's A-list, and we couldn't be more excited about it.
While a lot of heavier fare like "The Hurt Locker" gained Oscar love this morning, the super sweet and wonderful animated feature "Up" not only was nominated for Best Animated Feature, but became the second animated to ever get a Best Picture nomination (the last was 1991's "Beauty and the Beast.") Even our beloved "Harry Potter" might possibly add an Oscar to a mantle at Hogwarts with "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" nominated in the cinematography category.
You can check out the full list of nominees here, but tell us, Crushers, which nominations were you most excited about? Who did you think got robbed?
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