NUTSHELL: The festival season is upon us and films are slowly starting to screen. The charts reflect some general slipping an sliding. “District 9” and “The Tree of Life” finally make their way into the considered hunt but it’s still a wait-and-see game until verdicts drop in Telluride, Venice and Toronto. And even after that storm has passed, we’ll still have to hold off a couple of months before we know anything of the perceived heavies — “Invictus,” “Nine,” “Amelia,” etc. But we’re wading out into the waters now, so answers should come fast and furious once we’re up and running.
Column: “Take a deep breath…”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| BEST PICTURE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Invictus” Warner Bros. Pictures |
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| 2 | “Nine” The Weinstein Company |
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| 3 | “An Education” Sony Pictures Classics |
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| 4 | “Up” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 5 | “Precious” Lionsgate Films |
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| 6 | “Up in the Air” Paramount Pictures |
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| 7 | “The Hurt Locker” Summit Entertainment |
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| 8 | “A Serious Man” Focus Features |
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| 9 | “Amelia” Fox Searchlight Pictures |
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| 10 | “Capitalism: A Love Story” Overture Films |
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| 11 | “The Tree of Life” Apparition |
NEW |
| 12 | “The Lovely Bones” Paramount Pictures |
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| 13 | “Avatar” 20th Century Fox |
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| 14 | “Star Trek” Paramount Pictures |
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| 15 | “District 9” Sony Pictures |
NEW |
| 16 | “Where the Wild Things Are” Warner Bros. Pictures |
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| 17 | “The Cove” Roadside Attractions |
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| 18 | “The Road” Dimension Films |
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| 19 | “Inglourious Basterds” The Weinstein Company |
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| 20 | “Bright Star” Apparition |
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| DIRECTING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clint Eastwood “Invictus” |
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| 2 | Rob Marshall “Nine” |
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| 3 | Lone Scherfig “An Education” |
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| 4 | Kathryn Bigelow “The Hurt Locker” |
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| 5 | Terrence Malick “The Tree of Life” |
NEW |
| 6 | Lee Daniels “Precious” |
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| 7 | Jason Reitman “Up in the Air” |
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| 8 | James Cameron “Avatar” |
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| 9 | Peter Jackson “The Lovely Bones” |
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| 10 | Joel Coen “A Serious Man” |
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| ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan Freeman “Invictus” |
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| 2 | Daniel Day-Lewis “Nine” |
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| 3 | George Clooney “Up in the Air” (or “The Men Who Stare at Goats”) |
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| 4 | Matt Damon “The Informant!” |
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| 5 | Viggo Mortensen “The Road” |
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| 6 | Jeremy Renner “The Hurt Locker” |
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| 7 | Sean Penn “The Tree of Life” |
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| 8 | Michael Stuhlbarg “A Serious Man” |
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| 9 | Ethan Hawke “Brooklyn’s Finest” |
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| 10 | Peter Sarsgaard “An Education” |
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| ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hilary Swank “Amelia” |
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| 2 | Carey Mulligan “An Education” |
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| 3 | Meryl Streep “Julie & Julia” (or “It’s Complicated”) |
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| 4 | Saoirse Ronan “The Lovely Bones” |
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| 5 | Abbie Cornish “Bright Star” |
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| 6 | Penélope Cruz “Broken Embraces” |
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| 7 | Gabourey Sidibe “Precious” |
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| 8 | Charlize Theron “The Burning Plain” |
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| 9 | Audrey Tautou “Coco Before Chanel” |
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| 10 | Michelle Pfeiffer “Chéri” |
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| ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Matt Damon “Invictus” |
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| 2 | Richard Kind “A Serious Man” |
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| 3 | Christoph Waltz “Inglourious Basterds” |
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| 4 | Richard Gere “Amelia” (or “Brooklyn’s Finest”) |
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| 5 | Alfred Molina “An Education” |
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| 6 | Stanley Tucci “The Lovely Bones” (or “Julie & Julia”) |
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| 7 | Anthony Mackie “The Hurt Locker” |
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| 8 | Jeff Bridges “The Men Who Stare at Goats” |
NEW |
| 9 | Paul Schneider “Bright Star” |
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| 10 | Tobey Maguire “Brothers” |
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| ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mo’nique “Precious” |
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| 2 | Judi Dench “Nine” |
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| 3 | Rachel Weisz “The Lovely Bones” |
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| 4 | Penélope Cruz “Nine” |
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| 5 | Anna Kendrick “Up in the Air” |
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| 6 | Marion Cotillard “Public Enemies” (or “Nine”) |
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| 7 | Jessica Chastain “The Tree of Life” |
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| 8 | Sophia Loren “Nine” |
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| 9 | Nicole Kidman “Nine” |
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| 10 | Imelda Staunton “Taking Woodstock” |
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| WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “An Education” Written by Nick Hornby Based on the memoir by Lynn Barber |
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| 2 | “Precious” Written by Damien Paul Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire |
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| 3 | “Up in the Air” Written by Jason Reitman Based on the novel by Walter Kirn |
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| 4 | “The Lovely Bones” Written by Phillipa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh Based on the novel by Alice Sebold |
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| 5 | “Nine” Written by Michael Tolkin, Anthony Minghella Based on the novel by Arthur L. Kopit |
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| 6 | “Invictus” Written by Anthony Peckham Based on the book “Playing the Enemy” by John Carlin |
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| 7 | “The Informant!” Written by Scott Z. Burns Based on the book by Kurt Eichenwald |
NEW |
| 8 | “Amelia” Written by Ronald Bass Source material to be determined |
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| 9 | “Where the Wild Things Are” Written by Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze Based on the book by Maurice Sendak |
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| 10 | “The Men Who Stare at Goats” Written by Peter Straughan Based on the book by Jon Ronson |
NEW |
| WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Up” Written by Bob Peterson |
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| 2 | “A Serious Man” Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen |
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| 3 | “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal |
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| 4 | “The Tree of Life” Written by Terrence Malick |
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| 5 | “(500) Days of Summer” Written by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber |
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| 6 | “Broken Embraces” Written by Pedro Almodóvar |
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| 7 | “District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell |
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| 8 | “Avatar” Written by James Cameron |
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| 9 | “It’s Complicated” Written by Nancy Meyers |
NEW |
| 10 | “Bright Star” Written by Jane Campion |
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| ANIMATED FEATURE FILM | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Up” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 3 | “Coraline” Focus Features |
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| 3 | “Ponyo” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 4 | “9” Focus Features |
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| 5 | “The Princess and the Frog” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 6 | “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” 20th Century Fox |
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| 7 | “Monsters vs. Aliens” DreamWorks SKG |
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| 8 | “A Christmas Carol” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 9 | “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Sony Pictures |
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| 10 | “Planet 51” Sony Pictures |
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