NUTSHELL: With the Academy’s brazen decision to add five more slots in the Best Picture category comes any number of questions. Will films like “The Hurt Locker” find their way into the race? Will more populist entertainment finally be rewarded? Time will tell. What it means for the charts is an expanded list of 20 pictures. Films like “Funny People” and “Up in the Air” seem to make some sense as viable contenders now, while others like “Avatar” have a lot more room to breathe as Best Picture hopefuls.
Column: “The more the merrier?”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| BEST PICTURE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Invictus” Warner Bros. Pictures |
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| 2 | “Nine” The Weinstein Company |
— | 3 | “Precious” Lionsgate Films |
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| 4 | “Amelia” Fox Searchlight Pictures |
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| 5 | “Bright Star” Unnamed Bob Berney/Bill Polhad Company |
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| 6 | “The Lovely Bones” Paramount Pictures |
NEW |
| 7 | “Up” Walt Disney Pictures |
NEW |
| 8 | “The Hurt Locker” Summit Entertainment |
NEW |
| 9 | “Avatar” 20th Century Fox |
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| 10 | “An Education” Sony Pictures Classics |
NEW |
| 11 | “The Informant” Warner Bros. Pictures |
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| 12 | “Star Trek” Paramount Pictures |
NEW |
| 13 | “Public Enemies” Universal Pictures |
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| 14 | “The Road” The Weinstein Company |
NEW |
| 15 | “Funny People” Universal Pictures |
NEW |
| 16 | “Green Zone” Universal Pictures |
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| 17 | “Shutter Island” Paramount Pictures |
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| 18 | “Up in the Air” Paramount Pictures |
NEW |
| 19 | “A Serious Man” Focus Features |
NEW |
| 20 | “Where the Wild Things Are” Warner Bros. Pictures |
NEW |
| DIRECTING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clint Eastwood “Invictus” |
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| 2 | Rob Marshall “Nine” |
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| 3 | Lee Daniels “Precious” |
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| 4 | Jane Campion “Bright Star” |
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| 5 | Kathryn Bigelow “The Hurt Locker” |
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| 6 | Peter Jackson “The Lovely Bones” |
NEW |
| 7 | Mira Nair “Amelia” |
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| 8 | Steven Soderbergh “The Informant” |
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| 9 | James Cameron “Avatar” |
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| 10 | Lone Scherfig “An Education” |
NEW |
| ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan Freeman “Invictus” |
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| 2 | Daniel Day-Lewis “Nine” |
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| 3 | Matt Damon “The Informant” (or “Green Zone”) |
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| 4 | Jeremy Renner “The Hurt Locker” |
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5 | Viggo Mortensen “The Road” |
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| 6 | Johnny Depp “Public Enemies” |
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| 7 | Leonardo DiCaprio “Shutter Island” |
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| 8 | Ben Wishaw “Bright Star” |
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| 9 | George Clooney “Up in the Air” (or “Men Who Stare at Goats”) |
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| 10 | Peter Sarsgaard “An Education” |
NEW |
| 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” |
NEW |
| 4 | Abbie Cornish “Bright Star” |
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| 5 | Saoirse Ronan “The Lovely Bones” |
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| 6 | Penélope Cruz “Broken Embraces” |
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| 7 | Gabourey Sidibe “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” |
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| 8 | Shohreh Aghdashloo “The Stoning of Soraya M.” |
NEW |
| 9 | Michelle Pfeiffer “Chéri” |
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| 10 | Audrey Tautou “Coco avant Chanel” |
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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”) |
NEW |
| 5 | Alfred Molina “An Education” |
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| 6 | Stanley Tucci “The Lovely Bones” |
NEW |
| 7 | Anthony Mackie “The Hurt Locker” |
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| 8 | Paul Schnedier “Bright Star” |
NEW |
| 9 | Tobey Maguire “Brothers” |
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| 10 | Kodi Scott-McPhee “The Road” |
NEW |
| ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mo’nique “Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire” |
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| 2 | Judi Dench “Nine” |
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| 3 | Leslie Mann “Funny People” |
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| 4 | Emily Mortimer “Shutter Island” |
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| 5 | Penélope Cruz “Nine” |
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| 6 | Michelle Williams “Shutter Island” |
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| 7 | Marion Cotillard “Public Enemies” (or “Nine”) |
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| 9 | Rachel Weisz “The Lovely Bones” |
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| 10 | Kathy Bates “Chéri” |
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| WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Precious” Written by Damien Paul Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire |
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| 2 | “An Education” Written by Nick Hornby Based on the memoir by Lynn Barber |
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| 3 | “Nine” Written by Michael Tolkin, Anthony Minghella Based on the novel by Arthur L. Kopit |
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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 | “Up in the Air” Written by Jason Reitman Based on the novel by Walter Kirn |
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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 | “Shutter Island” Written by Laeta Kalogridis Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane |
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| 10 | “Public Enemies” Written by Ronan Bennett, Ann Biderman, Michael Mann Based on the book “Public Enemies: America’s Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-34 ” by Bryan Burrough |
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| WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Bright Star” Written by Jane Campion |
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| 2 | “Up” Written by Bob Peterson |
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| 3 | “A Serious Man” Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen |
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| 4 | “Broken Embraces” Written by Pedro Almodóvar |
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| 5 | “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal |
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| 6 | “Funny People” Written by Judd Apatow |
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| 7 | “The Boat That Rocked” Written by Richard Curtis |
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| 8 | “(500) Days of Summer” Written by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber |
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| 10 | “Avatar” Written by James Cameron |
NEW |
| ANIMATED FEATURE FILM | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Up” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 3 | “Coraline” Focus Features |
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| 3 | “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” 20th Century Fox |
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| 4 | “Ponyo” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 5 | “Monsters vs. Aliens” DreamWorks SKG |
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| 6 | “The Princess and the Frog” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 7 | “A Christmas Carol” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 8 | “9” Focus Features |
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| 9 | “Planet 51” Sony Pictures |
NEW |
| 10 | “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs” 20th Century Fox |
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