For the first time since 1943, the Oscars feature ten best-picture contenders instead of the standard five. Also nominated for the coveted top honor are District 9, the sci-fi film about aliens stranded on Earth and quarantined in apartheid-type camps, Tarantino's history-rewriting Nazi hunt Inglorious Bastards, teen tale An Education, the Coen Bros. A Serious Man, George Clooney's mile-high Up in the Air, football drama The Blind Side and Lee Daniels' gut-punch drama Precious, which landed six nominations.  Also included is the Disney/Pixar film Up, marking only the second time an animated feature received an Oscar nomination for best picture. Beauty and the Beast was the first, nominated in 1991.

Acting nominees include four dominators of previous awards shows for the same roles: Sandra Bullock for the football drama The Blind Side and Jeff Bridges for the aging country-crooner tale Crazy Heart. Supporting performers nominated were Mo’Nique for Precious and Christoph Waltz for his unforgettable role as the Jew Hunter in Inglourious Basterds. Mo'Nique, who is a favorite to win, couldn't hurt her chances by getting on the good side of a razor - or hedge clippers. 

The controversy will likely be kept to a minimum outside the best picture and director categories, but both will see heated contention in the month running up to the awards. Tarantino's work on Inglourious Basterds was a feather in the cap of the legendary director, but will stand not against Kathryn Bigelow's impeccable job on Hurt Locker, as well as a man who walks the walk as a game changer of the industry, Avatar's James Cameron. And naturally, there'll be a Smurf uprising if anything gets in the way of Avatar's complete domination of everything everywhere - but it's got some hot competition in the running. 

The Academy Awards will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide. Below are a list of the primary nominees - for the full list head to ComingSoon.net!

BEST PICTURE:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

DIRECTING:
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Magie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of the Kells
Up

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Neill Blomkamp and - District 9
Nick Hornby - An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche - In the Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon - The Messenger
Joel and Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Pete Docter and Bob Peterson - Up

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Ajami - Israel
El Secreto de sus Ojos - Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow - Peru
Une Prophéte - France
The White Ribbon - Germany