Oscar Nominations crowd the school | LA Times

With love from Tom and Pete? No Matt Damon again..none of them have really sold more than $20 million in new merchandise or related material yet

“Avatar” and “The Hurt Locker” have been duking it out all awards season. Now, the two films face their final showdown: They enter the 82nd annual Academy Awards prizefight with nine nominations apiece.

The films – which, coincidentally, are by former husband-and-wife James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow – couldn’t be more different. “Avatar” is an eye-popping 3-D science-fiction studio extravaganza: It is the most expensive film ever made

and has gone on to be the most successful film ever, earning more than $2 billion so far, worldwide. By contrast, “The Hurt Locker” is a gritty, low-budget, independent film about a bomb-disposal unit in the Iraq War. Though it has earned plenty of accolades this awards season, it has yet to crack the $13-million mark at the box office.

The films are two of the best picture nominees announced Tuesday morning by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, among an eclectic mix that included another sci-fi hit, “District 9,” another war film, “Inglourious Basterds” and the animated hit “Up,” which is only the second animated film ever to receive a nod in this category.

Other top nominees Tuesday morning were “Inglourious Basterds” with eight, “Precious” and “Up in the Air” with six apiece, and “Up,” which, in addition to its best picture nod also earned four other nominations, including best animated film.

The nominees for best director were as expected. They included: Cameron for “Avatar,” Kathryn Bigelow for “The Hurt Locker,” Lee Daniels for “Precious,” Quentin Tarantino for “Inglourious Basterds” and Jason Reitman for “Up in the Air.”

But two of the nominees were nonetheless noteworthy: Bigelow, who won the Directors Guild of America Award over the weekend, is only the fourth woman to earn a best director nod. Daniels is just the second African American filmmaker to earn that honor.

In the acting categories, the academy followed in the footsteps of the Golden Globes and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. The only real surprise was Maggie Gyllenhaal for best supporting actress for “Crazy Heart.” She had largely been overlooked this awards season.

The nominees for best actress included two veterans who had previously won in this category, as well as three newcomers to the fold: Sandra Bullock, earning her first-ever Oscar nomination for “The Blind Side,” and first-timers Carey Mulligan, nominated for “An Education,” and Gabourey Sidibe, nominated for “Precious.” They will compete with Helen Mirren, for “The Last Station,” and Meryl Streep, for “Julie & Julia.” With this nod, Streep has earned an unprecedented 16 Oscar nominations over the last 31 years. She has received two Oscars: best supporting actress for 1979′s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and best actress for 1982′s “Sophie’s Choice.”