Hurrah! It’s the golden event of the cinematic calender, where dreams are crushed, legends are made and celebrities get very, very, inappropriately drunk. What’s not to look forward to?

This year’s Oscar nominations have been announced, and though there’s a whole bundle of predictable appearances (Avatar for Best Picture and Best Director? We don’t believe it!) there are a few surprises too. Carey Mulligan and Colin Firth are doin’ it for the Brits in the Best Actress and Actor categories, Penelope Cruz has put in a surprise appearance in the Best Supporting Actress Category for her performance in Nine, and Star Trek is no-where to be seen. Bad luck boys. The whole list is printed below for your delectation, and we can’t bloomin wait for the big day on March 7th. The question is, who should walk away with the booty and who should walk away with a punch to the thoat courtesy of Russel Crowe? Have a look and make up your minds…

Best Picture

Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourous Basterds
Precious
A Serious Man
Up
Up In The Air

Best Actor In A Leading Role

Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up In The Air
Colin Firth – Single Man
Morgan Freeman – Invictus
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Best Actress In A Leading Role

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sibide – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie and Julia

Best Actor In A Supporting Role

Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz – Inglorious Basterds

Best Actress In A Supporting Role

Penelope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farminga – Up In Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick – Up In Air
Monique – Precious

Best Director

James Cameron – Avatar
Kathyn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino – Inglorious Basterds
Lee Daniels – Precious
Jason Reitman – Up In The Air

Foreign Language Film

Ajami
El Secreto de Sus Ojos
The Milk of Sorrow
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon

Best Original Screenplay

The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The Messenger
A Serious Man
Up

Best Adapted Screenplay

District 9
An Education
In The Loop
Precious
Up In The Air

Best Animated Feature Film

Coraline
Fantastic Mr Fox
The Princess And The Frog
The Secret Of Kells
Up

Art Direction

Avatar
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
Sherlock Holmes
The Young Victoria

Cinematography

Avatar
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
The White Ribbon

Costume Design

Bright Star
Coco Before Chanel
The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
Nine
The Young Victoria

Documentary Feature

Burma VJ
The Cove
Food, Inc
Which Way Home

Documentary Short

China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
The Last Truck: Closing of GM Plant
Music by Prudence
Rabbit a la Berlin

Film Editing

Avatar
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious

Make-up

Il Divo
Star Trek
The Young Victoria

Music (Original Score)

Avatar
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Hurt Locker
Sherlock Holmes
Up

Music (Original Song)

The Princess and the Frog
Paris 36
Nine
Crazy Heart

Short film (Animated)

French Roast
Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
The Lady and the Reaper
Logorama
A Matter of Loaf and Death

Short Film (Live Action)

The Door
Instead of Abracadabra
Kavi
Miracle Fish
The New Tenants

Sound Editing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Up

Sound Mixing

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Star Trek
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Visual Effects

Avatar
District 9
Star Trek

Whew, if you’ve gotten this far, you’re obviously a dedicated film geek much like us. What’s your opinion on this year’s entrants? Let us know!