NUTSHELL: As the season slowly comes into focus, studios begin shifting release dates and priming their festival calendars. There’s still little to be heard about a number of the highly anticipated heavies (Peter Jackson’s “The Lovely Bones,” Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus,” Martin Scorsese’s “Shutter Island”), but the most striking thing about this month’s chart revision is how indie-heavy the Best Picture slate is shaping up to be. Positive early word on Jason Reitman’s “Up in the Air” joins already enthusiastic notices for Lee Daniels’s “Precious” and Lone Scherfig’s “An Education” on that front. It’s all guess work right now, of course, but maybe an extra five nominations won’t yield the commercial upswing many were anticipating.
Column: “Whittling further as convention flees”
Sort charts by: Main Categories/Technical Categories
| BEST PICTURE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Invictus” Warner Bros. Pictures |
— |
| 2 | “Nine” The Weinstein Company |
— | 3 | “Precious” Lionsgate Films |
— |
| 4 | “Bright Star” Unnamed Bob Berney/Bill Polhad Company |
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| 5 | “An Education” Sony Pictures Classics |
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| 6 | “Up” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 7 | “Amelia” Fox Searchlight Pictures |
 |
| 8 | “Up in the Air” Paramount Pictures |
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| 9 | “The Hurt Locker” Summit Entertainment |
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| 10 | “Capitalism: A Love Story” Overture Films |
NEW |
| 11 | “The Lovely Bones” Paramount Pictures |
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| 12 | “Avatar” 20th Century Fox |
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| 13 | “Star Trek” Paramount Pictures |
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| 14 | “The Cove” Roadside Attractions |
NEW |
| 15 | “A Serious Man” Focus Features |
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| 16 | “Where the Wild Things Are” Warner Bros. Pictures |
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| 17 | “Shutter Island” Paramount Pictures |
— |
| 18 | “Julie & Julia” Columbia Pictures |
NEW |
| 19 | “The Road” The Weinstein Company |
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| 20 | “Public Enemies” Universal Pictures |
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| DIRECTING | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clint Eastwood “Invictus” |
— |
| 2 | Rob Marshall “Nine” |
— |
| 3 | Lee Daniels “Precious” |
— |
| 4 | Jane Campion “Bright Star” |
— |
| 5 | Kathryn Bigelow “The Hurt Locker” |
— |
| 6 | Jason Reitman “Up in the Air” |
NEW |
| 7 | Lone Scherfig “An Education” |
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| 8 | James Cameron “Avatar” |
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| 9 | Peter Jackson “The Lovely Bones” |
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| 10 | Spike Jonze “Where the Wild Things Are” |
NEW |
| ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morgan Freeman “Invictus” |
— |
| 2 | Daniel Day-Lewis “Nine” |
— |
| 3 | Viggo Mortensen “The Road” |
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| 4 | George Clooney “Up in the Air” (or “Men Who Stare at Goats”) |
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| 5 | Jeremy Renner “The Hurt Locker” |
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| 6 | Matt Damon “The Informant!” |
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| 7 | Leonardo DiCaprio “Shutter Island” |
— |
| 8 | Michael Stuhlbarg “A Serious Man” |
NEW |
| 9 | Ethan Hawke “Brooklyn’s Finest” |
NEW |
| 10 | Peter Sarsgaard “An Education” |
— |
| ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hilary Swank “Amelia” |
— |
| 2 | Carey Mulligan “An Education” |
— |
| 3 | Meryl Streep “Julie & Julia” |
— |
| 4 | Abbie Cornish “Bright Star” |
— |
| 5 | Saoirse Ronan “The Lovely Bones” |
— |
| 6 | Penélope Cruz “Broken Embraces” |
— |
| 7 | Gabourey Sidibe “Precious” |
— |
| 8 | Charlize Theron “The Burning Plain” |
NEW |
| 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” |
— |
| 2 | Richard Kind “A Serious Man” |
— |
| 3 | Christoph Waltz “Inglourious Basterds” |
— |
| 4 | Richard Gere “Amelia” (or “Brooklyn’s Finest”) |
— |
| 5 | Alfred Molina “An Education” |
— |
| 6 | Stanley Tucci “The Lovely Bones” (or “Julie & Julia”) |
— |
| 7 | Anthony Mackie “The Hurt Locker” |
— |
| 8 | Paul Schneider “Bright Star” |
— |
| 9 | Tobey Maguire “Brothers” |
— |
| 10 | Kodi Smit-McPhee “The Road” |
— |
| ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mo’nique “Precious” |
— |
| 2 | Judi Dench “Nine” |
— |
| 3 | Rachel Weisz “The Lovely Bones” |
|
| 4 | Penélope Cruz “Nine” |
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| 5 | Anna Kendrick “Up in the Air” |
NEW |
| 6 | Marion Cotillard “Public Enemies” (or “Nine”) |
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| 7 | Imelda Staunton “Taking Woodstock” |
NEW |
| 8 | Emily Mortimer “Shutter Island” |
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| 9 | Michelle Williams “Shutter Island” |
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| 10 | Nicole Kidman “Nine” |
NEW |
| WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Precious” Written by Damien Paul Based on the novel “Push” by Sapphire |
— |
| 2 | “An Education” Written by Nick Hornby Based on the memoir by Lynn Barber |
— |
| 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 |
— |
| 7 | “Amelia” Written by Ronald Bass Source material to be determined |
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| 8 | “Shutter Island” Written by Laeta Kalogridis Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane |
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| 9 | “Where the Wild Things Are” Written by Dave Eggers, Spike Jonze Based on the book by Maurice Sendak |
NEW |
| 10 | “Julie & Julia” Written by Nora Ephron Based on the book by Julie Powell |
NEW |
| WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY) | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Bright Star” Written by Jane Campion |
— |
| 2 | “Up” Written by Bob Peterson |
— |
| 3 | “A Serious Man” Written by Ethan Coen, Joel Coen |
— |
| 4 | “Broken Embraces” Written by Pedro Almodóvar |
— |
| 5 | “The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal |
— |
| 6 | “(500) Days of Summer” Written by Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber |
|
| 7 | “Brooklyn’s Finest” Written by Michael C. Martin |
NEW |
| 8 | “Avatar” Written by James Cameron |
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| 9 | “Funny People” Written by Judd Apatow |
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| 10 | “Capitalism: A Love Story” Written by Michael Moore |
NEW |
| ANIMATED FEATURE FILM | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | “Up” Walt Disney Pictures |
— |
| 3 | “Coraline” Focus Features |
— |
| 3 | “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” 20th Century Fox |
— |
| 4 | “Ponyo” Walt Disney Pictures |
— |
| 5 | “9” Focus Features |
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| 6 | “Monsters vs. Aliens” DreamWorks SKG |
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| 7 | “The Princess and the Frog” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 8 | “A Christmas Carol” Walt Disney Pictures |
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| 9 | “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” Sony Pictures |
NEW |
| 10 | “Planet 51” Sony Pictures |
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