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Los Angeles. Oscar voters broke with tradition on Tuesday, handing best film nominations to two science-fiction movies, among them box-office smash hit “Avatar,” which earned nine nominations overall.
The Iraq war movie “The Hurt Locker” also got nine nominations, including one for Kathryn Bigelow, who will be competing against ex-husband James Cameron, the mastermind of “Avatar,” for the best director award.
Bigelow’s nomination was a rarity. Only three other women, including Sofia Coppola for 2003’s “Lost in Translation,” have been nominated for best director in the 80-plus years since the world’s top film honors have been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. No woman has ever won.
Joining “Avatar,” which has taken in more than $2 billion at box offices, and “The Hurt Locker” in the best film field is the Disney animated movie “Up,” about an elderly man and a boy who go on an adventure after he ties helium-filled balloons to his house. “Up,” which was also nominated for best animated movie, is only the second animated film to earn a best picture nomination, after 1991’s “Beauty and the Beast.”
Meryl Streep’s performance in “Julie and Julia” earned her 16th Oscar nomination, including a 13th for best lead actress. She passed Katharine Hepburn, who had 12, in the top category to become the most-nominated lead actress in Oscar history.
Academy voters expanded the field of best-film nominees from five movies to 10 this year. The list includes Quentin Tarantino’s World War II fantasy “Inglourious Basterds,” which had eight nominations.
Also in the running are the corporate downsizing film “Up in the Air” and urban drama “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire,” with six nominations each. In a mild surprise, South African sci-fi film “District 9” also made the list. Only two other sci-fi films have been nominated for best motion picture: “Star Wars” and “E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.”
Veteran Oscar watcher Tom O’Neil of TheEnvelope.com called the race a “David and Goliath matchup” between major studio film “Avatar” and the low-budget “The Hurt Locker.”
Nominations for best actor went to Jeff Bridges for playing a drunken country singer in “Crazy Heart,” George Clooney as a corporate hatchet man in “Up in the Air,” Jeremy Renner as a bomb specialist in “The Hurt Locker,” Colin Firth for “A Single Man” and Morgan Freeman for “Invictus.”
Joining Streep, who portrayed chef Julia Child, was Sandra Bullock as a wealthy woman who plucks a homeless teen off the streets and helps him become a sports star in “The Blind Side,” Helen Mirren in “The Last Station,” Carey Mulligan for “An Education” and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious.”

The Big 10
the Oscars feature 10 contenders for best picture instead of the usual five. The nominees are: 3-D fantasy Avatar; Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker; Alien drama District 9; Animated comedy Up; War saga Inglourious Basterds; Football drama The Blind Side;
Recession tale Up in The Air; 1960s drama A Serious Man; Teen tales An Education and Precious: Based on the Novel `Push’ By Sapphire