…and I thought I might list who I think the nominees might be. The official nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards will be announced on February 2, 2010 at 5:30am PST. (Right after the hunnies have died).

Now for this post, I am listing who I think is most likely to be nominated for an Academy Award (in my humble opinion). I definitely am not saying that these people/movies are my favorite but I’m trying to think like a haughty member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences but in some cases, I might agree. I’ll let you know what I think as I go.

Anyway, it’ll be fun to see what happens on February 2 and then at the big event on March 7! Once the nominations come out, I’ll post again and see how close I came to predicting the future. And then I’ll let you know who I think will win based on the actual nominations.

Happy Movie Watching!

And the nominees are…

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

  • Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
  • Mo’Nique, Precious (I really hope she wins. I loved her performance)
  • Julianne Moore, A Single Man
  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, Crazy Heart
  • Paula Patton, Precious

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

  • Guy Pearce, The Hurt Locker
  • Christophe Waltz, Inglorious Basterds (I hope he wins. He killed me!)
  • Stanley Tucci, Julie and Julia
  • Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
  • Christopher Plummer, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

Performance by an actress in a leading role

  • Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
  • Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
  • Meryl Streep, Julie and Julia (Streep made me giggle through the whole film)
  • Abbie Cornish, Bright Star
  • Carey Mulligan, An Education

Performance by an actor in a leading role

  • George Clooney, Up in the Air
  • Brad Pitt, Inglorious Basterds
  • Matt Damon, The Informant!
  • Morgan Freeman, Invictus
  • Colin Firth, A Single Man (I hope he wins. What an interesting character!)

Best animated feature film of the year

  • The Fantastic Mr. Fox (One of the cutest animated movies I’ve seen EVER!)
  • The Princess and the Frog
  • Coraline
  • 9
  • Up

Adapted Screenplay

  • Cormac McCarthy & Joe Penhall, The Road (So creepy. So good).
  • Julie Powell & Nora Ephron, Julie and Julia
  • Sapphire & Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious
  • Nick Hornby & Lynn Barber, An Education
  • John Carlin & Anthony Peckham, Invictus

Original Screenplay

  • Jane Campion, Bright Star
  • Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds (Such an interesting twist on history)
  • Michael Weber & Scott Neustadter, (500) Days of Summer (Cute but unlikely)
  • Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatcell, District 9 (Very thought provoking)
  • James Cameron, Avatar

Achievement in directing

  • Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
  • Quentin Tarantino, Inglorious Basterds
  • James Cameron, Avatar (He’s the likely winner but come on)
  • John Hillcoat, The Road
  • Jason Reitman, Up in the Air

Best motion picture of the year

  • Inglorious Basterds
  • Up in the Air (This seems like the likely contender).
  • Avatar
  • An Education
  • The Road (I hope it gets a nomination. This may have been the least recognized but really good movie of the season).