The nominations for the 82nd Annual Academy Awards have been released, and there are a few small and pleasant surprises in the list. The list of ten films nominated for Best Picture is causing some sensation, as District 9 is among the group. Lest that make you too hopeful, The Blind Side also got a Best Picture nod, though after the success of that film in the past two months that isn’t much of a surprise. Audible cheers went up among the media audience when that and Sandra Bullock’s Best Actress nomination were announced.

There are some good small surprises: Woody Harrelson got a Best Supporting Actor nod for his excellent work in The Messenger; Joel and Ethan Coen got a Best Original Screenplay nod for A Serious Man and their film is up for Best Picture; and Jeremy Renner got a Best Actor nod for The Hurt Locker. As expected, James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow both have Best Director Nominations, and their films Avatar and The Hurt Locker are competing for Best Picture. The full list of noms is after the break.

For Best Picture, we’ve got Avatar, The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up and Up in the Air.

The Best Director nods mirror the Best Picture category, as James Cameron, Kathryn Bigelow, Lee Daniels, Jason Reitman and Quentin Tarantino all received nominations. Consider their movies the core Best Picture contenders; everything else is riding the wave of the field being expanded from five to ten. If you want to narrow the Best Picture field further, look at the Editing and Cinematography nods — Avatar, The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds placed there, too. Those are probably the three films truly in contention.

After announcing in 2008 that he’d be at Cannes 2009 with Inglourious Basterds, an achievement many doubted he’d follow through on, Tarantino has had a hell of a year with the film. Loving the Best Picture surprises (An Education, A Serious Man, District 9), even though the category probably comes down to Avatar and The Hurt Locker.  Precious was a lock (while I think Daniels doesn’t deserve to be near the Best Director slot given some of the non-nominated competition) and most of the rest of the list was as close to predetermined as they come.

Most will be happy to see Jeff Bridges get a nomination for Crazy Heart, and I love seeing Jeremy Renner in the Best Actor list. The fact that Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon got Best Actor and Supporting Actor nods for Invictus isn’t a huge shock — this is the Academy after all. Be glad the movie isn’t hogging other slots. Good also to see Carey Mulligan take a Best Actress nom for An Eduction. And In the Loop, An Education and District 9 all with Adapted Screenplay nods? Fantastic.

Here’s the full list of nominations:

BEST PICTURE:
Avatar
The Blind Side
District 9
An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air

DIRECTING:
Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
James Cameron - Avatar
Lee Daniels - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE:
Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE:
Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station
Stanley Tucci - The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE:
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal - Crazy Heart
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo’Nique - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY:
Neill Blomkamp and - District 9
Nick Hornby - An Education
Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche - In the Loop
Geoffrey Fletcher - Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner - Up in the Air

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY:
Mark Boal - The Hurt Locker
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds
Oren Moverman and - The Messenger
Joel and Ethan Coen - A Serious Man
Pete Docter and Bob Peterson - Up

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
Ajami  - Israel
El Secreto de sus Ojos - Argentina
The Milk of Sorrow
Une Prophéte  - France
The White Ribbon - Germany

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
The Secret of the Kells
Up

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:
Maurio Fiore - Avatar
Bruno Delbonnel - Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Barry Ackroyd - The Hurt Locker
Robert Richardson - Inglourious Basterds
Christian Berger - The White Ribbon

FILM EDITING:
Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron - Avatar
Julian Clarke - District 9
Bob Murawski and Chris Innis - The Hurt Locker
Sally Menke - Inglourious Basterds
Joe Klotz - Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire