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| Oscars 2010 promise open field | Oscars 2010 promise open field |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| By Neil Smith Entertainment reporter, BBC News | By Neil Smith Entertainment reporter, BBC News |
| With three months to go before the Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, early indications suggest it will be one of the most open races in years. | With three months to go before the Academy Awards are held in Los Angeles, early indications suggest it will be one of the most open races in years. |
| Actor Alec Baldwin will co-host next year's Oscar ceremony | Actor Alec Baldwin will co-host next year's Oscar ceremony |
| Indeed, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seems to have anticipated this by opening the best picture category up to 10 movies, as opposed to the usual five. | Indeed, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences seems to have anticipated this by opening the best picture category up to 10 movies, as opposed to the usual five. |
| That is not the only change either. In order not to coincide with the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the 2010 Oscars will take place a fortnight later than this year's were. | That is not the only change either. In order not to coincide with the Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, the 2010 Oscars will take place a fortnight later than this year's were. |
| It will also boast not one but two hosts, the comedian Steve Martin sharing the presenting duties with actor Alec Baldwin. | It will also boast not one but two hosts, the comedian Steve Martin sharing the presenting duties with actor Alec Baldwin. |
| The 2010 Oscar nominations will not be announced until 2 February. Already, though, industry pundits are identifying potential runners, riders and also-rans. | The 2010 Oscar nominations will not be announced until 2 February. Already, though, industry pundits are identifying potential runners, riders and also-rans. |
| Here, then, is a rundown of some of the stars, films and film-makers we may be hearing more of in the weeks and months ahead. | Here, then, is a rundown of some of the stars, films and film-makers we may be hearing more of in the weeks and months ahead. |
| BEST PICTURE | BEST PICTURE |
| You have to go all the way back to 1944 for the last time 10 movies were shortlisted for the best picture Oscar. | You have to go all the way back to 1944 for the last time 10 movies were shortlisted for the best picture Oscar. |
| On that occasion Casablanca won the prize, picking up additional awards for its director and three screenwriters. | On that occasion Casablanca won the prize, picking up additional awards for its director and three screenwriters. |
| Mortensen (r) plays a father trying to keep his son alive in The Road | Mortensen (r) plays a father trying to keep his son alive in The Road |
| However, the decision to expand the field again is less to do with recognising more movies than with appealing to a wider audience. | However, the decision to expand the field again is less to do with recognising more movies than with appealing to a wider audience. |
| The general perception is the Academy celebrates niche pictures aimed at an art-house crowd - a notion it hopes to challenge by adding more populist nominees to next year's line-up. | The general perception is the Academy celebrates niche pictures aimed at an art-house crowd - a notion it hopes to challenge by adding more populist nominees to next year's line-up. |
| It is expected, for instance, that JJ Abrams's well-regarded Star Trek film will find a berth among this year's hopefuls. | It is expected, for instance, that JJ Abrams's well-regarded Star Trek film will find a berth among this year's hopefuls. |
| James Cameron's ambitious 3D blockbuster Avatar may also feature, with some tipping District 9 - a science-fiction adventure about bug-like aliens who become refugees on Earth - as an outside bet. | James Cameron's ambitious 3D blockbuster Avatar may also feature, with some tipping District 9 - a science-fiction adventure about bug-like aliens who become refugees on Earth - as an outside bet. |
| Take away the District and you have another potential contender - Nine, the big-screen version of the Broadway musical inspired by Federico Fellini's 1963 Oscar-winner 8 1/2. | Take away the District and you have another potential contender - Nine, the big-screen version of the Broadway musical inspired by Federico Fellini's 1963 Oscar-winner 8 1/2. |
| Director Rob Marshall has some previous in this department, having steered Chicago - another stage to screen transfer - to its best picture Oscar in 2003. | Director Rob Marshall has some previous in this department, having steered Chicago - another stage to screen transfer - to its best picture Oscar in 2003. |
| Clint Eastwood has become a regular fixture on Oscar night and is sure to be in contention again with the sport-based Invictus. | Clint Eastwood has become a regular fixture on Oscar night and is sure to be in contention again with the sport-based Invictus. |
| The drama - like District 9 - is set in South Africa and tells of how president Nelson Mandela united the country behind its World Cup-winning rugby team in 1995. | The drama - like District 9 - is set in South Africa and tells of how president Nelson Mandela united the country behind its World Cup-winning rugby team in 1995. |
| The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's drama about three bomb disposal experts stationed in Iraq, is generating a lot of positive buzz. | The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow's drama about three bomb disposal experts stationed in Iraq, is generating a lot of positive buzz. |
| Precious tells of an abused teenager (l) facing an uncertain future | Precious tells of an abused teenager (l) facing an uncertain future |
| Some optimistic pundits are also tipping another, rather different war movie as a best picture contender - Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino's flamboyant epic about commandos in Nazi-occupied France. | Some optimistic pundits are also tipping another, rather different war movie as a best picture contender - Inglourious Basterds, Quentin Tarantino's flamboyant epic about commandos in Nazi-occupied France. |
| A safer bet might be Precious, the hard-hitting tale of a high school student coping with obesity, illiteracy, illegitimate pregnancy and sexual abuse. | A safer bet might be Precious, the hard-hitting tale of a high school student coping with obesity, illiteracy, illegitimate pregnancy and sexual abuse. |
| No less gruelling is The Road, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel that could muscle into the final 10. | No less gruelling is The Road, an adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel that could muscle into the final 10. |
| McCarthy, you may recall, also penned No Country for Old Men, the book Joel and Ethan Coen adapted into an Oscar-winning hit. | McCarthy, you may recall, also penned No Country for Old Men, the book Joel and Ethan Coen adapted into an Oscar-winning hit. |
| The Coens are back this year with A Serious Man, a comedy drama based on their childhoods in Minneapolis, Minnesota. | The Coens are back this year with A Serious Man, a comedy drama based on their childhoods in Minneapolis, Minnesota. |
| The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel about a murdered child, is another book-inspired work that may make the shortlist. | The Lovely Bones, Peter Jackson's adaptation of Alice Sebold's novel about a murdered child, is another book-inspired work that may make the shortlist. |
| And with Pixar's Up heavily tipped to win the best animated feature Oscar, some are expecting it to be in with a shout in the best picture category as well. | And with Pixar's Up heavily tipped to win the best animated feature Oscar, some are expecting it to be in with a shout in the best picture category as well. |
| BEST ACTOR | BEST ACTOR |
| For many years, Morgan Freeman battled to turn Nelson Mandela's autobiography, Long Walk To Freedom, into a film. | |
| The fact he finally gets to play the South African icon in Invictus might therefore win him some consideration from the Academy's famously sentimental members. | The fact he finally gets to play the South African icon in Invictus might therefore win him some consideration from the Academy's famously sentimental members. |
| Morgan Freeman is reunited with director Clint Eastwood in Invictus | Morgan Freeman is reunited with director Clint Eastwood in Invictus |
| George Clooney missed out on a best actor Oscar last year when Daniel Day-Lewis beat him to the coveted prize. | George Clooney missed out on a best actor Oscar last year when Daniel Day-Lewis beat him to the coveted prize. |
| Their respective performances in romantic comedy Up in the Air and the aforementioned Nine opens up the possibility of a rematch. | Their respective performances in romantic comedy Up in the Air and the aforementioned Nine opens up the possibility of a rematch. |
| Strangely enough, Viggo Mortensen was also nominated that year and may be so again for The Road. | Strangely enough, Viggo Mortensen was also nominated that year and may be so again for The Road. |
| Homegrown interest, meanwhile, is sure to focus on Colin Firth, considered a strong contender for his role as a grief-stricken gay academic in A Single Man. | Homegrown interest, meanwhile, is sure to focus on Colin Firth, considered a strong contender for his role as a grief-stricken gay academic in A Single Man. |
| Other possible nominees include Matt Damon, whose performances as an FBI whistle-blower in The Informant! and as South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar could conceivably see him cited in both the best actor and best supporting actor categories. | Other possible nominees include Matt Damon, whose performances as an FBI whistle-blower in The Informant! and as South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar could conceivably see him cited in both the best actor and best supporting actor categories. |
| There is a chance Jeff Bridges might also make the cut for his role as a hard-drinking country music singer in Crazy Heart. | There is a chance Jeff Bridges might also make the cut for his role as a hard-drinking country music singer in Crazy Heart. |
| BEST ACTRESS | BEST ACTRESS |
| Last February Kate Winslet received this award for her portrayal as a former concentration camp guard in The Reader. | Last February Kate Winslet received this award for her portrayal as a former concentration camp guard in The Reader. |
| And early indications suggest Britain's best chances of Oscar success in 2010 will also be found in this hotly contested category. | And early indications suggest Britain's best chances of Oscar success in 2010 will also be found in this hotly contested category. |
| Mulligan plays a schoolgirl on the cusp of adulthood in An Education | Mulligan plays a schoolgirl on the cusp of adulthood in An Education |
| Dame Helen Mirren, who received this award in 2007 for The Queen, is tipped to feature again for her role as Tolstoy's mercurial wife in The Last Station. | Dame Helen Mirren, who received this award in 2007 for The Queen, is tipped to feature again for her role as Tolstoy's mercurial wife in The Last Station. |
| The smart money, though, is on newcomer Carey Mulligan, whose performance as a precocious 1960s schoolgirl in An Education has been tipped for glory on both sides of the Atlantic. | The smart money, though, is on newcomer Carey Mulligan, whose performance as a precocious 1960s schoolgirl in An Education has been tipped for glory on both sides of the Atlantic. |
| Australia's Abbie Cornish may also land a nomination for her role as John Keats's neighbour in the period drama Bright Star. | Australia's Abbie Cornish may also land a nomination for her role as John Keats's neighbour in the period drama Bright Star. |
| The endearingly full-figured Gabourey Sidibe, star of Precious, is another fresh talent who could be recognised. | The endearingly full-figured Gabourey Sidibe, star of Precious, is another fresh talent who could be recognised. |
| Serial Oscar nominee Meryl Streep, meanwhile, will surely be up for an award for which she has been nominated a remarkable 12 times. | Serial Oscar nominee Meryl Streep, meanwhile, will surely be up for an award for which she has been nominated a remarkable 12 times. |
| Will her next nod be for her portrayal of eccentric cookery guru Julia Child in Julie and Julia, however, or for her upcoming turn opposite Steve Martin - yes, him again - in romantic comedy It's Complicated? | Will her next nod be for her portrayal of eccentric cookery guru Julia Child in Julie and Julia, however, or for her upcoming turn opposite Steve Martin - yes, him again - in romantic comedy It's Complicated? |