Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead the Oscars race with nine nominations each, while British contenders Colin Firth, Carey Mulligan and Dame Helen Mirren are shortlisted for acting honours.
By Anita Singh
They join The Blind Side, District 9, An Education, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, A Serious Man, Up and Up in The Air in the best picture category - the number of contenders this year has been doubled to 10.
The best director category is likely to be a straight fight between Avatar's James Cameron and The Hurt Locker's Kathryn Bigelow. The couple divorced in 1991 and maintain a friendly rivalry. The momentum is with Bigelow after she won the Directors Guild of America honour last week. She is only the fourth female best director nominee in Oscar history and would be the first winner.
Also in the category are Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds, Lee Daniels for Precious and Jason Reitman for Up In The Air.
Mulligan, 24, is a best actress nominee for her first starring role, in coming-of-age tale An Education. The film also has a best adapted screenplay nomination for Nick Hornby, whose script is based on Lynn Barber's memoir.
Dame Helen is nominated for her performance as Sofya Tolstoy, wife of writer Leo Tolstoy, in The Last Station.
The other best actress nominees are Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side, Gabourey Sidibe for Precious and Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia. Bullock is the frontrunner after winning the Golden Globe last month. Streep extended her record as the most nominated performer in Oscars history - this is her 16th nod.
The best actor category also held no surprises. Colin Firth's performance as a bereaved gay professor in Tom Ford's A Single Man will compete with Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, George Clooney in Up In The Air, Morgan Freeman in Invictus and Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker.
In The Loop, Armando Iannucci's biting political satire based on TV series The Thick Of It, is a contender for best adapted screenplay.
Nick Park's most recent Wallace and Gromit adventure, A Matter of Loaf and Death, is nominated for best animated short film.
In the best supporting actress category, Up In The Air co-stars Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick will vie with Penelope Cruz for Nine, Maggie Gyllenhaal for Crazy Heart and Mo'Nique for Precious.
Best supporting actor will go to either Matt Damon for Invictus, Woody Harrelson for The Messenger, Christopher Plummer for The Last Station, Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones, or - most likely - Christoph Waltz for his scene-stealing role as an SS colonel in Inglourious Basterds.
The Academy Awards will take place on March 7.
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