And finally, the big one. This year's Best Picture nominees were even more numerous than ever, due to the expansion of the category into ten slots instead of just five.
Of course, despite that there are ten slots, the race is only between three movies. Sorry, An Education, Precious, Up, Up in the Air, District 9 (most original BP nominee ever), The Blind Side, and A Serious Man, but this race is between the other three guys. Be happy you got the nominations, though, because five of you might not have even gotten a nomination (though I'm glad you did -- except for you, Blind Side).
The third choice is Inglourious Basterds, which might manage to claim the title if Avatar and The Hurt Locker manage to hurt each other enough to allow the film to make a surprise victory. However, a more likely scenario is that the two war films will cull each other, and Avatar will emerge the victor.
Of course, Avatar deserves to win, voting aside. It's already the highest-grossing film of ALL TIME (not adjusted for inflation). ALL TIME! And not only that, it's changed the industry. More films are being developed in 3D for 2010 than for all the previous years combined. Already, Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland has solidified the impact that Avatar had. Avatar made 3D cool again. It didn't reserve the effect for kiddie movies like Journey to the Center of the Earth and Sharkboy and Lavagirl. It proved that a serious, legitimate film could use 3D and still be awesome.
Of course, Avatar doesn't need an Oscar to be great. But it sure would be icing on the cake.
[...] Best Picture [...]