Avatar and The Hurt Locker led the pack, each with nine nods, when the official list of nominations for the 82nd Academy Awards was announced Tuesday morning. No surprises there as everyone has been expecting the two movies, made by former spouses who remain good friends — Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron — to go head to head. And so they will, in a total of seven categories: Best Picture, Cinematography, Directing, Film Editing, Music (Original Score), Sound Editing and Sound Mixing.

Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq war drama also landed nods for Makeup and Writing, while James Cameron's 3D fantasy was nominated for Art Direction and Visual Effects.

Also nominated in the Best Picture category, which opens up to include ten movies this year, are the feel-good sports drama, The Blind Side; the coming-of-age tale, An Education; the South African sci-fi dark comedy, District 9; the World War II reimagining, Inglourious Basterds; the heartrending indie drama, Precious; the bleakly comic A Serious Man; the family animation Up; and the timely tale of personal reckoning Up in the Air.

Meryl Streep earned her 16th Oscar nomination with a Best Actress nod for Julie & Julia and Sandra Bullock landed one for her portrayal of a suburban mom with a heart of gold in The Blind Side. Also nominated for Best Actress are Helen Mirren (The Last Station), Carey Mulligan (An Education), and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious).

The Best Actor contenders are Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).

Christoph Waltz got a Best Supporting Actor nod for playing a sadistic Nazi in Inglourious Basterds. He is joined by Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christopher Plummer (Station) and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones).

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