Best Original Screenplay

• Moon by Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker
  
• (500) Days of Summer by Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
  
• The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke
  
• Goodbye Solo by Bahareh Azimi and Ramin Bahrani
  
• Inglorious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino
  

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Where the Wild Things Are by Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers
• The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach
• An Education by Nick Hornby
• Up in the Air by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner
  
• Invictus by Anthony Peckham
  

Best Cinematography

• The Hurt Locker - Barry Ackroyd
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - Lance Acord
  
• The White Ribbon - Christian Berger
• Star Trek - Daniel Mindel
  
• A Serious Man - Roger Deakins
  

Best Editing

• Star Trek - Maryann Brandon
  
• Avatar - James Cameron, John Refoua and Stephen E. Rivkin
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - James Haygood and Eric Zumbrunnen
  
• The Hurt Locker - Chris Innis and Bob Murawski
  
• Inglorious Basterds - Sally Menke
  

Best Art Direction and Set Decoration

• The Road - Gershon Ginsburg and Robert Greenfield
  
• Star Trek - Keith P. Cunningham and Karen Manthey
  
• An Education - Ben Smith and Anna Lynch-Robinson
  
• The White Ribbon - Anja Mueller and Heije Wolfe
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - Jeffrey Thorp and Simon McCutcheon
  

Best Costumes

• Where the Wild Things Are - Casey Strom
• Star Trek - Michael Kaplan
  
• The White Ribbon - Moidele Bickel
  
• An Education - Odile Dicks-Mireaux
  
• Inglorious Basterds - Anna B. Sheppard
  

Best Makeup

• The Road - Toni G.
  
• District 9 - Leon von Solms and Joe Dunckley
  
• Star Trek - Mindy Hall
  

Best Visual Effects

• Star Trek
• Avatar
• Where the Wild Things Are
  

Best Sound Effects

• Star Trek -
  
• Where the Wild Things Are
  
• The Hurt Locker
  

Best Original Score

• Star Trek - Michael Giacchino
  
• Invictus - Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens
  
• Avatar - James Horner
  
• Where the Wild Things Are - Carter Burwell and Karen O.
  
• The Hurt Locker - Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
  

Best Original Song

• All is Love by Karen O and the Kids ( Where the Wild Things Are)
• Worried Shoes by Karen O and the Kids (Where the Wild Things Are)
• Invictus 9,000 Days by Overtone and Yollandi Nortjie (Invictus)
  

Best Music
This is an original category to this blog, this award is for the best use of non-original music in a motion picture.

• Invictus
• Up in the Air
• (500) Days of Summer
• The Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Hangover
  

Best Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

• Up in the Air - George Clooney, Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Amy Morton, Melanie Lynskey, J.K. Simmons, Sam Elliot, Zach Galifanakis and Steave Eastin
  
• The White Ribbon - Christian Friedel, Leonie Benesch, Lurich Tukur, Ursina Lardi, Fion Mutert, Burghart Klaubner, Steffi Kuhnert, Maria-Victoria Dragus, Leonard Proxauf, Johanna Busse, Rainer Bock, Susanne Lothar, Eddy Grahl, Janina Fautz, Detlev Buck and Roxanne Duran
  
• Precious - Gabourey Sidibe, Mo'Nique, Paula Patton, Mariah Carey, Sherri Shepherd, Lenny Kravitz, Stephanie Andjuar, Chyna Layne, Amina Robinson, Xovha Roquemore and Angelic Zambrana
  
• An Education - Carey Mulligan, Olivia Williams, Alfred Molina, Cara Seymour, Matthew Beard, Peter Sarsgaard, Dominic Cooper, Rosamund Pike, Amanda Fairbank-Hynes, Ellie Kendrick and Emma Thompson
  
• The Hurt Locker - Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, David Morse, Evangeline Lilly and Christian Camargo
  

Of course it is very important to note that many awards contenders were not eligible due to studios' lack of faith in their ability to earn money, and hence many of them played in between 1 and 5 theaters in Canada. (Crazy Heart, A Single Man, The Last Station None of them within 4 hours of where I live. There are also many I just couldn't get to see (The Blindside, The Messenger, Julie & Julia, The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans). This is based on the many films I have seen. And if you're wondering about the strong showing from Hurt Locker despite a mixed review, I re-watched it with more evened expectations and appreciated it greatly. When I post a commentary on the Oscar Nominations, I may include a commentary or explanation of these. Oh and mark: 1:55am eastern standard time, six hours before the Oscar nominations are announced, so these are completely uninfluenced by the only movie awards that really matter. (The Guild awards are good, but every-time I mention them to someone, I get "The whats?")