BEST PICTURE
Projected Nominees
[1] “Up in the Air” (Paramount, 12/4, trailer) ▲
[2] “The Hurt Locker” (Summit, 6/26, trailer) ▲
[3] “Avatar” (20th Century Fox, 12/18, trailer) ▲
[4] “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company, 8/21, trailer) ▲
[5] “Precious” (Lions Gate, 11/6, trailer) ▲
[6] “Invictus” (Warner Brothers, 12/11, trailer)
[7] “Nine” (The Weinstein Company, 12/18, trailer)
[8] “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics, 10/9, trailer)
[9] “Up” (Disney, 5/29, trailer)
[10] “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope, 11/13, trailer) ▲
Major Threats
[11] “A Serious Man” (Focus Features, 10/2, trailer) ▼
[12] “Julie & Julia” (Columbia, 8/7, trailer)
[13] “Star Trek” (Paramount, 5/8, trailer) ▼
[14] “500 Days of Summer” (Fox Searchlight, 7/17, trailer) ▲
[15] “It’s Complicated” (Universal, 12/25, trailer) ▲
[16] “Bright Star” (Apparation, 9/18, trailer) ▼
[17] “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics, 12/23, trailer) ▲
On the Outside
[18] “The Blind Side” (Warner Brothers, 11/20, trailer)
[19] “Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Brothers, 12/25, trailer) ▼
[20] “Brothers” (Lions Gate, 12/4, trailer)
[21] “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company, 12/11, trailer)
[22] “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight, 12/16, trailer)
[23] “The Hangover” (Warner Brothers, 5/5, trailer) ▲
[24] “The Road” (The Weinstein Company, 11/25, trailer)
[25] “The Lovely Bones” (Paramount, 12/11, trailer) ▼
[26] “District 9” (TriStar, 8/14, trailer) ▲

BEST DIRECTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”)
[2] Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”)
[3] James Cameron (“Avatar”)
[4] Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[5] Lee Daniels (“Precious”)
Major Threats
[6] Clint Eastwood (“Invictus”)
[7] Rob Marshall (“Nine”)
[8] Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
On the Outside
[9] Lone Scherfig (“An Education”)
[10] Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
[11] Peter Jackson (“The Lovely Bones”)
[12] Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (“Up”)
[13] Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”)

BEST ACTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] Jeff Bridges (“Crazy Heart”) ▲
[2] George Clooney (“Up in the Air”) ▲
[3] Morgan Freeman (“Invictus”) ▲
[4] Colin Firth (“A Single Man”) ▲
[5] Jeremy Renner (“The Hurt Locker”) ▲
Major Threats
[6] Daniel Day-Lewis (“Nine”)
[7] Ben Foster (“The Messenger”)
[8] Michael Stuhlbarg (“A Serious Man”) ▲
[9] Robert Downey, Jr. (“Sherlock Holmes”) ▼
On the Outside
[10] Tobey Maguire (“Brothers”) ▲
[11] Viggo Mortensen (“The Road”) ▼
[12] Matt Damon (“The Informant!”) ▲

BEST ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
[1] Carey Mulligan (“An Education”) ▲
[2] Meryl Streep (“Julie & Julia”) ▲
[3] Gabby Sidibe (“Precious”) ▲
[4] Helen Mirren (“The Last Station”) ▲
[5] Sandra Bullock (“The Blind Side”) ▲
Major Threats
[6] Emily Blunt (“The Young Victoria”) ▲
[7] Marion Cotillard (“Nine”)
[8] Abbie Cornish (“Bright Star”) ▼
On the Outside
[9] Maggie Gyllenhaal (“Crazy Heart”) ▼
[10] Penelope Cruz (“Broken Embraces”) ▼

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Projected Nominees
[1] Christoph Waltz (“Inglourious Basterds”) ▲
[2] Woody Harrelson (“The Messenger”) ▲
[3] Christopher Plummer (“The Last Station”) ▲
[4] Matt Damon (“Invictus”) ▲
[5] Stanley Tucci (“The Lovely Bones”) ▲
Major Threats
[6] Alfred Molina (“An Education”)
[7] Alec Baldwin (“It’s Complicated”)
[8] Anthony Mackie (“The Hurt Locker”)
On the Outside
[9] Christian McKay (“Me and Orson Welles”)
[10] Jude Law (“Sherlock Holmes”) ▼
[10] Peter Sarsgaard (“An Education”) ▼

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Projected Nominees
[1] Mo’Nique (“Precious”) ▲
[2] Anna Kendrick (“Up in the Air”) ▲
[3] Penelope Cruz (“Nine”) ▲
[4] Vera Farmiga (“Up in the Air”) ▲
[5] Julianne Moore (“A Single Man”) ▲
Major Threats
[6] Judi Dench (“Nine”) ▼
[7] Diane Kruger (“Inglourious Basterds”) NEW
[8] Samantha Morton (“The Messenger”)
On the Outside
[9] Natalie Portman (“Brothers”) ▼
[10] Sigourney Weaver (“Avatar”) ▼
[11] Mariah Carey (“Precious”) ▼

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Projected Nominees
[1] Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner (“Up in the Air”)
[2] Geoffrey Fletcher (“Precious”)
[3] Nick Hornby (“An Education”)
[4] Nora Ephron (“Julie & Julia”)
[5] Wes Anderson, Noah Baumbach (“The Fantastic Mr. Fox”) ▲
Major Threats
[6] Anthony Minghella, Michael Tolkin (“Nine”)
[7] Anthony Peckham (“Invictus”)
[8] Tom Ford (“A Single Man”)
[9] David Benioff (“Brothers”)
[10] Michael Hoffman (“The Last Station”)
On the Outside
[11] Spike Jonze, Dave Eggers (“Where the Wild Things Are”)
[12] Scott Cooper (“Crazy Heart”)
[13] Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, Fran Walsh (“The Lovely Bones”)
[14] Joe Penhall (“The Road”)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Projected Nominees
[1] Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker”)
[2] Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”)
[3] Ethan Coen, Joel Coen (“A Serious Man”)
[4] Pete Docter, Bob Peterson (“Up”)
[5] Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber (“500 Days of Summer”)
Major Threats
[6] Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman (“The Messenger”) ▲
[7] Jane Campion (“Bright Star”)
[8] James Cameron (“Avatar”)
On the Outside
[9] Nancy Myers (“It’s Complicated”)
[10] Pedro Almodovar (“Broken Embraces”)

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Projected Nominees
[1] “The Cove” (Roadside Attractions, 7/31, trailer)
[2] “Food, Inc.” (Magnolia, 6/12, trailer)
[3] “Valentino: The Last Emperor” (Acolyte, 3/18, trailer)
[4] “The Beaches of Agnes” (Cinema Guild, 7/1, trailer)
[5] “Every Little Step” (Sony Pictures Classics, 4/17, trailer)
Major Threats
[6] “Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope, 5/20, trailer)
[7] “The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” (Kovno, 6/1, trailer)
[8] “Under Our Skin” (Shadow, 6/19, trailer)
[9] “Garbage Dreams” (Iskander, 7/31, trailer)
[10] “Sergio” (Passion, 1/1, trailer)
On the Outside
[11] “Mugabe and the White African” (Explore, 8/7, trailer)
[12] “Facing Ali” (Lions Gate, 6/16, trailer)
[13] “Which Way Home” (HBO, 1/31, trailer)
[14] “Living in Emergency: Stories of Doctors Without Borders” (Red Floor, 8/14, trailer)
[15] “Soundtrack for a Revolution” (Freedom Song, 8/7, trailer)

Photo: Ben Foster and Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger.” Credit: Oscilloscope.