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The three biggest surprises of Oscar morning

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We’ll have a full take on Oscar nominations a little bit later in the morning, but a quick rundown of the biggest surprises that hit us right off the bat.

* Screenplay shockers: Lots of mayhem on both original and adapted script sides. First, there’s the fact that ‘District 9’ was even considered for adapted. (It’s based on a short, and it’s always a question how the writers branch is going to view it). Second, it actually landed on the nominee list. Meanwhile, the indie dark horse ‘In the Loop’ joins the South African sci-fiction film in the category, becoming one of the smaller movies ever to get a major Oscar nom. And the original side brought its own surprise: ‘The Messenger’ takes a slot that most thought would go to ‘(500) Days of Summer.’

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* Supporting actress: Penelope Cruz getting a nomination for her mistress-y turn in ‘Nine’ isn’t a total surprise, but Maggie Gyllenhaal for her role as a single-mother journo in ‘Crazy Heart’ is. The actress pushes out a four-time nominee who had been on almost everyone’s shortlist, Julianne Moore in ‘A Single Man.’

* And, finally, the great unknown of this season: the 10 best picture slots. Six films that were virtually a sure bet all made the cut (‘Up,’ ‘Up in the Air,’ ‘Inglourious Basterds,’ ‘Avatar,’ ‘Precious,’ ‘The Hurt Locker’), but the other four saw some drama. ‘District 9’ and ‘The Blind Side’ each take slots, despite doubts, certainly coming into the season, that they would land on the list. ‘A Serious Man’ and ‘An Education’ take the other two spots -- which had been expected but then became more of a question mark of late. The movie that’s left without a chair when the music stops? Clint Eastwood’s ‘Invictus.’ Not a good day to be Dirty Harry -- his pre-season contender is shut out of both best picture and best director categories.

-- Steven Zeitchik

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