US industrial production increases once more

US industrial production jumped in September for a third straight month, the Federal Reserve reported on Thursday in a further sign of a reviving manufacturing sector. It marked the first period of sustained increase since 2007, when the United States plunged into recession.

The American industrial sector is leading the recovery from recession as consumer spending and other areas of the economy lagged, analysts say.

The United States has been reeling from a recession since December 2007 and most economists expect the economy to expand for the first time in a year in the third quarter.

I am always happy to share good news.

Going green

I always thought I was an ecologically-correct person. I turn off the water while brushing my teeth, I reuse and recycle paper and plastic bottles. I had all the light bulbs in the house changed to LCD many years ago. But for some reason I see people doing so much more these days that I decided to investigate whatelse I could do to have a more sustainable life.

Not an easy path. Going green has been so “in” these days that it looks like it is actually a part-time job than anything else. Besides, there are all these new supposedly “green” things that you “gotta have” which makes me think if it all defeats the original purpose since, for me, the idea of over consumption goes right against being eco-friendly.

So, I decided to find ways of going green that are both cost-effective and has easy and convinient eco-friendly solutions for my daily life. And I will take you with me through this journey every Monday. Now, I am not a scientist, an ecologist or an environmental expert. I am a curious journalist, a wife and mother who is trying to live a greener life believing that we all have to take responsibility for our impact on the planet, and make choices that both enhance our lives while preserving natural resources and services for future generations. And I think I can do it. Stay tuned and bring your ideas!

Facebook about to reach 500 million members

I am a Facebook user since 2007 but only this last year I felt like every one of my friends were using it. Well, it was not just me. The number of FB (acronym for Facebook) users in this last year doubled. Facebook is expected to announce that it has reached the 500 million user mark this week. That’s half a billion people in just six years!

It seems like only yesterday Facebook was a students-only site birthed from a Harvard University dorm room. Now it’s the most visited site on the Internet and a multibillion-dollar empire.  And the company has the numbers to prove it: 34,8 % of internet users in the planet are FB users. In average, each of us users visit our profiles 34 times a month and stay on the site for 23 minutes.

Putting the half-billion-member-mark in perspective, The Washington Post reports that “the population inhabiting Facebook now equals that of the United States, Japan and Germany combined. Or, two Mexicos and a Brazil.”

In an interview with All Things Digital, Randi Zuckerberg, Facebook’s marketing director, said that the site plans to celebrate its milestone with “Facebook Stories,” a collection of real-life blurbs from Facebook users about how the social networking site has impacted their lives.

“As we anticipated our 500-million milestone, and we wanted to find a different way to announce and celebrate it. In the past, it’s been all about the numbers and milestones, and we realized we had never taken the opportunity to celebrate users,” Zuckerberg said.

Users are encouraged to visit the User Stories page to submit their yarn in 420 characters or less. The stories will then be organized by geographical location and by themes such as “finding love”, “coping with grief” and “natural disasters.” If you choose to tell Facebook something about yourself, keep in mind that Facebook reserves the right to publish it any way it chooses — so no privacy complaints, okay?

Furthermore, Facebook users can “like” individual stories using the ubiquitous “like” button, and the most popular will be featured.

And the world keeps getting smaller… 

World Cup 2010 schedule

FIFA World Cup begins next week.

Many of my friends who know I’ve been working on interviews of players around the world, think I know all the dates of the games by heart, and are always asking me when such and such game is going to take place. So I put down the full list of the matches for the first round to help all soccer fans. The World Cup 2010 will be held in South Africa from June 11 to July 11.

Remember that the table has the local time for those in the U.S, Pacific Time. For more info, go to: www.fifa.com

Group A

Match	Date/Time	Venue
1	11/06 07:00	Johannesburg – JSC		South Africa	x	Mexico
2	11/06 11:30	Cape Town		Uruguay	x	France
17	16/06 11:30	Tshwane/Pretoria		South Africa	x	Uruguay
18	17/06 11:30	Polokwane		France	x	Mexico
33	22/06 07:00	Rustenburg		Mexico	x	Uruguay
34	22/06 07:00	Mangaung / Bloemfontein		France	x	South Africa

 

Group B

Match	Date/Time	Venue			Results
3	12/06 07:00	Johannesburg – JEP		Argentina	x	Nigeria
4	12/06 04:30	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Korea Republic	x	Greece
19	17/06 07:00	Mangaung / Bloemfontein		Greece	x	Nigeria
20	17/06 04:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Argentina	x	Korea Republic
35	22/06 11:30	Durban		Nigeria	x	Korea Republic
36	22/06 11:30	Polokwane		Greece	x	Argentina

 

Group C

Match	Date/Time	Venue			Results
5	12/06 11:30	Rustenburg		England	x	USA
6	13/06 04:30	Polokwane		Algeria	x	Slovenia
22	18/06 07:00	Johannesburg – JEP		Slovenia	x	USA
23	18/06 11:30	Cape Town		England	x	Algeria
37	23/06 07:00	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Slovenia	x	England
38	23/06 07:00	Tshwane/Pretoria		USA	x	Algeria

 

Group D

Match	Date/Time	Venue			Results
7	13/06 11:30	Durban		Germany	x	Australia
8	13/06 07:00	Tshwane/Pretoria		Serbia	x	Ghana
21	18/06 04:30	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Germany	x	Serbia
24	19/06 07:00	Rustenburg		Ghana	x	Australia
39	23/06 11:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Ghana	x	Germany
40	23/06 11:30	Nelspruit		Australia	x	Serbia

 

Group E

Match	Date/Time	Venue			Results
9	14/06 04:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Netherlands	x	Denmark
10	14/06 07:00	Mangaung / Bloemfontein		Japan	x	Cameroon
25	19/06 04:30	Durban		Netherlands	x	Japan
26	19/06 11:30	Tshwane/Pretoria		Cameroon	x	Denmark
43	24/06 11:30	Rustenburg		Denmark	x	Japan
44	24/06 11:30	Cape Town		Cameroon	x	Netherlands

 

Group F

Match	Date/Time	Venue			Results
11	14/06 11:30	Cape Town		Italy	x	Paraguay
12	15/06 04:30	Rustenburg		New Zealand	x	Slovakia
27	20/06 04:30	Mangaung / Bloemfontein		Slovakia	x	Paraguay
28	20/06 07:00	Nelspruit		Italy	x	New Zealand
41	24/06 07:00	Johannesburg – JEP		Slovakia	x	Italy
42	24/06 07:00	Polokwane		Paraguay	x	New Zealand

 

Group G

Match	Date/Time	Venue			Results
13	15/06 07:00	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Côte d’Ivoire	x	Portugal
14	15/06 11:30	Johannesburg – JEP		Brazil	x	Korea DPR
29	20/06 11:30	Johannesburg – JSC		Brazil	x	Côte d’Ivoire
30	21/06 04:30	Cape Town		Portugal	x	Korea DPR
45	25/06 07:00	Durban		Portugal	x	Brazil
46	25/06 07:00	Nelspruit		Korea DPR	x	Côte d’Ivoire

 

Group H

Match	Date/Time	Venue			Results
15	16/06 04:30	Nelspruit		Honduras	x	Chile
16	16/06 07:00	Durban		Spain	x	Switzerland
31	21/06 07:00	Nelson Mandela Bay/Port Elizabeth		Chile	x	Switzerland
32	21/06 11:30	Johannesburg – JEP		Spain	x	Honduras
47	25/06 11:30	Tshwane/Pretoria		Chile	x	Spain
48	25/06 11:30	Mangaung / Bloemfontein		Switzerland	x	Honduras

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Oscar 2010 – final analysis

Because today we celebrate Women’s International Day, I will begin my analysis of yesterday’s ceremony  talking about the award for best director. Kathryn Bigelow deserved the statuette, as much as James Cameron and Quentin Tarantino did. This category was the most difficult one, in my opinion.

But I’ll just say that  The Hurt Locker was not the best movie of the year. When Tom Hanks announced the winner in this category – in fact he seemed to race against time – I was disappointed and wondering why the Academy (say, the people who makes films) chose this film over Avatar. I concluded that the only reason must be the arrogance demonstrated by James Cameron, when receiving the Oscar for Titanic, 12 years ago. There is no other explanation for that.

 Avatar has a unique history, a depth in detail in presenting the characters, with nothing being unimportant. Cameron gives life to the screen, he makes movie magic. The film contains so much visual detail that it is worth seeing more than once. You can not say the same of most movies that spend that amount of dollars. The soundtrack is a sideshow, but at the same time does not appear to dictate emotions. Anyway, the film is superb.

Since The Hurt Locker tries to accomplish what is in one person’s head, the story was somewhat restricted, although authentic, portrait on the war in Iraq. I think the camera work and editing of this film is what makes it work so well, so I agree with the awards it received in the categories of direction and editing. The premise that being a hero has a price is well articulated in the film. But I found several scenes that I can swear Bigelow was “inspired” by some other war movies that have been icons in the genre …

Sandra Bullock, public’s favorite, the girl next door, was in a very good film – Blind Side. But winning over Meryl Streep’s performance in Julie & Julia? I don’t know, it seemed very strange to me … I really enjoyed the performance of the two, but one can not compare … Especially when Bullock also received this year’s Golden Raspberry Awards for her performance in All About Steve. I agree that actors make bad choices sometimes, that they can slip here and there, but still. Moreover, this is not the first time she won the Razzies…

The men’s categories didn’t have any surprises, since the performances this year have not been the best ones…

And the ceremony … well, although I like actor Steve Martin and I put up with Alec Baldwin as a comedian, I think they didn’t work together. Actually, they almost didn’t work. They barely showed up and when they did was mostly to make sure everybody was uncomfortable. In fact, I have to say that I think it is bad manners to insist on labeling Bigelow as James Cameron’s “ex-wife” . They were married from 1989 to 1991, almost two decades ago! And she showed that she is much more than that.

Personally, I like to watch the Oscars not only because of the awards, because we usually already know who will take the statues in the leading categories. But I love the speeches. But this year, to avoid the lengthy acceptance speeches, the organizers of the event allowed the speeches to be only 45 seconds long. Stars had to keep their speeches short, avoiding the long list of thanks to officers, directors, relatives and even the doctor of their mothers, as was the case of the actress Greer Garson, who in 1942 made the longest speech in history of awards (more than one hour).

So, this year they asked the Oscar winners to make two speeches: one for the stage, talking about what was the significance of winning the prize, and another one for a behind the scenes moment, when they could thank whoever they want in front of a camera. Afterwards, the videos were going to be available on the Internet and it could be send to friends or posted on networking sites.

Disappointed with the final result for best movie, I am. But I was disappointed from the start by the absence of  Watchmen on the list. For a complete list of the winners of the 2010 Oscars  follow the link.

10 interesting facts – or not – about this year’s Oscars

This one I saw on the Omelete website and I loved it. The Oscars’ ceremony is on Sunday, and there are some interesting facts about this year’s awards. Maybe you need some new topics to talk about with your friends or maybe you just want to feel that you are part of the whole party thing. No matter what reason, check it out this list of ten specific facts of this year’s hottest party in Hollywood.

1. To begin with, a very basic one: the Oscar this year has ten nominees for Best Picture, twice the number of recent years. But is not the first time that it has happened. Between 1932 and 1943, the number of nominees was floating, reaching up to 12 films in 1934 and 1935.

2. “Avatar” and “Hurt Locker” are tied with nine nominations each. The difference is that the film directed by James Cameron did not compete in any of the acting categories. And unlike his long career of  records he will not beat “The Lord of the Rings – The Return of the King”  whic had 11 nominations and also was not mentioned on the acting list. And it won them all!

3. “Avatar” is also not nominated for Best Screenplay. But do you know when was the last time a movie won the award for Best Picture without being nominated in this category? On “Titanic” time!

4. We can not talk about the Oscars without talking about Meryl Streep. With her nomination for “Julie & Julia” she now has 16 in the greatest movie celebration. But that does not make her a favorite. The last time she won in 1983, two of her competitors this year – Carey Mulligan (Education) and Gabourey Sidibe (“Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire”,) – were not even born!

5. And speaking of actors, three of the six nominations of  “Up in the air” are in the acting categories – a record this year. George Clooney is among the best actors and Vera Farmiga competes against his colleague Anna Kendrick in the Supporting Actress category (Farmiga is my favorite!).

6. Talking about minorities among the directors, Kathryn Bigelow (Hurt Locker) is the fourth woman nominated for an award – and Lina Wertmuller (Seven Beauties Pasqualino), Jane Campion (The Piano) and Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) did not win or had as much favoritism as now. It is worth saying also that Lee Daniels (“Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire”,) is the second African American to join the select list. The first one was John Singleton (Boyz in the Hood) in 1992, which was also the youngest director to be nominated.

7. Still on “Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire”, please note that this is the first time a feature film directed by an African American man is nominated for an Oscar for Best Picture.

8. “Up” is the first animated movie nominated for Best Picture since the “Beauty and the Beast”(1991).

9. With four nominations for “Star Trek”, the movie directed by JJ Abrams drew with “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” of Leonard Nimoy.

10. If “Avatar” wins the award for Best Picture, it will be the awarded movie with the biggest revenue of all time – of course! But if “Hurt Locker” confirms its favoritism and bring the Oscar home, it will be the Academy Award winner with the lowest revenues: $ 18.5 million in theaters around the world.

OSCAR 2010 – NOMINEES

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are going to be the hosts for the Oscars this year

This week will be special for anyone who enjoys cinema, here in the BRAZILIAN OPINION.  Next Sunday is the Oscars –  the Academy awards for the best in the film industry of 2009. Every day we will publish information and some of my reviews on some of the films competing for best picture of the year. Let’s begin with the nominees:

Best actor in a leading role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
* Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

Best actor in a supporting role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
* Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
* Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

Best actress in a leading role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
* Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
* Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Best actress in a supporting role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

Best animated feature film of the year Oscars 2010 nominees:
*“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
*“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
*“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
*“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Best in art direction Oscars 2010 nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
*“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
*“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
*“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
*“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Best in cinematography Oscars 2010 nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
*“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
*“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

Best in costume design Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
*“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
*“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
*“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
*“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Best Director Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
*“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Best documentary feature film Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
A Magic Hour Films Production Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
*“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions)
An Oceanic Preservation Society Production Nominees to be determined
*“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures) A Robert Kenner Films Production Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
*“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
A Kovno Communications Production Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
*“Which Way Home” A Mr. Mudd Production Rebecca Cammisa

Best documentary short subject Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
*“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
*“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
*“Music by Prudence” An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
*“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution) An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Best in film editing Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

Best foreign language film of the year Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Ajami”(Kino International) An Inosan Production Israel
*“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haddock Films Production Argentina
*“The Milk of Sorrow” A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production Peru
*“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production France
*“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany

Best in Makeup Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
*“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Best in music written for motion pictures Oscars 2010 Nominees (Original score)
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
*“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
*“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

Best in music written for motion pictures Oscars 2010 Nominees (Original song)
*“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
*“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
*“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner. Lyric by Frank Thomas
*“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
*“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best motion picture of the year Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
*“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.) An Alcon Entertainment Production Nominees to be determined
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
*“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) A Voltage Pictures Production Nominees to be determined
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
*“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
*“Up” (Walt Disney)A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera, Producer
*“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Best animated short film Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“French Roast”A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O. Joubert
*“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films) A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
*“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia
*“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit) An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin
*“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations) An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park

Best live action short film Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“The Door” (Network Ireland Television) An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
*“Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute) A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
*“Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey
* “Miracle Fish” (Premium Films) A Druid Films Production Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
*“The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Best in sound editing Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Best in sound mixing Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
*“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Best in visual effects Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Best in Adapted screenplay Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
*“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
*“In the Loop” (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
*“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Best in Original screenplay Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
*“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
*“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter
Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy