The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and James Cameron's Avatar tied with his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker for 9 nominations each. For the first time since 1943, the Best Picture nominations have been expanded to ten films, even though the list of nominated directors remains at five (a virtual admission that the other five films are "throw away" nominees with little chance of picking up the prize). Meryl Streep scored her 16th Oscar nomination for Julie and Julia. There were some surprises: key nominations for District 9, Matt Damon and the lack of director or Best Picture nomination for Clint Eastwood's Invictus, even with the expanded list of Best Picture nominees. The awards will be presented on March 7. For the list of nominations click here