"Avatar" has already won over film critics, fan boys and many Hollywood awards, scoring best-picture nominations from the Golden Globes and Critics Choice Movie Awards. But how will "Avatar" fare at the Oscars? Expect "Avatar" to own in the technical categories. Best Visual Effects certainly, but Best Sound Mixing, Sound Editing, Film Editing, Art Direction and Cinematography are all strong contenders. Best Picture is as well, given the outstanding box office success of the sci-fi epic.

Science-fiction film Avatar and war movie The Hurt Locker lead the way at this year's Academy Awards with nine nominations each. The battle will see Avatar's James Cameron go head-to-head with his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, who made The Hurt Locker, in the best director category. New York Times critic A.O. Scott thought "The Hurt Locker" "is the best nondocumentary American feature made yet about the war in Iraq."

Quentin Tarantino's gruesome, profanity-laced epic nabs eight Oscar nominations. On its surface, an exploitation film about Nazi hunters doesn't exactly have "Oscar potential" written all over it. Factor in violent scenes of people having their heads bashed in with baseball bats, gruesome laughs that arrive with the mutilation of characters, and the fact that the movie was inspired by this, and it seems like a downright miracle that "Inglourious Basterds" would be deemed award-worthy.

"Star Trek" has impressed the critics with the new movie reboot scoring a solid 84 at MetaCritic and a jaw-dropping 90 among the top critics surveyed by Rotten Tomatoes. Such strong reviews could boost the awards prospects for this big-screen revamping of the 40-year-old-plus franchise. It has been nominated for four Academy Awards: Makeup, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing, and Visual Effects. Not any of the highly acclaimed awards, but nevertheless a great achievement.

"District 9" should do well at the Academy Awards, right? Hmmmm, not so fast, fanboys. Keep in mind that this is sci-fi, a genre that's received little Oscar respect historically. Only two sci-fi flicks have ever been nominated for best picture: "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" (1982), & "Star Wars" (1977). It has been nominated for Film Editing, Best Picture, Visual Effects, and Writing (Adapted Screenplay).

Up in the air has been nominated for 5 Academy Awards, these include Actor in a Leading Role, Actress in a Supporting Role, Directing, Best Picture, Writing (Adapted Screenplay). In short, Up in the air is the timely odyssey of Ryan Bingham (Oscar winner George Clooney), a corporate downsizer and consummate modern business traveler who, after years of staying happily airborne, suddenly finds himself ready to make a real connection. I can't see this one clearing up the night with awards to be honest.