The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 2010 Academy Award nominees Tuesday, meeting the predictions of many by giving many nominations to ‘Avatar’ and also rolling out 10 Best Picture nominations for the first time.

There are nearly 6,000 members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, all of whom view all of the films before deciding which films receive which nominations. Nomination ballots are mailed to the members in December and are due back in January, according to the Oscar’s website.

This year, nominations for best picture are: ‘Avatar,’ ‘The Blind Side,’ ‘District 9,’ ‘An Education,’ ‘The Hurt Locker,’ ‘Inglorious Basterds,’ ‘Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,’ ‘A Serious Man,’ ‘Up in the Air’ and animated film ‘Up.’
Boston University students said they were surprised by this year’s Best Picture nominations.

‘The nominations really shocked me,’ said College of Communication freshman television major Keya Vakil. ‘For example, I didn’t really like ‘The Blind Side,’ and I didn’t think an animated film like ‘Up’ would receive a nomination.’

Students said the 10 nominations for best picture, rather than the usual five, also surprised them.

‘It just seems like so many different movies,’ said College of Arts and Sciences freshman Elizabeth Rich. ‘I think all of them are interesting, but that doesn’t necessarily make them Oscar-worthy.’

COM freshman Elizabeth Olenski, who is a film major, said she hopes the Academy evaluates the actors for their performances, rather than the movies they starred in.

‘I like Meryl Streep as much as the next person, but I think Sandra Bullock’s role in ‘The Blind Side’ was far superior to Streep’s role in ‘Julie and Julia’,’ she said. ‘Sometimes, the smaller names get overlooked unless they are considered the ‘underdog film’ like last year’s ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’

Conrad Golovac, also a COM freshman and film major, agreed.

‘The Academy Awards are run by a group of extremely liberal people that love the films that can relate back to what they love best,’ he said. ‘For instance, ‘Avatar.’ I felt it was a good film [and] visually stunning, but when it comes down to the best picture where it sums up all the categories into one, then it should resemble that.’

School of Hospitality Administration freshman Eleanor Brink said although the nominations aren’t what she expected; she’s still excited to watch the show.

‘I don’t usually care who wins or not,’ she said. ‘I should watch because I love the awards shows.’

This is the 82nd year for the Oscars. Also nominated for Best Actress along with Bullock and Streep are Helen Mirren, Carey Mulligan and Gabourey Sidibe. Jeff Bridges, George Clooney, Colin Firth, Morgan Freeman and Jeremy Renner are nominated for Best Actor.

Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin are co-hosting the ceremony, which will air at 8 p.m. on Mar. 7 on ABC.