WanderingSamuri: There is a flaw in your argument. Yes, that is the formula for many romantic comedies, but isn't that what happens with all movie genres?
Just look at Avatar:
-We meet some man who is in a crisis.
-This man is given a mission (by someone else, or driven by circumstances).
-Man starts mission, and is suddenly plunged into a situation he has never been before, maybe making a couple slip-ups which cause him to be in mortal danger.
At this point it can go one of three ways: meets a girl, accidentally kills someone on his side, or both.
Almost any genre has a stereotypical storyline. It's what you bring to that story line that makes the movie good or bad.
For example, let's look at two of my favorite romantic comedies: Only You and Return to Me. Both of these movies roughly follow the line that you have drawn for us, but it is the situations and characters that make the movies so wonderful and unique.

To go with the Oscars, this would also be a good topic to discuss the other side of things: the Razzies. Sandra Bulluck can get a very rare, if not the first, distiction to win both an Oscar and a Razzie in the same year. I know Halle Berry is one of the first to win both in her career. But I still have a hard time picturing going from worst to best in such a short time.

Other Razzie nominations include Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen for seven categories. It's amazing how a movie can do so well in the box office and also to well in the category of absolute stinkage. The categories (if I can remember) are Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Supporting Actress (Sam's mom), Worst Couple (Shia Le Beouf with Megan Fox or any of the Transformers) Worst Remake/Rip-off/Sequel, and two others I can't remember.

I was suprised GI Joe got Razzie noms. It wasn't Oscar worthy, but I've seen way worse than GI Joe. We'll see what happens.

Nominees for the 82nd Academy Awards are now online.

Wasn't too surprising that "Avatar" would claim the most, tying with "The Hurt Locker", but I was pleasantly surprised that "Up" was nominated for quite a few as well. "Star Trek" received more than I thought it would too.

Razzies made me snicker, mostly because everything that ended up nominated was almost the same as the Choice Awards but for a different reason.

For the first time, there are 10 nominees for Best Picture, rather than the usual 5. For all of Avatar's beauty and flash, I think Up is a better choice because of its heart - the importance of relationships. But there's likely a strike against it as it's animated.

I thought Star Trek was a very good movie. Should it have been in the running for Best Picture? I'm not really in a position to say, since I've seen only 3 of the candidates for that honor. But I doubt it'll beat out Avatar for Visual Effects.

An Oscars Lament
Oh! you professors of the academy,
You disappoint me so!
Choosing Avatar for every category
(Make me desire to hit myself with a hoe!)
(500) Days of Summer
Was better by far!
Avatar is a rip off of Pocohauntus,
(I think I'll run in front of a car)

Such a bad poem, but I believe you all know my opinions on the subject:
Best Picture:
Avatar= boo!
Up= WOOHOO!
Best Lead Actor:
Morgan Freeman= Woohoo!
Best Supporting Actor:
Matt Damon= Woohoo!
Best Lead Actress:
Meryl Streep= Woohoo!
Best Supporting Actress:
??????????
Best Animated Picture:
Up= WOOHOO!
Fan. Mr. Fox= Awesome, just not as good as Up
Cinematography:
Ok, most would say Avatar really deserves this, but from a fan point of view I REALLY want Half Blood Prince to win
Best Original Score:
Up totally deserves this, and Mr. Fox has a fun and very original style for theirs. I don't know, Avatar's score seemed a little too cliche and sappy.
Original Screenplay:
Up: WOOHOO!
That just about sums it up...
(side-note: I did not give my opinion on any movies I have not seen, even if they looked really good in the trailer)

I know many people don't think Avatar deserves a nomination, but I think that based on the technological innovations alone, and the amount of money it has raked in, it does (especially with the number of movies increased to 10.) That being said, I don't think it deserves to win, and if it does, I will be incredibly disappointed. Also, if there were only 5 nominations like in previous years, I don't think it necessarily should get a nod.

I'm pleasantly surprised to see District 9 get a best picture nomination, and to a lesser degree The Blind Side. I, like aravis_tarkina, am disappointed that (500) Days of Summer didn't get a single nomination. I didn't necessarily think it would get nominated for Best Picture, but at least Best Original Screenplay or a Best Actor nod for Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

I am also disappointed that Tobey Maguire was overlooked for his role in Brothers, in which he was excellent in my opinion. I also wish Sam Rockwell had been nominated for his brilliant performance in Moon, but I knew that was wishful thinking, as the studio (Paramount Vantage) did not even make a push for him to be nominated.

Oh, and stargazer, I also think Star Trek was very well made, and could very well have been nominated, perhaps in place of District 9.

Very, very sorry to see that Avatar was nominated for Best Picture, but I suppose it was inevitable especially with ten nominations for Best Picture this year instead of five. On the plus side, Up was nominated, making it only the second ever animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture!!! The only other movie I've seen on the Best Picture list is District 9, which I loved (despite the excessive bad language) but which I highly doubt will actually win.

As for the other categories I can't really say much as I haven't seen a lot of the movies. Although I can say that Stanley Tucci role in The Lovely Bones was blood chilling and that he is not at all out of place on the list of best supporting actors. Also I'm rooting for "Up" to win best original score; Michael Giacchino's score for that movie is simply amazing!

I'll always be a,
NL101

I agree that Avatar has merit in the Visual Effects/technical side of things, but in my opinion Star Trek is a better movie, and I think it stands up to repeated viewings better than Avatar, in my opinion (as does Up).

The other Best Picture nominee I've seen is The Blind Side, and I thought Sandra Bullock did very well in it.

I'd forgotten that Giacchino did the score for Up. He was a busy man, since he also did the excellent score for Star Trek - and he's busy writing music for the last season of TV's Lost as well.

I am happy with most of the BP nominations, The Blind Side was an excellent surprise there- even if it doesn't really stand a chance to win, unfortunately. I hope Bullock wins her first Oscar here.

I am greatly upset by the lack of nominations for Where The Wild Things Are, my favorite movie of 2009.

Star Trek was my second fave of the year and I am happy it got several nominations, though not for BP.

District 9,
great movie and deserving of its nominations.

Up,
it was a great movie from Pixar, but not the best.
It's score is wonderful and should win, it also should win Animated.
Best Picture however I don't think it deserves, it benefit from 10 BP nods this year and since WALL E was shut out last year with 5, they figured Pixar can't have gone ignored this time around IMO.

I know many people don't think Avatar deserves a nomination, but I think that based on the technological innovations alone, and the amount of money it has raked in, it does..

Avatar,
Visually and technically it was stunning, the story was good too.
But should it get a BP nods because it was that- no. Techs it should win hands down, but neither that nor $$ should determine a BP nod.

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince,
I don't think it has a shot at winning but like a previous poster, as a fan, I definitely hope it does win. Its cinematography was amazing!

*returns from looking over the nominees for the Oscars on the BBC website*

First off, I'm not surprised Avatar got so many nominations. James Cameron is in right now and besides, the film looks amazing. (still have not seen it, BTW)

I am slightly amused that Up was nominated for both Best Picture and Best Animated film, though I'm sure it deserved it. *puts Upon his list of films to watch*

O.K, I'll give my thoughts on certain categories. Mostly the technical ones:

Best Make-up:
I'm really not sure who should win. My own leaning would be for Star Trek, but I have a feeling Young Victoria will win.

----------------------

Best Visual Effects:
Man, all three nominees had fantastic effects! Really up in the air on this one.... probably Avatar will win.

-------------------

Best Original Score:
Toss-up between Up, Avatar and Sherlock Holmes. I would be happy if either Up or Holmes wins.

From what I've heard of Avatar, it's good but not great. I'm happy for Mr. Horner getting nominated, but I don't feel this is one of his scores that deserves an Oscar (neither did Titanic for that matter.....)

-------------------

Best Animation:
Probably Up or Princess and the Frog. Disney usually makes a clean sweep of this category whenever they have a film nominated.

-----------------

Alright, that's it for me right now.

Up,
Best Picture however I don't think it deserves, it benefit from 10 BP nods this year and since WALL E was shut out last year with 5, they figured Pixar can't have gone ignored this time around IMO.

I don't think this is true at all. Up was one of the best reviewed films of the year; It was praised equally as much as Wall-E. I don't think it was being nominated just for the name "Pixar", critics loved this film and that's why it was nominated. Certainly you could say it benefited from 10 nominations rather then 5, but that could easily be said about any of the movies on the list. I, for one, am rooting for Up, even though it's very unlikely it will win.

I'll always be a,
NL101

I don't think this is true at all. Up was one of the best reviewed films of the year; It was praised equally as much as Wall-E. I don't think it was being nominated just for the name "Pixar", critics loved this film and that's why it was nominated.

When I said they couldn't ignore Pixar this time around I didn't mean it just because of the "Pixar" label on it. I meant that Pixar has been universally praised, always coming out at the top of reviews (except A Bug's Life and Cars which for some reason had good, not great, reviews).

A company which time and time again brings out some of the critics favorite movies, and never be nominated for BP, even when it was among the best (WALL E), it was only a matter of time before they were recognized with such a nomination, especially with 5 extra slots. Not because of the brand, but because of the quality of the movies itself.

While Up was an excellent movie,
I just don't feel it was the one that should have received the honor.
The opening was brilliant, but I can't get passed the dogs flying planes which I didn't like. Still a great movie, which I have in my collection.

You're saying that the quality of the movies Pixar makes is the reason Up was nominated. Isn't that the same thing as saying Up was nominated because it's Pixar? My point was this; Up and Wall-E were equally praised by critics and (I mean this in the nicest possible way) just because you happen to not think Up is as good as Wall-E doesn't mean the Academy Award judges agree. I truly think the judges believed Up was as good as Wall-E and that's why they nominated it. Now you're certainly entitled to your opinion, and if you don't think Up deserved to be nominated that's fine; I'm not trying to convince you otherwise. I'm simply trying to show that perhaps the judges have a different opinion of the movie than you, and they nominated it because they liked it just as much or more than Wall-E, not because the general good quality of Pixar films. Okay, I'm shutting up now.

I'll always be a,
NL101

You're saying that the quality of the movies Pixar makes is the reason Up was nominated. Isn't that the same thing as saying Up was nominated because it's Pixar?

The way you write yes, it's the same thing. But that's not what I mean at all.
Basically the Academy has been biased to Animated movies, having only one in the past be nominated for BP: Beauty and the Beast.
Many would argue that several of Pixar movies deserved the distinction, not just WALL E. But none has received it, but at least got screenplay and such.
What I meant was that Academy couldn't ignore animation for this category for ever,
I used Pixar as the example there since we're speaking of Up, and basically Pixar is the best Animation Company out now.

Up is a terrific movie, just not BP worthy IMO.
I'll shut it now.

Personally if I was going to choose my best picture nominees, it would go as follows (and please note I have not seen most that have come out, and my fan obsession is included in this list):
(500) Days of Summer- because of its unique style and daring feat of not being a love story, but a story about love.
Up- for showing relationships and dreams for what they really are
HP and the Half Blood Prince- for being awesome
Julie&Julia- for entertaining us with two stories about women with husbands who love them, and turned their lives around with food
Invictus- for telling us a story of heroism, racial equality, inspiration and respect