Oscar's battle of the exes

This year's Oscar race features 10 contenders, from a parable of midlife angst in suburban Minneapolis to a tale of extraterrestrials under apartheid rule in South Africa.

But for most observers it shapes up as a David vs. Goliath battle. All attention is focused on the race between "The Hurt Locker," a $15 million production that barely broke even at the box office, battling "Avatar," the most expensive and highest-grossing movie of all time. The films led the field with nine nominations each Tuesday.

The rivalry has captivated Hollywood, in part because their directors, Kathryn Bigelow and James Cameron, used to be married. Both made technically dazzling stories of men at war, one set on an alien planet, the other in Iraq. Cameron's film immerses audiences in a 3D wonderland of adventure and romance. Bigelow's is a hypermasculine tale of a bomb disposal expert whose daredevil approach puts his team at risk.

Several films with Minnesota connections earned significant nominations, including best-picture and original-screenplay nods for Joel and Ethan Coen's locally filmed "A Serious Man" and Bloomington-bred Pete Docter's Pixar feature "Up." And Minneapolis native Stephen Rivkin was a first-time nominee as the editor of "Avatar."

If "Avatar" wins, it will be the first pure science-fiction film ever named best picture. "Star Wars" and "E.T." were nominated but lost.

Cameron won the best director award in 1997 for "Titanic," while first-time nominee Bigelow could become the first woman to earn the prize. Over the past two weeks, "The Hurt Locker" won two key Oscar indicators: It took the top honor from the Producers' Guild of America and Bigelow triumphed at the Directors Guild. Cameron's film had earlier been considered the favorite following its best picture and best director awards at the Golden Globes.

And then there were 10

The 2010 field includes a mix of megaplex hits and arthouse favorites: "Avatar," "The Blind Side," "District 9," "An Education," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious," "A Serious Man," "Up" and "Up in the Air."

The odds favor those movies whose directors are also up for Academy Awards. In addition to Bigelow and Cameron, Lee Daniels ("Precious"), Jason Reitman ("Up in the Air") and Quentin Tarantino ("Inglourious Basterds") made that cut.

The Coens did not, but they have a chance to win their third screenwriting Oscar for "A Serious Man," a semi-affectionate portrait of middle-class Jewish life in 1960s St. Louis Park -- where the Coens grew up -- that follows a hapless Everyschmuck.

Sari Lennick, the Minneapolis actress who plays the hero's shrewish wife, said Tuesday: "I come from the theater, so I've read a lot of scripts. When I read this I knew at the very least the screenplay would be nominated. I knew that they had something really, really special. This time they wrote what they know."

"Up" is only the second entirely animated film to compete for best picture, after 1991's "Beauty and the Beast." The 3D adventure also got nods for best animated film, sound editing and musical score.

"As we made it I really felt this was a special film that I was just lucky to be a part of. But in terms of how people would react, I almost thought the opposite. It was unique and quirky and maybe oddball enough that it would maybe appeal to a smaller audience. The fact that it's second only to 'Nemo' in terms of popularity [among Pixar films] surprised me."

"Avatar" editor Rivkin also worked on the "Pirates of the Caribbean" trilogy but had never gotten an Oscar nod.

"It's amazing a kid from Minnesota could come out here and get to this level in the industry," he said. "You kind of fantasize that something like this could happen, but when it does it's entirely different. I'm very fortunate to love what I do and get paid for it." Working on the blockbuster was "incredibly difficult, the most challenging thing I've ever worked on," said Rivkin, who started out on low-budget Twin Cities indies ("The Personals"). "I was originally hired to come on it for six months. I was on it for 2 1/2 years."

Other Minnesota connections

"Food Inc.," an agribusiness exposé from Minneapolis producer Bill Pohlad's River Road Entertainment, is among the best-documentary contenders. The period dramas "Bright Star" and "The Young Victoria" from Pohlad's distribution company Apparition shared nominations for costume design. "Victoria" also was nominated in the art direction and makeup categories.

"The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus," by Medicine Lake native Terry Gilliam, is up for costumes and art direction. "Coraline," based on the novel by area author Neil Gaiman, is in the running for animated feature.

Colin Covert • 612-673-7186