Golde Satellite nominations announced

It's almost December, so that means there are only two months left until ballots are mailed out and the Academy of Motion Pictures announces the Oscar nominations. It's time for critics associations to judge what has been the very best of the year, and the first one to do so is The Golden Satellites. Here are the nominees in the main categories.

Nine leads the way with 9 nominations, and this could be an indicator of its chances at the Oscars.Nice to see Penelope Cruz nominated for what is said to be a cheeky and sexy role. Marion Cotillard, after taking home the Oscar two years ago for “La vie en rose”, could very well end up there again this year, as the early word says she is one of the highlights of the film. Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren or Judi Dench are nowhere to be seem, so their chances are reduced at this point.

Strong showing too of “Precious”, a film we have talked about earlier. It snags 5 nominations (Picture, Director, Supporting Actress, Adapted Screenplay and Song), but Gabourey Sabide, who's been buzzed for her performance, has been let out, which is strange, since it looks like they really liked the movie. With plenty of precursors more to come, we don't think this means she's out of the race.

“Up in the air”, “The Hurt Locker”, “Up” or “An education” solidify their status of frontrunners, snagging quite a lot of nominations and securing their spot among the ten best pictures of the year. George Clooney, Jeremy Renner, Anna Kendrik, Carey Mulligan , Jason Reitman or Katherine Bigelow also gain a boost, and look like likely nominees, as Oscar Gurus have been predicting all season.

“Broken Embraces” earns two very useful nominations: Best Actrees for Penelope Cruz and Best Foreign Film. After the somewhat mixed reviews, it's nice to see americans love Almodovar, even if the movie itself has to compete with “The White Ribbon”, which won the Palme D'or in the last Cannes Festival, or “I killed my mother”, which has been received with raves.

Notably absent are “Avatar”, “The Lovely Bones” or “Invictus”. The reason is that this critics associations hasn't screened those films still, so we don't know how well they would have fared. “Avatar” would be for sure nominated for Visual Effects, Score and Song, and the other two we suspect would appear in many of the top categories.

So, here it is. The race has officially started, so now, relax and enjoy the awards madness.