Science-fiction adventure ''Avatar'' and war movie ``The Hurt Locker'' Tuesday earned nine Oscar nominations each, including best movie, to lead the field in the competition for the world's highest film honours.

Other films among the 10 nominees for best motion picture include ``Up in the Air,'' ``The Blind Side,'' ``Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire'' and ``District 9.''    

Rounding out the list of best film nominees were animated movie ``Up,'' ``A Serious Man,'' ``Inglourious Basterds'' and ``An Education.''    
Nominations for best actor in a film went to Jeff Bridges in ``Crazy Heart,'' George Clooney for ``Up in the Air,'' Colin Firth in ``A Single Man,'' Morgan Freeman for ``Invictus'' and Jeremy Renner in ``The Hurt Locker.''    

Best actress nominees were Sandra Bullock for ``The Blind Side,'' Helen Mirren in ``The Last Station,'' Carey Mulligan for ''An Education,'' Gabourey Sidibe in ``Precious'' and Meryl Streep for ``Julie & Julia''.

Best director nominees were  Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker", James Cameron for "Avatar", Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds", Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air" and Lee Daniels for "Precious" - Reuters