The Oscar Nominations Are In!

Finally! We’ve all been on pins and needles waiting for this day to come and this morning, we got the news we’d been hoping for. The cast and crew of “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” must be completely overjoyed. For starters, Mo’Nique is now an official Oscar nominee. The Baltimore native received her very first Academy Award nomination for her riveting supporting performance in the film, as did her co-star, Gabourey Sidibe, who was nominated in the Best Actress category. Director Lee Daniels received a nomination for Best Director and the film is among the 10 which received a Best Picture nomination. “Precious” screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher also received a nomination for Best Screenplay.   Along with the “Precious” nominations, we’re also thrilled for Morgan Freeman, who received a nomination for Best Actor for his performance as Nelson Mandela in “Invictus,” as well as Anika Noni Rose, whose film, “The Princess and the Frog,” received a nomination for Best Animated Feature. In addition, both “The Hurt Locker,” starring Anthony Mackie, and “Avatar,” starring Zoe Saldana, CCH Pounder and Laz Alonso, were among the Best Picture nominees.