Oscar takes new direction: Director Lee Daniels' nod was a first among yesterday's nominations

NOTE: THIS STORY HAS BEEN CORRECTED.

PHILADELPHIA native Lee Daniels became the second African-American to be nominated for a Best Director Oscar yesterday.

"Precious," his searing portrait of a struggling Bronx, N.Y., teen (Gabourey Sidibe), made a big splash overall. It earned the nomination for Daniels, and burnished its Oscar credentials across the board - winning nominations for best picture, for Sidibe (best actress), for Mo'Nique (best supporting actress) and for best adapted screenplay (it's based on the novel "Push" by Sapphire).

"Precious" is one of only four movies that won nominations in all the most important categories (a group that incredibly does not include "Avatar") - lowering the odds, still long, that it might pull an upset on Oscar night.

Although prominent African-American directors Spike Lee and John Singleton have both been nominated for their screenplay work, only Singleton, for "Boyz 'n the Hood" has received a director's nod from the Academy.

This is not, however, Daniels' first brush with Academy Award glory. He produced "Monster's Ball," the movie that yielded a best actress Oscar for Halle Berry.

If "Precious" wins the Oscar this year, it will be despite long odds and against an extra-long list of competition. The best picture category was doubled to include 10 nominees, so voting will be that much more complicated.

The changes were made to boost TV ratings by allowing more big-grossing titles to get nominated, and that was the case yesterday. It looks as if the new blockbuster-friendly Oscar rules have left some smaller pictures feeling blindsided.

The Sandra Bullock vehicle "The Blind Side" slipped into the best picture race, no doubt because it's precisely the kind of crowd-pleaser the ratings-minded academy meant to accommodate with its expanded roster of nominees.

The list also includes smashes like "Avatar" and the animated "Up," movies that along with "The Blind Side" accounted for about $3 billion worth of worldwide box office.

Best-picture love for these whopper hits appears to have come at the expense of "Crazy Heart," "Invictus," or "The Last Station," movies that had support in the acting categories. ("Crazy Heart" is also up for best song.)

"Avatar," on the other hand, failed to secure an acting nomination, nor did it earn an original screenplay nomination - glaring omissions that would appear to weaken its grip on best picture. "The Blind Side" (Bullock is up for best actress) won no directing or writing nominations.

The nominees with the broadest big-category support - nominated for acting, writing, directing, and best picture - are "Precious," "The Hurt Locker" "Inglourious Basterds," and "Up in the Air." ("Avatar's" James Cameron is up for best director, competing with his ex-wife, "The Hurt Locker's" Kathryn Bigelow.)

"Up" will compete among animated films with "The Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Coraline," "The Princess and the Frog," and an obscure Irish film "The Secret of Kells."

With so many nominations in play, major-category snubs seemed not as pronounced this year. Alec Baldwin had generated some buzz for "It's Complicated," and may have been displaced by Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger."

Penélope Cruz ("Nine") sneaked into the best supporting actress category, a slot that might have gone to Julianne Moore ("A Single Man") or Samantha Morton ("The Messenger"), but Cruz is an academy favorite.

CORRECTION:

In Wednesday's story about the Oscar nominations, Lee Daniels was described as the first African American to ever be nominated as Best Director. He's actually the second. John Singleton was nominated for "Boyz 'N the Hood."