Warwick Thornton's Aboriginal romance film 'Samson & Delilah' and Bright Star actress Abbie Cornish have missed out on Oscar nominations, but Sydney costume designer Janet Patterson scored the fourth Academy Award invite of her stellar career.
Patterson, nominated for her work on period drama Bright Star, will be joined at the 82nd Annual Academy Awards on March 7 in Hollywood by Australian filmmakers Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey who picked up a nomination for their live action short film, 'Miracle Fish'.
"We didn't get much sleep last night, but are not complaining," a jubilant Bailey told AAP.
"We've been on the phone and the Internet non-stop since we found out. We are thrilled."
While not one Australian actor managed to pick up an Oscar nomination for the first time in a decade and Australian cinematographer Dion Beebe was snubbed for his work on the musical Nine, the Oscar ceremony is shaping up as an enthralling one.
It will be a battle between the highest-grossing film of all-time, 'Avatar', which broke through the $US2 billion global box office mark on the weekend, and the small budget Iraq war drama The Hurt Locker, which cost just $US10 million to make and has only earned $US16 million at the box office.
'Avatar' and 'The Hurt Locker' topped the Oscar nomination list with nine each, including best picture nominations.
Adding spice to the Oscar battle is 'Avatar' director James Cameron and 'The Hurt Locker' director Kathryn Bigelow were once married.
Cameron and Bigelow will also go head-to-head for the best director Oscar. If Bigelow wins the director Oscar, she will be the first woman to do so.
Thornton's Samson & Delilah, shot around Alice Springs and with dialogue in English and Warlpiri, also would have made history if it managed to grab one of the five nomination slots in the foreign language film category, but it fell short.
'Samson & Delilah' was on the Oscar nomination short-list, making the cut from 65 films to nine. It would have been the first Australian film to make the foreign language category.
The foreign language nominees were: Israel's 'Ajami'; Argentina's ' El Secreto de Sus Ojos'; Peru's 'The Milk of Sorrow'; France's 'Un Prophete'; and the favourite, Germany's 'The White Ribbon'.
Patterson is a regular at the Oscars with nominations for her costume work in 1998 for 'Oscar and Lucinda', in 1997 for 'The Portrait of a Lady' and 1994 for 'The Piano', but at each ceremony she left empty-handed.
The star of the Jane Campion-directed Bright Star, Cornish was considered an outside chance of a best actress Oscar nomination. Writer and director Doolan, 30, from Darwin, and producer Bailey, 33, from Wollongong, will be enjoying their first trip to the Oscars.
The filmmaking duo is in Los Angeles developing feature film projects.
'Miracle Fish' is a 17 minute film about a dream an eight-year-old boy, Joe, may or may not have had while sleeping at a school sick bay.
The news was not so good for fellow Aussie Rene Hernandez, who failed to score a nomination for the live action short film, 'The Ground Beneath', despite making the short-list. Aussies Eddie White and Ari Gibson also missed out in the short animated film category for 'The Cat Piano'. There were few surprises among the acting categories.
Sandra Bullock, for 'The Blind Side', is the frontrunner for best actress with Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Gabourey Sidibe (Precious), Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Helen Mirren (The Last Station) the other nominees.
Jeff Bridges, for Crazy Heart, is the runaway favourite for best actor with George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus) and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) filling the other slots. Inglorious Basterds' Christoph Waltz has swept most lead-up awards in the best supporting actor category and is at short odds to take the Oscar.
Waltz' biggest opposition is Stanley Tucci, who plays a child killer in 'The Lovely Bones'.
Nicole Kidman missed out on a best supporting actress nomination for Nine, but her co-star in the musical, Penelope Cruz, was honoured.
Mo'Nique, for her portrayal of a despicable mother in Precious, is the odds on favourite for the supporting actress Oscar.
The Academy expanded its best picture category from five to 10 this year and there was speculation the Academy's 5,777 members may slip in comedy The Hangover or a popcorn movie like Star Trek, but they stuck largely with dramas.
The 10 nominees are: 'Avatar'; 'The Hurt Locker'; 'The Blind Side'; ' District 9'; 'An Education'; 'Inglorious Basterds'; 'Precious'; 'A Serious Man'; 'Up'; and 'Up in the Air'.
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