The race for the Oscars goes into overdrive today when nominees for Hollywood's most coveted awards are unveiled, with the best picture battle shaping up as a David and Goliath showdown.
The identities of Oscars contenders will be revealed before hundreds of bleary-eyed media shortly after 5:30 am (1330 GMT) at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
All eyes are on the race for best picture, where low budget Iraq war drama "The Hurt Locker" has emerged as the favorite to thwart James Cameron's science fiction blockbuster "Avatar," the most expensive film ever made.
The contrast between the two films couldn't be more stark.
Cameron's film -- with a reported budget of 500 million dollars -- has rewritten the box office record books, earning more than two billion dollars since December to become the highest grossing film in history. Yet it is "The Hurt Locker" -- directed by Cameron's ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow -- which has become a surprise contender in the best picture race after winning a series of awards, indicators that augur well for the March 7 Oscars.
As a commercial venture, however, the film has flopped, earning just 16 million dollars worldwide after costing around 15 million dollars.
"'The Hurt Locker' is definitely the front-runner," said Tom O'Neil, an awards season pundit for The Los Angeles Times's theenvelope.com.
There is also the possibility of science-fiction -- a genre traditionally ignored at the Oscars -- being well represented, with "District 9" and "Star Trek" both outside bets to join "Avatar" on the shortlist.
