At this years 82nd Annual Academy Awards the battle between 2D and 3D was truly on. James Cameron’s 3D epic ‘Avatar’ was up against his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow’s 2D war-zone drama ‘The Hurt Locker’. Avatar was nominated for nine awards in total but only won three of its categories. It won Oscars for; Best Art Direction, Cinematography and Visual Effects.

The majority of people expected Avatar to come out victorious in the Best Picture and Director categories, however ‘The Hurt Locker’ blew Avatar away and won the ceremonies two big Oscars.

Disney’s ‘UP’ was also nominated for numerous awards and it managed to win two of its five nominations, which were; Best Animated Feature and Music (Original Score).

For a full list of nominees and who won see the list below (winners are in bold).

Actor in a Leading Role

Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”

George Clooney in “Up in the Air”

Colin Firth in “A Single Man”

Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”

Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon in “Invictus”

Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger”

Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”

Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”

Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Actress in a Leading Role

Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”

Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”

Carey Mulligan in “An Education”

Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Actress in a Supporting Role

Penélope Cruz in “Nine”

Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”

Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”

Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”

Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Animated Feature Film

“Coraline” Henry Selick

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Wes Anderson

“The Princess and the Frog” John Musker and Ron Clements

“The Secret of Kells” Tomm Moore

“Up” Pete Docter

Art Direction

“Avatar” Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg; Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro; Set Decoration: Caroline Smith

“Nine” Art Direction: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim

“Sherlock Holmes” Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer

“The Young Victoria” Art Direction: Patrice Vermette; Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Cinematography

“Avatar” Mauro Fiore

“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” Bruno Delbonnel

“The Hurt Locker” Barry Ackroyd

“Inglourious Basterds” Robert Richardson

“The White Ribbon” Christian Berger

Costume Design

“Bright Star” Janet Patterson

“Coco before Chanel” Catherine Leterrier

“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” Monique Prudhomme

“Nine” Colleen Atwood

“The Young Victoria” Sandy Powell

Directing

“Avatar” James Cameron

“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow

“Inglourious Basterds” Quentin Tarantino

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels

“Up in the Air” Jason Reitman

Documentary (Feature)

“Burma VJ” Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller

“The Cove” Louie Psihoyos and Fisher Stevens

“Food, Inc.” Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein

“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith

“Which Way Home” Rebecca Cammisa

Documentary (Short Subject)

“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill

“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher

“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert

“Music by Prudence” Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett

“Rabbit à la Berlin” Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Film Editing

“Avatar” Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron

“District 9” Julian Clarke

“The Hurt Locker” Bob Murawski and Chris Innis

“Inglourious Basterds” Sally Menke

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Joe Klotz

Foreign Language Film

“Ajami” Israel

“The Milk of Sorrow (La Teta Asustada)” Peru

“A Prophet (Un Prophète)” France

“The Secret in Their Eyes (El Secreto de Sus Ojos)” Argentina

“The White Ribbon (Das Weisse Band)” Germany

Makeup

“Il Divo” Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

“Star Trek” Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow

“The Young Victoria” Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Music (Original Score)

“Avatar” James Horner

“Fantastic Mr. Fox” Alexandre Desplat

“The Hurt Locker” Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders

“Sherlock Holmes” Hans Zimmer

“Up” Michael Giacchino

Music (Original Song)

“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36” Music by Reinhardt Wagner Lyric by Frank Thomas

“Take It All” from “Nine” Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston

“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Best Picture

“Avatar” James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers

“The Blind Side” Gil Netter, Andrew A. Kosove and Broderick Johnson, Producers

“District 9” Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers

“An Education” Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers

“The Hurt Locker” Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, Producers

“Inglourious Basterds” Lawrence Bender, Producer

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers

“A Serious Man” Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers

“Up” Jonas Rivera, Producer

“Up in the Air” Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

Short Film (Animated)

“French Roast” Fabrice O. Joubert

“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell

“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” Javier Recio Gracia

“Logorama” Nicolas Schmerkin

“A Matter of Loaf and Death” Nick Park

Short Film (Live Action)

“The Door” Juanita Wilson and James Flynn

“Instead of Abracadabra” Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström

“Kavi” Gregg Helvey

“Miracle Fish” Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey

“The New Tenants” Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Sound Editing

“Avatar” Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle

“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson

“Inglourious Basterds” Wylie Stateman

“Star Trek” Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin

“Up” Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Sound Mixing

“Avatar” Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson

“The Hurt Locker” Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett

“Inglourious Basterds” Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano

“Star Trek” Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Visual Effects

“Avatar” Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones

“District 9” Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken

“Star Trek” Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)

“District 9” Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell

“An Education” Screenplay by Nick Hornby

“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche

“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher

“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Writing (Original Screenplay)

“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal

“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino

“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman

“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter, Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Earlier 3D concert films gained good results like Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: The Best of Both Worlds Concert” and “U2 3D”.

With more than 16 3D films to be released this year, more and more theaters around the globe are rushing to upgrade their systems and make it 3D equipped.

* “Phish 3D” follows the band during its Festival 8 concerts in Indio, California, last October, according to the statement. The band, formed in 1983, is known for shows that include improvisations in jazz, rock and bluegrass.

*source: TODAY3D

Sanctum is being directed by Australian filmmaker and Tropfest winner Alister Grierson and features an Aussie cast including: Rhys Wakefield (7’s “Home and Away”), Allison Cratchley (7’s “All Saints”), Richard Roxburgh (Van Helsing), Alice Parkinson (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Daniel Wyllie (Animal Kingdom).

Inspired by a real experience that producer Andrew Wight went through, Sanctum will show how he ended up trapped with 14 other people in a cave system for two days. “It’s really a character driven piece and the 3-D should only be part of enhancing the experience,” Cameron says.

Following the success of Sky UK’s first ever live 3D broadcast, Sky Deutschland are now preparing to bring the same experience to German audiences. The Manchester United vs Arsenal Premier League clash received nothing but praise from its 3D admiring audience. Now Sky are hoping for the same positive response from German sports fans, as they prepare to broadcast a 3D Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Hamburger SV to a select audience in Munich, on March 14th.Deputy CEO Brian Sullivan who will become the CEO on April 1 said that, “Sky screens by far the most original HD content and is leading the way in this area in Germany and Austria. With the first HD-3D live production in Germany we make the next step now, giving a first, early outlook at how the already-fantastic HD experience can develop further in future.”

Sky’s 3D services will be the first in the world to broadcast. Sky UK’s dedicated 3D TV service is set to begin broadcasting next month through the companies already in place Sky HD+ boxes.

“In many respects, the cinema market represents an endurance test for the glasses. Our glasses are required to perform beautifully multiple times a day, many days a week, and they must also be comfortable, easily cleaned and robust. Having proven our technology in the cinema sphere, we’re addressing the consumer market by adding extra style to designs, making available new colours, entering OEM partnerships with great companies such as Philips, and also pursuing our own retail strategy to support consumers who need additional glasses,” explained Maria Costeira, CEO of XpanD.

At CeBIT, which is currently running in Hanover, Germany, ASUS announced its plans for a 3D monitor. ASUS revealed that later this year it will be releasing the 27″ full HD 3D PG276 Monitor. The 3D capable display utilizees NVIDIA 3D Vision technology and will display full HD images at 60 frames per second.

Prior to the release of the 27″ ASUS PG276 later this year, a 23″ and a 23.6″ version of the display will be made available. No price or official release date has been stated with the upcoming ASUS technology just yet.

‘Despicable Me’ is the upcoming 3D animation film from Universal Pictures (see the trailer here). ‘Despicable Me’ focuses on the world’s #2 super villain, Gru, whose evil attempts are always thwarted by Vector, the #1 super villain. In an attempt to outdo Vector, he begins plotting to steal the moon while he hides underground in a suburban neighborhood living with his minions. ‘Despicable Me’ stars Steve Carell, Jason Segel and Russell Brand and will be hitting the big screen in 3D worldwide on July 9th, 2010. Watch the trailer for it here.

The final installment from the much loved Shrek franchise is set to open the New York 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. ‘Shrek Forever After’ is the first Shrek movie to incorporate the 3D format. The Tribeca Film Festival will begin on April 21^st and the movie will be screened on the opening night and will run till May 2^nd. Other information on the Tribeca’s listings will be revealed on March 10^th and March 15^th. Shrek Forever After stars Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy and Cameron Diaz and is expected to be released on May 21^st.

Yesterday Pioneer USA introduced its new line of 5.1 channel AV receivers to the world. The new receivers are known as the VSX-820-K and the VSX-520-K. Both models come 3D ready and utilize the new HDMI 4.1 specification which provides HD connectivity for the 3D Blu-ray specification which will be hitting the consumer market in the near future. They also utilize the Dolby ProLogic IIz decoder for HD audio formats. Both the VSX-520-K and the VSX-820-K receivers are available for $299.