Avatar leads Baftas

District 9 has seven nominations; Inglourious Basterds and Up in the Air have six nominations apiece; and Coco Before Chanel, Nowhere Boy, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and Up each receive four nominations at the Orange British Academy Film Awards.

Avatar received nominations for Best Film, while James Cameron has a nod in the Director category.

An Education is also in the running for Best Film, vying against The Hurt Locker, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and Up In The Air.

The Leading Actor category sees Hollywood heart-throb and Up In the Air star George Clooney pitted against Colin Firth for A Single Man, Andy Serkis for Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll, Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker and Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart.

The Leading Actress category will be fought out between Carey Mulligan for An Education, Saoirse Ronan for The Lovely Bones, Gabourey Sidibe for Precious, Meryl Streep for Julie and Julia and Audrey Tautou for Coco Before Chanel.

An Education, a coming-of-age story based on the memoirs of journalist Lynn Barber, also has a nod in the Outstanding British Film category, as does In The Loop, the movie spin-off of the BBC's political comedy The Thick Of It.

Fish Tank, Nowhere Boy and Moon round off the list.

Cameron will battle it out on the director shortlist with his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, for The Hurt Locker, the acclaimed Iraq war drama about an elite team of bomb disposal experts.

Also competing for a director gong are Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds, Lone Scherfig for An Education, and Neill Blomkamp for alien film District 9.

AMAZING MOVIE 'THE AVATAR'

Of the three premieres to take place in London this week, only one really mattered - and it wasn't St Trinian's 2. James Cameron's Avatar was finally seen by mortal man, and the reactions may well have been more positive than we all expected...

"Just left the party. The movie is a game changer. Still buzzing. Tweet over.", exclaimed Simon Pegg on Twitter. And he wasn't alone. Twitter was short on Avatar nay-sayers after the World Premiere in the Odeon, Leicester Square.

Avatar Official 12The audience, who gave the film quite an ovation during the end credits, were buzzing after, although those of a quieter disposition may have left with mild headaches - Avatar is an attack on the senses.

The visuals, regardless of the 3D, are truly stunning, and oh so immersive once the specs are on. The soundtrack compliments the visuals perfectly, be it the array of noises, clicks and tweets, or the rousing James Horner score.

There were pop stars, boxers, television and movie stars in attendance, but they paled in significance once the cast showed up - all of the key players were there, seeing this thing for the first time since it's completion.

Before the film commenced, Sky Movies' Alex Zane welcomed the cast to the stage, one by one. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana (who nearly fell over as she walked up the stage steps, but thankfully found her footing), Stephen Lang - and then Sigourney Weaver, who received the biggest cheer of the night.

And then Cameron arrived - giving the audience a heartfelt summary of what it was like to be presenting his movie after fourteen years of hard work. Avatar Official 05

Three hours later, (it felt like one) and the verdicts were coming together. It might not quite have the relevance of cinematic innovations of years gone by, but there was a feeling in the audience that Cameron, for all his bleating about changing cinema and holding training courses for directors, has come up with something truly special.

Before seeing Avatar, many of us were wondering, was there anything left to see? Fourteen years after Titanic and 3D movies are a dime a dozen. The story appeared to be Dances With Wolves meets Toy Story. South Park have already parodied it, calling it Dances With Smurfs. Could there possibly be any surprises in store?

The answer is in the affirmative. While the plot might not contain too many shocks the real surprise is in the experience. For once, Trey Parker and Matt Stone jumped the gun. Dances With Smurfs misses the point entirely.