<p>The 82nd Academy Awards will see a battle of the exes with James Cameron’s sci-fi blockbuster “Avatar” and his former-wife Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq war drama “Hurt Locker” fighting it out for top honours after receiving nine nominations each.<br /><br />The red carpet had been rolled out as organisers made last minute checks for the Hollywood extravaganza, which gets under way at 6:30 am IST on Monday. Both the films have been nominated in the ‘Best Picture’ category with Cameron and Bigelow being pitted against each other in the Best Director category.<br /><br />Nominees for this year’s Academy Awards are being offered a “gift basket” which includes an African safari, tickets to an all-inclusive fitness boot camp and a Tiffany crystal-studded cat collar, Daily Mail online reported. Yet, it seems that actors at the ceremony have been shying away from accepting the lavish giveaways.<br /><br />In recent years, actors have been invited to “gifting suites” set up in hotels before the ceremony where they can take their pick from dozens of luxury items in return for posing for a photograph to help promote the product. But this year few big names have showed up, with stars said to be worried about alienating recession-hit fans by being seen with heavily-laden gift bags.<br /><br />The unofficial ‘Everybody Wins At The Oscars’ gift bag from Distinctive Assets includes the £30,000 African safari for 16 people, trips to Monte Carlo and a private island in the Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean and the feline collar. <br /><br /></p>
<p>The 82nd Academy Awards will see a battle of the exes with James Cameron’s sci-fi blockbuster “Avatar” and his former-wife Kathryn Bigelow’s Iraq war drama “Hurt Locker” fighting it out for top honours after receiving nine nominations each.<br /><br />The red carpet had been rolled out as organisers made last minute checks for the Hollywood extravaganza, which gets under way at 6:30 am IST on Monday. Both the films have been nominated in the ‘Best Picture’ category with Cameron and Bigelow being pitted against each other in the Best Director category.<br /><br />Nominees for this year’s Academy Awards are being offered a “gift basket” which includes an African safari, tickets to an all-inclusive fitness boot camp and a Tiffany crystal-studded cat collar, Daily Mail online reported. Yet, it seems that actors at the ceremony have been shying away from accepting the lavish giveaways.<br /><br />In recent years, actors have been invited to “gifting suites” set up in hotels before the ceremony where they can take their pick from dozens of luxury items in return for posing for a photograph to help promote the product. But this year few big names have showed up, with stars said to be worried about alienating recession-hit fans by being seen with heavily-laden gift bags.<br /><br />The unofficial ‘Everybody Wins At The Oscars’ gift bag from Distinctive Assets includes the £30,000 African safari for 16 people, trips to Monte Carlo and a private island in the Turks and Caicos in the Caribbean and the feline collar. <br /><br /></p>