Film awards season off and running

With Oscar nominations looming, the Hollywood movie awards season is in full swing.

Here’s a recap of the best picture winners and nominees announced by various critics’ groups over the past week:

Golden Globes: Nominees, drama: “Avatar,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” “Up in the Air.” Nominees, musical or comedy: “(500) Days of Summer,” “The Hangover,” “It’s Complicated,” “Julie & Julia,” “Nine.”

Screen Actors Guild: Nominees, best ensemble cast: “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Nine,” “Precious.”

Broadcast Film Critics Association: Nominees: “Avatar,” “An Education,” “The Hurt Locker,” “Inglorious Basterds,” “Invictus,” “Nine,” “Precious,” “A Serious Man,” “Up,” “Up in the Air.”

American Film Institute: Winners, top 10 movies of the year: “Coraline,” “The Hangover,” “The Hurt Locker,” “The Messenger,” “Precious,” “A Serious Man,” “A Single Man,” “Sugar,” “Up,” “Up in the Air.”

Los Angeles Film Critics Association: Winner: “The Hurt Locker.”

New York Film Critics Circle: Winner: “The Hurt Locker.”

New York Film Critics Online: Winner: “Avatar”

Animation contenders

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 15 films vying for best visual effects consideration at the Oscars.

They include “2012,” “Avatar,” “Coraline,” “District 9,” “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” “G-Force,” “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra,” “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” “Sherlock Holmes,” “Star Trek,” “Terminator Salvation,” “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” “Watchmen” and “Where the Wild Things Are.”

The list will be narrowed to seven in January, and three films will be announced in February as final nominees.