Oscar nominations: Out director Lee Daniels gets nod for “Precious,” Colin Firth for “A Single Man” and Meryl gets 16th nomination

Usually I’m up at the crack of dawn covering the Oscar nominations but this year, I slept in! But that doesn’t mean I don’t have a few opinions about the nominations.

First of all, how terrific to have Lee Daniels, an openly gay African-American man, nominated for best director for Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire.

“I am stoked,” Daniels told the Hollywood Reporter. “I haven’t moved. I’m in bed feeling like a stuffed pig, I’m just so overwhelmed with joy and so full with excitement.”

He is only the second black filmmaker to earn a directing Oscar nomination. John Singleton first broke the racial barrier in 1992 with Boyz N the Hood.

“It doesn’t even register,” he said. “When it’s down to a black person, it’s always a first of something. Like, Jiminy Crickets! How many firsts are there? What it does is it makes me think that it’s not just for little black kids hoping to dream, but for all kids hoping to dream because what happens is they all see that anything is possible — everything is possible.

Precious also received nominations for best picture, best actress (Gaborey Sidibe), best supporting actress (Mo’Nique), adapted screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher) and editing (Joe Klotz).

GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios praised the nominations for Precious, a film about an physically, sexually and emotionally abused teenager that also includes a positive image of a lesbian couple with actress Paula Patton (pictured, left) portraying out lesbian teacher Ms. Rain whose emotional support assists and inspires the film’s protagonist. In the film, viewers meet Ms. Rain’s partner and hear of the rejection that the loving couple face from their families.

“Images like the love and commitment between Ms. Rain and her partner in Precious … spark conversations that help Americans embrace their gay and transgender friends, family members and neighbors,” Barrios said. “We need to advocate for more gay-inclusive stories to be shared with mainstream audiences because as more people see these images, they realize that we have the same aspirations, hopes, and deserve the same chances to take care of our loved ones and families.”

Barrios also praised the nomination of Colin Firth in the best actor category for A Single Man. He played a gay man mourning the death of his partner. He is banned from attending the funeral as the film takes place in the homophobic world of the early 1960s. The film shows a man presenting one self to the world, and forced to live an entirely different life in private.

Firth was excited about his nomination telling The Huffington Post: “I thought I was managing my expectations, but on hearing the news I discovered new and unfamiliar vocal tones. Perhaps I should do another musical.”

The Tom Ford-directed film has gotten mostly raves but did not earn a adapted screenplay nomination for Ford or a supporting actress nod for Julianne Moore.

And finally, there is Greg In Hollywood favorite Meryl Streep who extended her own record – to 16 – of the most nominations for any performer in the history of the Academy Awards. Her latest nomination is for her performance of world famous chef Julia Child in Julie & Julia.

“I am proud and grateful to stand with these women who have given such a range of beautiful, indelible performances this year!!” Streep said in a statement.

Miss Streep has won the Golden Globe and several critics prizes and until last week’s Screen Actors Guild Awards when Sandra Bullock won best actress for The Blind Side, Meryl looked like the front-runner.

I really hope this isn’t a continuation of the same old story of the past 27 years where Streep, a two-time Oscar winner, has been repeatedly overlooked for the prize. It’s as if her genius is taken for granted and she often loses out to a lesser actress in a change of pace role. Too often the winner over Streep has been an actress that the Academy is wowed by because they didn’t know the actress had that level of skill.

Streep has it in spades and should be rewarded for it with a long-overdue third Oscar.

Anyway, here is a link to a FULL LIST of the 2010 Academy Award nominations including TEN Best Picture nominees. I know it’s an effort to make the awards most relevant to voters but it really is a silly idea. Pick the five best like the rest of the categories and get on with it.

The 82nd Annual Academy Awards airs Sunday, March 07, 2010, at 8PM ET/5:00 PM PT on ABC.