'Air,' 'Wild Things' rack up Chicago film nominations

Jason Reitman's comic tale of a professional downsizer "Up in the Air" and Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic children's story "Where the Wild Things Are" lead the nominees for the 22nd annual Chicago Film Critics Awards.

Each film earned six nominations, including best picture, director and adapted screenplay.

Also up for Best Picture: Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker," Quentin Tarantino's "Inglourious Basterds," and Joel and Ethan Coen's "A Serious Man."

Winners of the Chicago Film Critics Awards will be announced Dec. 21.

Here are the 2009 nominees for the Chicago Film Critics Awards:

PICTURE: "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "A Serious Man," "Up in the Air," "Where the Wild Things Are"

DIRECTOR: Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker," Joel and Ethan Coen for "A Serious Man," Spike Jonze for "Where the Wild Things Are," Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air," Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds"

ACTOR: Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart," George Clooney in "Up in the Air," Matt Damon in "The Informant!," Jeremy Renner in "The Hurt Locker," Michael Stuhlbarg in "A Serious Man"

ACTRESS: Abbie Cornish in "Bright Star," Carey Mulligan in "An Education," Maya Rudolph in "Away We Go," Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," Meryl Streep in "Julie & Julia."

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Peter Capaldi in "In the Loop," Woody Harrelson in "The Messenger," Christian McKay in "Me and Orson Welles," Stanley Tucci in "The Lovely Bones," Christoph Waltz in "Inglourious Basterds"

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Vera Farmiga in "Up in the Air," Anna Kendrick in "Up in the Air," Mo'Nique in "Precious," Julianne Moore in "A Single Man," Natalie Portman in "Brothers"

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: "Away We Go," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "A Serious Man," "Up"

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: "An Education," "In the Loop," "The Informant!," "Up in the Air," "Where the Wild Things Are"

DOCUMENTARY: "Anvil!: The True Story of Anvil," "Capitalism: A Love Story," "The Cove," "Food, Inc.," "Tyson."

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM: "Broken Embraces," "Red Cliff," "Sin Nombre," "Summer Hours," "The White Ribbon"

ANIMATED FEATURE: "Coraline," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "Ponyo," "The Princess and the Frog," "Up."

CINEMATOGRAPHY: "Avatar," "Bright Star," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Where the Wild Things Are"

ORIGINAL SCORE: "Avatar," "Fantastic Mr. Fox," "The Informant!," "Up," "Where the Wild Things Are"

MOST PROMISING PERFORMER: Sharlto Copley in "District 9," Christian McKay in "Me and Orson Welles," Carey Mulligan in "An Education," Max Records in "Where the Wild Things Are," Gabourey Sidibe in "Precious"

MOST PROMISING FILMMAKER: Neill Blomkamp for "District 9," Scott Cooper for "Crazy Heart," Cary Fukunaga for "Sin Nombre," Duncan Jones for "Moon," Marc Webb for "(500) Days of Summer"