Like most of the Western world, we woke up this morning eager to see the much balleyhooed Oscar nominations, announced earlier today. As everyone predicted, Avatar and The Hurt Locker lead the field with nine nods a piece while sleeper hits The Blind Side and District 9 crept in to earn surprising Best Picture nods. Everything else seems to be just where the three million prediction lists we saw this week said they’d be, though we can’t say we weren’t a little disappointed that our friend Ben Foster didn’t get nominated for his gripping performance in The Messenger. Though his co-star Woody Harrelson earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination, Foster’s performance as a casualty notification officer was the film’s emotional core, and should have been recognized by the Academy. We spoke with Foster last fall and he was obviously excited about his work in the film, but after reading the piece in our upcoming issue, you’ll see that the last thing Ben Foster does this for is awards. Here’s a little sneak peek from our photoshoot with the actor. And make sure to pick up our spring issue of Corduroy to see all the photos and to read our brand new interview with Ben Foster.

- Daniel Barna