By Steven Zeitchik

When the buzz on a best picture nom for “WALL-E” hit a fever pitch last year, one Pixar exec confided to us that, “This is it. This is our last chance. After this year, we’re out of the awards game.”

Well, maybe not.

The Oscar buzz this year couldn’t be higher for Pixar’s “Up,” not only for the best animated category but for best picture, thanks to a warm Festival de Cannes playdate and a lucky-to-be-born late blessing of 10 best-picture noms.

A dual accolade would make history (the only instance of an animated movie being nominated for best film was “Beauty of the Beast” in 1991, long before the best animated feature category existed). It would also  create complications — and not only for Pixar execs who might have to shell out some extra coin on a broader campaign.

Pixar and director Pete Docter might hope that the best picture momentum will carry it to a victory in the animation category. But for some voters, it could slice the other way, prompting them to choose something else in animation because they’ve already put “Up” high on their best picture ballot. (In that sense, “Up” would be unlucky to be nominated twice.)

By Steven Zeitchik

Since it was introduced 70 years ago, the Academy Awards’ original screenplay category has been a breeding ground for fresh new voices, launching careers and solidifying the legacy of writers as diverse as Orson Welles, Billy Wilder and Paddy Chayefsky.

But this year the category looks as thin as a supermodel on a crash diet. The Coen brothers’ “A Serious Man,” Quentin Tarantino’s “Inglourious Basterds” and Bob Peterson’s and Tom McCarthy’s “Up” are likely near-locks for noms. That leaves two slots, one of which could go to Scott Neustadter and Michael Weber for their quirky breakup story “(500) Days of Summer,” an admirable choice.

Beyond that, it gets dicey. Vying for attention, for instance, are the duo behind the “Star Trek” update, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, who also count cinematic tour de force “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” among their 2009 credits (though the Academy could qualify “Trek”  as adapted — the writers branch will meet in the coming weeks to make rule determinations that could affect pics like that one, writers branch governor Phil Robinson said in an interview.)

The field has changed pretty dramatically over the past several decades. The last time Tarantino was nominated back in 1994 he went up against Woody Allen, Richard Curtis and Peter Jackson; this go-round he could end up pitted against “The Hangover” scribes Scott Moore and Jon Lucas (most recent credit: “Ghosts of Girlfriends Past”), who also are jockeying for a spot.