By DAVID GERMAIN
AP Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES – Too predictable. That’s the persistent complaint about the Academy Awards, whose drama generally is sapped by a glut of earlier award shows that spell out what films will win at the Oscars before the show starts.
Not this time – at least for Sunday’s top prize.
With the best-picture lineup expanded to 10 films instead of the usual five, the science-fiction spectacle and box-office behemoth “Avatar” is head-to-head with the low-budgeted, low-grossing Iraq War story “The Hurt Locker.”