Mo'Nique "Floating" Since Oscar Nod

Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress Mo'Nique said on "The Early Show" she has been "floating" since it was announced she was recognized for her performance as a physically and emotionally abusive mother in the movie "Precious."

Mo'Nique said she and the cast of "Precious" were behind the movie so much because the message of the film was so strong.

"(The movie) changed my life," she said.

She added, "I'm very honored and grateful they recognized the performance, but we didn't do the project with the feeling of, 'This is going to get us an award.' We did the project with the feeling of 'Oh my God, this will change lives.'"

She called the experience of her nomination "beautiful."

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Jess Cagle, managing editor of Entertainment Weekly magazine, predicted on "The Early Show" "Precious" is going to win for Best Supporting Actress.

As for the other nominations, Cagle said he was surprised that some films didn't get nominated, including "Invictus."

"'The Blind Side' probably got its spot," Cagle said. "...The bar is so high for Clint Eastwood, who directed that movie, that he was probably competing against himself."

Cagle said the two front-runners for the Oscars are "Avatar" and "The Hurt Locker," which both received nine nominations.

In the best actor category, Cagle said there were few surprises. He said he expected Jeff Bridges to be nominated for "Crazy Heart" and George Clooney for "Up in the Air." Also on the list are Colin Firth for "A Single Man," Morgan Freeman for "Invictus" and Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker."

The same was true for the Best Actress category, Cagle said. However, he said the big race in that category is Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side" versus Meryl Streep for "Julie & Julia."

Cagle said there were also some surprises. Penelope Cruz's Best Supporting Actress nomination for "Nine" was unexpected.

"Nine," Cagle said, didn't receive a lot of box office or critical support.

"I think the Academy just really loves her, and she was good in the movie, but she had to be really good in that movie for it to get a nomination like that," he said.

In the Best Director category, "Early Show" co-anchor Harry Smith pointed out the ongoing race between Kathryn Bigelow for "The Hurt Locker" and James Cameron for "Avatar," who were once married.

"They're very kind of sweet with each other," Cagle said.

Bigelow, Cagle added, is only the fourth woman in the 82 years of the awards show to be recognized for the award. A woman, he said, has never received the award.