These are my choices for the top performances/accomplishments in films of 2010 in each of the cinematic categories honored by the Academy Awards.  I suppose that you could say if I were unilaterally choosing the Oscar nominees, these would be the nominees.  In a few of the design and technical categories (particularly Makeup and Sound Editing), I did not feel completely equipped to be picking the best, but I did what I could.

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A full blog post detailing my top ten list is here.
Inception
The Social Network
The Fighter
Black Swan
Toy Story 3
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Let Me In
The King’s Speech
Easy A
Splice

Director
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Fincher, The Social Network
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Matt Reeves, Let Me In

Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio, Inception
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours
Mark Wahlberg, The Fighter

Actress
There are a few performances here from movies that I didn’t think were otherwise that great.
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Hailee Steinfeld, True Grit
Emma Stone, Easy A

Supporting Actor
Christian Bale, The Fighter
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Justin Timberlake, The Social Network
Vincent Cassel, Black Swan
Jonah Hill, Cyrus

Supporting Actress
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Barbara Hershey, Black Swan
Marion Cotillard, Inception
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Delphine Chanéac, Splice
Mila Kunis, Black Swan

Adapted Screenplay
Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
Roman Polanski, The Ghost Writer
Joel and Ethan Coen, True Grit
Matt Reeves, Let Me In
Michael Arndt, Toy Story 3

Original Screenplay
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Seidler, The King’s Speech
Scott Silver, Paul Tamasy, Eric Johnson, and Keith Dorrington, The Fighter
Bert V. Royal, Easy A
Vincenzo Natali, Antoinette Terry Bryant, and Doug Taylor, Splice

Editing
Lee Smith, Inception
Kirk Baxter Angus Wall, The Social Network
Pamela Martin, The Fighter
Andrew Weisblum, Black Swan
Thelma Schoonmaker, Shutter Island

Cinematography
Wally Pfister, Inception
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Danny Cohen, The King’s Speech
Bob Richardson, Shutter Island
Roger Deakins, True Grit

Art Direction
Inception
Shutter Island
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Black Swan
Tron: Legacy

Sound Mixing
Inception
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
The Social Network
The Fighter
Black Swan

Sound Editing
Inception
Shutter Island
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
Unstoppable

Costume Design
Inception
Black Swan
The King’s Speech
The Social Network
True Grit

Score
Hans Zimmer, Inception
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo, Tron: Legacy
Alexandre Desplat, The Ghost Writer
Heitor Perreira and Pharrell Williams, Despicable Me

Song
“The Clap,” written by Dan Bern and Mike Viola, Get Him to the Greek
“Chop and Change,” written by Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney, Twilight: Eclipse
“Heavy in Your Arms,” written by Florence Welch and Paul Epworth, Twilight: Eclipse
“Fun, Fun, Fun,” written by Pharrell Williams, Despicable Me
“Eclipse (All Yours),” written by Emily Haines, James Shaw, and Howard Shore, Twilight: Eclipse

Foreign Language Film
I saw two foreign language films from 2010 – The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl who Played with Fire – but I believe that neither one was eligible in this category, as they were not released in their home country last year.  But since they were released stateside in 2010, they were eligible for all the other categories.  Also, I believe there can be only one film nominated per country per year.

Documentary Feature
I saw four documentaries from 2010.  Here’s how I rank them:
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Waiting for ‘Superman’
Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work
Catfish

Animated Feature
Toy Story 3
How to Train Your Dragon
Despicable Me

Visual Effects
Inception
Hereafter
Tron: Legacy
Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

Makeup
Black Swan
The Fighter
Let Me In
Shutter Island
Jonah Hex