Dreamgirls, a musical drama inspired by Motown group the Supremes, scored a leading eight Oscar nominations but was omitted from the coveted best-picture and directing categories, organisers said on Tuesday.
Babel, a bold examination of the woes afflicting humanity in the early 21st century, followed with seven nominations, followed by Spanish-language adult fairy tale El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth) and the British royals drama The Queen with six each.
The best-picture nominees were Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen.
The directing nominees were Mexican filmmaker Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Babel, Martin Scorsese for The Departed, Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima and British directors Stephen Frears for The Queen and Paul Greengrass for United 93.
The Queen star Helen Mirren, Judi Dench, Kate Winslet, Meryl Streep and Penélope Cruz earned nominations for the best-actress award. Former Oscar winner Dench was nominated for her turn as a frustrated teacher in Notes on a Scandal, Winslet for the adultery drama Little Children, Streep for The Devil Wears Prada and Cruz for Volver.
The Last King of Scotland star Forest Whitaker, Irish veteran Peter O’Toole and United States heart-throb Leonardo DiCaprio were named among the nominees for the Oscar for best actor. O’Toole received his eighth nomination for Venus, and DiCaprio for Blood Diamond. The other two nominees were Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness and Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson.
The 79th annual Academy Awards, the top honours in cinema, will take place on February 25 in Hollywood. — Reuters, AFP
THE FULL LIST
Best picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
Best actor
Leonardo DiCaprio — Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling — Half Nelson
Peter O’Toole — Venus
Will Smith — The Pursuit of Happyness
Forest Whitaker — The Last King of Scotland
Best actress
Penélope Cruz — Volver
Judi Dench — Notes on a Scandal
Helen Mirren — The Queen
Meryl Streep — The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet — Little Children
Best supporting actor
Alan Arkin — Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley — Little Children
Djimon Hounsou — Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy — Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg — The Departed
Best supporting actress
Adriana Barraza — Babel
Cate Blanchett — Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin — Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson — Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi — Babel
Best director
Clint Eastwood — Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears — The Queen
Paul Greengrass — United 93
Alejandro González Iñárritu — Babel
Martin Scorsese — The Departed
Best original screenplay
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth)
The Queen
Best adapted screenplay
Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
Best cinematography
The Black Dahlia
Children of Men
The Illusionist
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth)
The Prestige
Best editing
Babel
Blood Diamond
Children of Men
The Departed
United 93
Best art direction
Dreamgirls
The Good Shepherd
Laberinto del Fauno, El
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth)
The Prestige
Best costume design
Man cheng jin dai huang jin jia
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Marie Antoinette
The Queen
Best original score
Babel — Gustavo Santaolalla
The Good German — Thomas Newman
Notes on a Scandal — Philip Glass
El Laberinto del Fauno — Javier Navarrete
The Queen — Alexandre Desplat
Best original song
An Inconvenient Truth — I Need To Wake Up
Dreamgirls — Listen
Dreamgirls — Love You I Do
Cars — Our Town
Dreamgirls — Patience
Best make-up
Apocalypto
Click
El Laberinto del Fauno (Pan’s Labyrinth)
Best sound
Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Dreamgirls
Flags of Our Fathers
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Best sound editing
Apocalypto
Blood Diamond
Flags of Our Fathers
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Best visual effects
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest
Poseidon
Superman Returns
Best animated feature film
Cars
Happy Feet
Monster House
Best foreign-language film
Efter brylluppet (Denmark)
Indigènes (Algeria)
El Laberinto del Fauno (Mexico)
Das Leben der Anderen (Germany)
Water (Canada)
Best feature documentary
Deliver Us from Evil
An Inconvenient Truth
Iraq in Fragments
Jesus Camp
My Country My Country
Best short documentary
The Blood of Yingzhou District
Recycled Life
Rehearsing a Dream
Two Hands
Best animated short film
The Danish Poet
Lifted
The Little Matchgirl
Maestro
No Time for Nuts
Best live-action short film
Binta y la gran idea
Éramos pocos
Helmer & Son
The Saviour
West Bank Story
On the net
Oscars.com