Dreamgirls leads field in Oscar nominations

Best Picture nominee Babel is a multi-narrative drama, featuring an extensive international cast.

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BEVERLY HILLS, California - The musical drama Dreamgirls led the Oscar field with eight nominations, but surprisingly failed to make the coveted best picture and directing categories, organisers said this morning.

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 Pan's Labyrinth and the British royals drama The Queen with six each.

The mob thriller The Departed and the Africa-set drama Blood Diamond picked up five nominations each.

"It is a big wide open race," said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which organises the event.

Most Oscar pundits had expected Dreamgirls to be among the main contenders, but its omission from the top two races was a stunning snub.

"If one is to look for a surprise that would be it," Ganis said.

The highest-profile nominations for Dreamgirls were in the supporting acting races, where veteran comic Eddie Murphy and newcomer Jennifer Hudson were cited.

This is the first time both have received Oscar nominations.

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.

Nominated for lead actor were Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond, Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson, Peter O'Toole for Venus, Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness, and Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland.

The best actress nominees were Spanish actress Penelope Cruz for Volver, Britons Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal, Helen Mirren for The Queen, and Kate Winslet for Little Children, and the sole American contender, Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada.

Streep has racked up 14 nominations in her career, breaking the record she set in 2002.

In the acting categories, there were 10 first-time nominees, also including Cruz, Whitaker, Gosling, and 10-year-old Abigail Breslin, who was cited for her supporting role as a beauty pageant contender in Little Miss Sunshine.

The 79th annual Academy Awards, the top honours in cinema, will take place on February 25 in Hollywood.

- REUTERS

Best Picture nominated films: Babel Part of González Iárritu's "death trilogy", alongside previous Oscar-nominated films Amores Perros and 21 Grams, Babel is a multi-narrative drama, featuring an extensive international cast. Babel beat out Golden Globe favourite The Departed to win Best Picture (drama) at last week's awards ceremony, making it a strong contender at this year's Academy Awards. The Departed Directed by Hollywood icon Martin Scorsese, The Departed is widely tipped to take the Best Picture category at this year's Oscars and finally earn the filmmaker a Best Director statue that has thus far eluded him, despite being nominated five times. Starring a veritable who's who of Hollywood, the gangster flick has already won Scorsese a Golden Globe for Best Director. Set in modern day Boston, the film is a remake of 2002 Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs. Letters From Iwo Jima Based on the World War II invasion of Iwo Jima, this Clint Eastwood directed film adopts a Japanese viewpoint of the historic battle. Filmed entirely in Japanese and featuring a Japanese cast, Letters from Iwo Jima has already claimed a spate of awards, including Best Picture from National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. Little Miss Sunshine A dysfunctional family learn some valuable life lessons when they spend a weekend road tripping to a children's beauty pageant. Starring Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear and the delightful Abigail Breslin - who could become this year's youngest Oscar winner - Little Miss Sunshine recently claimed Best Picture at the Producers Guild Awards. The Queen The days following Princess Diana's death were dark times for the Windsor family. Helen Mirren takes on the role of Queen Elizabeth II in this acclaimed film, directed by Stephen Frears. The film has already won a number of awards and is nominated for ten Baftas, making it a frontrunner in the Oscars race.