The peppy musical "Dreamgirls" led Academy Awards contenders Tuesday with eight nominations, but surprisingly was shut out in the best picture category for which it had been considered a potential front-runner.

The sweeping ensemble drama "Babel" was close behind with seven, including best picture and acting honors for two newcomers to U.S. audiences, Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi.

Other best-picture nominees were the bloody crime saga "The Departed," the World War II spectacle "Letters From Iwo Jima," the road-trip comedy "Little Miss Sunshine" and the monarchy-in-crisis chronicle "The Queen."

Going into nominations day, the best-picture competition looks unusually wide open, with no consensus on a favorite. With "Dreamgirls," a Golden Globe winner out of the race, the best picture competition was even more up for grabs.

But front-runners in all four categories nabbed nominations and seem poised to come home with Oscars on Feb. 25: Helen Mirren for best actress as British monarch Elizabeth II in "The Queen"; Forest Whitaker for best actor as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland"; and Eddie Murphy and former "American Idol" finalist Jennifer Hudson as soulful singers in "Dreamgirls."

The other nominees for best actor are Leonardo DiCaprio for "Blood Diamond," "Ryan Gosling" for "Half Nelson," Peter O'Toole for "Venus," and Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness."

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
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Babel
Paul Greenglass, United 93
Martin Scorsese, The Departed

I think Martin Scorsese is a LOCK for best director. He is like the Susan Lucci of Movies. LOL

I'm surprised United 93 wasn't nominated for best picture.

Complete list:

1. Best Picture:
"Babel,"
"The Departed,"
"Letters From Iwo Jima,"
"Little Miss Sunshine,"
"The Queen."

2. 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."

3. Actress:
Penelope Cruz, "Volver";
Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal";
Helen Mirren, "The Queen";
Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada";
Kate Winslet, "Little Children."

4. Supporting Actor:
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine";
Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children";
Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond";
Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls";
Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed."

5. Supporting Actress:
Adriana Barraza, "Babel";
Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal";
Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine";
Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls";
Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel."

6. Directing:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel";
Martin Scorsese, "The Departed";
Clint Eastwood, "Letters From Iwo Jima";
Stephen Frears, "The Queen";
Paul Greengrass, "United 93."

7. Foreign Language Film: "After the Wedding," Denmark;
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)," Algeria;
"The Lives of Others," Germany;
"Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico;
"Water," Canada.

8. Adapted Screenplay:
Sacha Baron Cohen and Anthony Hines and Peter Baynham and Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, "Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan";
Alfonso Cuaron and Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, "Children of Men";
William Monahan, "The Departed";
Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children";
Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal."

9. Original Screenplay:
Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel";
Iris Yama****a and Paul Haggis, "Letters From Iwo Jima";
Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine";
Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth";
Peter Morgan, "The Queen."

10. Animated Feature Film:
"Cars,"
"Happy Feet,"
"Monster House."

11. Art Direction:
"Dreamgirls,"
"The Good Shepherd,"
"Pan's Labyrinth,"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,"
"The Prestige."

12. Cinematography:
"The Black Dahlia,"
"Children of Men,"
"The Illusionist,"
"Pan's Labyrinth,"
"The Prestige."

13. Sound Mixing:
"Apocalypto,"
"Blood Diamond,"
"Dreamgirls,"
"Flags of Our Fathers,"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

14. Sound Editing:
"Apocalypto,"
"Blood Diamond,"
"Flags of Our Fathers,"
"Letters From Iwo Jima,"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest."

15. Original Score:
"Babel," Gustavo Santaolalla;
"The Good German," Thomas Newman;
"Notes on a Scandal," Philip Glass;
"Pan's Labyrinth," Javier Navarrete;
"The Queen," Alexandre Desplat.

16. Original Song:
"I Need to Wake Up" from "An Inconvenient Truth," Melissa Etheridge;
"Listen" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven;
"Love You I Do" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger and Siedah Garrett;
"Our Town" from "Cars," Randy Newman;
"Patience" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger and Willie Reale.

17. Costume:
"Curse of the Golden Flower,"
"The Devil Wears Prada,"
"Dreamgirls,"
"Marie Antoinette,"
"The Queen."

18. Documentary Feature:
"Deliver Us From Evil,"
"An Inconvenient Truth,"
"Iraq in Fragments,"
"Jesus Camp,"
"My Country, My Country."

19. Documentary (short subject):
"The Blood of Yingzhou District,"
"Recycled Life,"
"Rehearsing a Dream,"
"Two Hands."

20. Film Editing:
"Babel,"
"Blood Diamond,"
"Children of Men,"
"The Departed,"
"United 93."

21. Makeup:
"Apocalypto,"
"Click,"
"Pan's Labyrinth."

22. Animated Short Film:
"The Danish Poet,"
"Lifted,"
"The Little Matchgirl,"
"Maestro,"
"No Time for Nuts."

23. Live Action Short Film:
"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea),"
"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many),"
"Helmer & Son,"
"The Saviour,"
"West Bank Story."

24. Visual Effects:
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest,"
"Poseidon,"
"Superman Returns."

I'm surprised United 93 wasn't nominated for best picture.
I'm not surprised one bit.

I'm glad Meryl Streep got the nomination. She was fantastic in that role. Yay for Will Smith and Eddie Murphy too.

- shocked to see Dreamgirls snubbed
- glad to see Mark Wahlberg over Jack Nicholson
- I hoped to see Emily Blunt sneak in but I'll take Abigail Breslin
- Children of Men & Pan's Labyrinth nominations
- They nailed the best actress noms
- Blood Diamond nom for Leo instead of The Departed

BEVERLY HILLS, California - 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, organizers 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 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 79th annual Academy Awards, the top honors in cinema, will take place on February 25 in Hollywood.

Wow, I predicted all of the main categories correctly, except Supporting Actor, and Dreamgirls not getting a nod for Best Picture.

Do y'all think Dreamgirls should have been nominated for Best Picture?

Judi Dench was AMAZING in Notes on a Scandal. She better win.

If Borat wins, I'll kill someone.

And WTF is up with the three nominations in one category for Dreamgirls!? Seriously. One would've sufficed. There's way better songs out there.

Do y'all think Dreamgirls should have been nominated for Best Picture?
I knew the academy would give them some kind of snub.

Also, I am ready to see Forrest Whitaker walk away with the Best Actor statuette as he is AWESOME. His time has come that he needs to be recognized. Such a long way from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. YOU GO FORREST!

Also, my prediction for best director is of course CLINT EASTWOOD. Let's see how these predictions fare come Oscar night.

Except for the actress categories, it's pretty tough to predict the winners this year. Helen Mirren for Lead Actress and Jennifer Hudson for Supporting are pretty much a lock. Lead Actor will most likely be between Leo and Forest. In my opinion, the Supporting Actor race will be between Alan Arkin and Eddie Murphy. People are saying Scorsese will finally get his Oscar, but we'll see. I really have no clue about Best Picture.

For the first year in a long time, there isn't really a fronter runner for best picture.

Dreamgirls has three nods in the music category? What happened to Prince? What a REAL SNUB! I remember when Prince won Best Original Score for his song from Purple Rain. That was AWESOME.

Those are great,mthough Im surprised Dreamgirls got snubbed.


and whys is that Iris person;s name starred out? is it Yama****a?

I think Martin Scorsese is a LOCK for best director. He is like the Susan Lucci of Movies. LOL
LOL meaning he keeps getting nominated but never wins?


Didnt she finally win thoug? I remember

LOL meaning he keeps getting nominated but never wins?


Didnt she finally win thoug? I remember


No Scorsese never won for best director.

As for Forrest Whitaker, he was fantastic as Idi Amin in the Last King, but I think the academy will give it to Peter O'Toole. He's another one who never won an Oscar.

No Scorsese never won for best director.

As for Forrest Whitaker, he was fantastic as Idi Amin in the Last King, but I think the academy will give it to Peter O'Toole. He's another one who never won an Oscar.
Thats what I meant, but Susan Lucci lost all the EMMY's until 99

I think Martin Scorsese is a LOCK for best director. He is like the Susan Lucci of Movies. LOL
I hope he gets his due. Long overdue. The Departed was incredible.