The nominees for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced yesterday. The one thing that the Oscar nominations day is always good for: a handful of great surprises. Just when it seems that a movie is a lock for a nomination—this year it was Dreamgirls—alas, the Academy has something else in mind. Dreamgirls, despite not getting a best picture nomination, was certainly not overlooked—it was the year’s most honored film with 8 nominations.
The best picture contenders were Babel, The Departed, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, and surprise nominee Letters from Iwo Jima, which had been viewed as a possible contender, but falling into 6th place going into yesterday’s announcement. Significantly, unlike in most years, there is no frontrunner for the best picture race this year—not even 2 or 3 frontrunners. At this point, any of these films has a shot at the award, which makes for a very exciting Oscar run-up.
Dreamgirls’ absence from the Best Picture category correlated with a similar absence for Bill Condon from Best Director. While Clint Eastwood had been expected to be nominated for director, the surprise there was Paul Greengrass for United 93, the movie’s only nomination.
Other surprises were Volver being overlooked in the foreign film category, Jack Nicholson being passed over for supporting actor in favor of his costar Mark Wahlberg, and Leonardo DiCaprio being nominated for Blood Diamond instead of The Departed (an actor is allowed to be nominated only once per year in an acting category, so being nominated for both was not possible). Spanish film Pan’s Labyrinth did surprisingly well, picking up 6 nominations. Babel received 7, The Queen 6, and The Departed 5. With few films getting many nominations, the honors were spread quite widely this year.
Also noteworthy is the diversity of race and ethnicity in the acting categories: 8 nominations for minority actors, including three African Americans (Forest Whitaker, Will Smith, Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy), an African (Djimon Hounsou), two Latinas (Penelope Cruz and Adriana Barraza), and an Asian (Japan’s Rinko Kikuchi).
Personal disappointments are few. Besides Volver’s snub, I was disappointed Flags of Our Fathers didn’t do better (it received 2 nods, both in sound categories), and that The Painted Veil didn’t get any nominations (it’s beautiful score was overlooked, as was its stunning, if not traditional cinematography). Also too bad The Queen’s Michael Sheen was nominated for supporting actor, as he was amazing and probably still my favorite supporting actor performance for the year. Finally, the long-standing James Bond snub continued, with no nominations for Casino Royale, despite it being arguably the best entry in the 21-film franchise. Surely a Sound Editing nomination was deserved.
Full list of nominees from the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2007/oscars
Click below to keep reading category-specific commentary.
Picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
Dreamgirls’ omission was the big surprise at the Oscar nominations this year, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a worthy slate. I’ve yet to see Letters From Iwo Jima, but I’ve heard it’s fantastic. The other four films all made my year-end top 10 list, so I’ve no complaints, other than to admit I was hoping longshot Little Children might make the list. While there is no frontrunner in this race—a first since I’ve followed the Oscars (usually there’s 1 or maybe 2 films that are out front)—I have a gut feeling it might go for The Departed, if only because Martin Scorsese is sure to win Best Director. My personal pick: The Queen.
Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole for Venus
Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness (sic)
Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
No real surprises here, other than that Leo’s nod was for his showier work in Blood Diamond instead of his subtler work in the more respected film, The Departed. Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) had been tipped as an outside spoiler, but it wasn’t to be. This is Leo’s third nomination (The Aviator and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape), Will’s second (Ali), and Peter’s 8th. Forest Whitaker is the obvious frontrunner, having won just about every critics’ prize, but don’t count out Peter O’Toole, who’s never won (except for an honorary award), and probably won’t get another shot at it. I haven’t yet seen The Pursuit of Happyness (sic), but as of now my pick is for Forest Whitaker or Ryan Gosling, who I don’t expect to win, but he was so good in Half Nelson. Since Forest is getting so much attention, I’ll say Ryan.
Actress
Helen Mirren for The Queen
Kate Winslet for Little Children
Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal
Penelope Cruz for Volver
Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada
Has there ever been an easier category to predict? If these five women weren’t the ones, it would have been a major, major upset. Sure Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Maggie Gyllenhaal were mentioned, but in truth, weren’t really strong competition. Meryl Streep, already the record holder for the most nominations, extends her count to 14 nods. This is the sixth nomination for Dench, the fifth for Winslet, the third for Mirren, and the first for Cruz. Helen Mirren is the clear favorite here, having secured every major critics prize except for the Austin Film Critics. My pick: While they’re all great, particularly Cruz, I have to go with Helen.
Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children
Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg for The Departed
I’m surprised how closely this category conformed to my prediction, given that there were so many deserving nominees this year. Some were saying Brad Pitt would be in here for Babel, but I really didn’t expect it. I was more surprised to see hammy Jack Nicholson passed over for The Departed; instead we got mouthy Mark Wahlberg, his first nomination. This is also the first nomination for Eddie Murphy, who is the current frontrunner for his career-reviving performance in Dreamgirls. This is Arkin’s third nomination, Hounsou’s second (In America), and Haley’s first. My pick: Jackie Earle Haley was great as the creepy, yet human, sex offender in Little Children, but I’m going with Eddie Murphy, by a hair.
Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza for Babel
Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
Exactly the slate I was expecting. While there was more potential for upset here than in the leading actress category, I really didn’t expect Emily Blunt or Toni Collette to make the cut. Three-time nominee and recent winner (for The Aviator) Cate Blanchett is the only Oscar veteran of the bunch—all the others are first time nominees. Jennifer Hudson is the obvious frontrunner for her star-making turn in Dreamgirls. Still, Oscar has a historical soft spot for children (remember when The Piano’s Anna Paquin ran off with the award 13 years ago?), so don’t count Abigail Breslin out, and this category more than any other of the acting categories has a history of upsets. My pick: I was really moved by Adriana Barraza’s performance in Babel, so I was so sure she’d be my favorite, until I saw Dreamgirls last weekend, and now I have to go with Jennifer.
Director
Paul Greengrass for United 93
Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
Martin Scorsese for The Departed
Stephen Frears for The Queen
Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel
The only surprise here is that Dreamgirls’ Bill Condon wasn’t nominated, but in light of the film not getting a picture nod, it really isn’t a surprise. Missing is Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine’s directing team of Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Farris. Instead we have Paul Greengrass for his amazing work on United 93, which looks so realistic you forget there’s a director pulling the strings. Babel is noteworthy too for pulling off three storylines in very different parts of the world that all ring true. While Clint Eastwood (his fourth nomination) deserves the honor just for his powerful one-two punch with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, Martin Scorsese, a six-time director nominee with no wins, will surely finally get his Oscar. My pick: Second-time nominee Stephen Frears. How could I not honor the director for my favorite film of the year? And while I like Scorsese, I’m not a fan of using Oscar as a capping award.
Adapted Screenplay
Borat
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
Borat was a surprise here, as I felt the story was fairly straightforward—a “foreigner” travels across the country—it’s interest lying more in the unscripted reactions to him. I’d have chosen clever Thank You For Smoking or expansive The Painted Veil. Even The Devil Wears Prada could have been nominated for turning a pretty pulpy work into something with meaning and better characters. As the only Best Picture nominee among the bunch, The Departed seems like an obvious favorite, although Little Children certainly deserves respect for the impact of its story, as does Children of Men, which many people think deserved a Best Picture nod. My pick: Little Children.
Original Screenplay
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen
Here’s a rare and interesting twist—most of this year’s best picture nominees are original scripts, rather than adaptations. So these are all best picture nominees, with the exception of Pan’s Labyrinth. Combined with the fact that it’s in a foreign language means it’s probably out, although don’t forget that Spanish film Talk to Her won this four year’s ago. The Queen won the Globe, so I’m guessing it’s the frontrunner. My pick: The Queen.
The best picture contenders were Babel, The Departed, The Queen, Little Miss Sunshine, and surprise nominee Letters from Iwo Jima, which had been viewed as a possible contender, but falling into 6th place going into yesterday’s announcement. Significantly, unlike in most years, there is no frontrunner for the best picture race this year—not even 2 or 3 frontrunners. At this point, any of these films has a shot at the award, which makes for a very exciting Oscar run-up.
Dreamgirls’ absence from the Best Picture category correlated with a similar absence for Bill Condon from Best Director. While Clint Eastwood had been expected to be nominated for director, the surprise there was Paul Greengrass for United 93, the movie’s only nomination.
Other surprises were Volver being overlooked in the foreign film category, Jack Nicholson being passed over for supporting actor in favor of his costar Mark Wahlberg, and Leonardo DiCaprio being nominated for Blood Diamond instead of The Departed (an actor is allowed to be nominated only once per year in an acting category, so being nominated for both was not possible). Spanish film Pan’s Labyrinth did surprisingly well, picking up 6 nominations. Babel received 7, The Queen 6, and The Departed 5. With few films getting many nominations, the honors were spread quite widely this year.
Also noteworthy is the diversity of race and ethnicity in the acting categories: 8 nominations for minority actors, including three African Americans (Forest Whitaker, Will Smith, Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy), an African (Djimon Hounsou), two Latinas (Penelope Cruz and Adriana Barraza), and an Asian (Japan’s Rinko Kikuchi).
Personal disappointments are few. Besides Volver’s snub, I was disappointed Flags of Our Fathers didn’t do better (it received 2 nods, both in sound categories), and that The Painted Veil didn’t get any nominations (it’s beautiful score was overlooked, as was its stunning, if not traditional cinematography). Also too bad The Queen’s Michael Sheen was nominated for supporting actor, as he was amazing and probably still my favorite supporting actor performance for the year. Finally, the long-standing James Bond snub continued, with no nominations for Casino Royale, despite it being arguably the best entry in the 21-film franchise. Surely a Sound Editing nomination was deserved.
Full list of nominees from the Internet Movie Database:
http://www.imdb.com/features/rto/2007/oscars
Click below to keep reading category-specific commentary.
Picture
Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
Dreamgirls’ omission was the big surprise at the Oscar nominations this year, but that doesn’t mean this isn’t a worthy slate. I’ve yet to see Letters From Iwo Jima, but I’ve heard it’s fantastic. The other four films all made my year-end top 10 list, so I’ve no complaints, other than to admit I was hoping longshot Little Children might make the list. While there is no frontrunner in this race—a first since I’ve followed the Oscars (usually there’s 1 or maybe 2 films that are out front)—I have a gut feeling it might go for The Departed, if only because Martin Scorsese is sure to win Best Director. My personal pick: The Queen.
Actor
Leonardo DiCaprio for Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling for Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole for Venus
Will Smith for The Pursuit of Happyness (sic)
Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland
No real surprises here, other than that Leo’s nod was for his showier work in Blood Diamond instead of his subtler work in the more respected film, The Departed. Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat) had been tipped as an outside spoiler, but it wasn’t to be. This is Leo’s third nomination (The Aviator and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape), Will’s second (Ali), and Peter’s 8th. Forest Whitaker is the obvious frontrunner, having won just about every critics’ prize, but don’t count out Peter O’Toole, who’s never won (except for an honorary award), and probably won’t get another shot at it. I haven’t yet seen The Pursuit of Happyness (sic), but as of now my pick is for Forest Whitaker or Ryan Gosling, who I don’t expect to win, but he was so good in Half Nelson. Since Forest is getting so much attention, I’ll say Ryan.
Actress
Helen Mirren for The Queen
Kate Winslet for Little Children
Judi Dench for Notes on a Scandal
Penelope Cruz for Volver
Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada
Has there ever been an easier category to predict? If these five women weren’t the ones, it would have been a major, major upset. Sure Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, and Maggie Gyllenhaal were mentioned, but in truth, weren’t really strong competition. Meryl Streep, already the record holder for the most nominations, extends her count to 14 nods. This is the sixth nomination for Dench, the fifth for Winslet, the third for Mirren, and the first for Cruz. Helen Mirren is the clear favorite here, having secured every major critics prize except for the Austin Film Critics. My pick: While they’re all great, particularly Cruz, I have to go with Helen.
Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin for Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley for Little Children
Djimon Hounsou for Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy for Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg for The Departed
I’m surprised how closely this category conformed to my prediction, given that there were so many deserving nominees this year. Some were saying Brad Pitt would be in here for Babel, but I really didn’t expect it. I was more surprised to see hammy Jack Nicholson passed over for The Departed; instead we got mouthy Mark Wahlberg, his first nomination. This is also the first nomination for Eddie Murphy, who is the current frontrunner for his career-reviving performance in Dreamgirls. This is Arkin’s third nomination, Hounsou’s second (In America), and Haley’s first. My pick: Jackie Earle Haley was great as the creepy, yet human, sex offender in Little Children, but I’m going with Eddie Murphy, by a hair.
Supporting Actress
Adriana Barraza for Babel
Cate Blanchett for Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin for Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi for Babel
Exactly the slate I was expecting. While there was more potential for upset here than in the leading actress category, I really didn’t expect Emily Blunt or Toni Collette to make the cut. Three-time nominee and recent winner (for The Aviator) Cate Blanchett is the only Oscar veteran of the bunch—all the others are first time nominees. Jennifer Hudson is the obvious frontrunner for her star-making turn in Dreamgirls. Still, Oscar has a historical soft spot for children (remember when The Piano’s Anna Paquin ran off with the award 13 years ago?), so don’t count Abigail Breslin out, and this category more than any other of the acting categories has a history of upsets. My pick: I was really moved by Adriana Barraza’s performance in Babel, so I was so sure she’d be my favorite, until I saw Dreamgirls last weekend, and now I have to go with Jennifer.
Director
Paul Greengrass for United 93
Clint Eastwood for Letters from Iwo Jima
Martin Scorsese for The Departed
Stephen Frears for The Queen
Alejandro González Iñárritu for Babel
The only surprise here is that Dreamgirls’ Bill Condon wasn’t nominated, but in light of the film not getting a picture nod, it really isn’t a surprise. Missing is Best Picture nominee Little Miss Sunshine’s directing team of Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Farris. Instead we have Paul Greengrass for his amazing work on United 93, which looks so realistic you forget there’s a director pulling the strings. Babel is noteworthy too for pulling off three storylines in very different parts of the world that all ring true. While Clint Eastwood (his fourth nomination) deserves the honor just for his powerful one-two punch with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima, Martin Scorsese, a six-time director nominee with no wins, will surely finally get his Oscar. My pick: Second-time nominee Stephen Frears. How could I not honor the director for my favorite film of the year? And while I like Scorsese, I’m not a fan of using Oscar as a capping award.
Adapted Screenplay
Borat
Children of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes on a Scandal
Borat was a surprise here, as I felt the story was fairly straightforward—a “foreigner” travels across the country—it’s interest lying more in the unscripted reactions to him. I’d have chosen clever Thank You For Smoking or expansive The Painted Veil. Even The Devil Wears Prada could have been nominated for turning a pretty pulpy work into something with meaning and better characters. As the only Best Picture nominee among the bunch, The Departed seems like an obvious favorite, although Little Children certainly deserves respect for the impact of its story, as does Children of Men, which many people think deserved a Best Picture nod. My pick: Little Children.
Original Screenplay
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen
Here’s a rare and interesting twist—most of this year’s best picture nominees are original scripts, rather than adaptations. So these are all best picture nominees, with the exception of Pan’s Labyrinth. Combined with the fact that it’s in a foreign language means it’s probably out, although don’t forget that Spanish film Talk to Her won this four year’s ago. The Queen won the Globe, so I’m guessing it’s the frontrunner. My pick: The Queen.
I'm sleepy. I'll write about the other categories later.
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