Early this morning, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards...
Timothy M. Gray of Variety:
Oscar took a world view in nominations for the 79th annual Academy Awards, with foreign-language work strongly represented in a roster filled with surprises. No. 1 on that list of surprises is "Dreamgirls," the noms leader with eight bids that failed to make it into the best picture race.
Best picture contenders are Paramount-Paramount Vantage's "Babel," with seven noms; Warner Bros.' "The Departed" (five); WB's "Letters From Iwo Jima" (four); Fox Searchlight's "Little Miss Sunshine" (four) and Miramax-Pathe-Granada's "The Queen" (six).
Picturehouse's "Pan's Labyrinth" earned six; WB's "Blood Diamond" earned five.
The wealth was spread wide. Voters at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences threw a lot of surprises into a race that had begun to seem formulaic this season.
The surprises included the "Dreamgirls" omission; Acad officials could not remember when a film had led the noms without a best picture bid, but it certainly goes back to the early days of the Academy, when the 1932 "Grand Hotel," for example, won the top prize but earned no other nominations.
The nominees in the acting categories typify the catholic tastes of voters this year. The 20 thesps include five blacks, two Lati-nas and one Japanese actress (including three foreign-language performances) in categories that were all-Caucasian (and all English-language) for decades. (This year's lineup breaks the records of 2003 and '04, when there were five non-Caucasians nommed.)
Two of the best pic nominees break the English-only domination of the best film race: "Babel," in four languages (including English) and the Japanese-language "Iwo Jima." Before Tuesday's announcement, only seven foreign-language films had been nommed for the top prize.
The strong showing for Mexico's "Labyrinth" points up the Spanish-language triumphs. Guillermo del Toro, writer-helmer of the pic, was recognized for his script, while his friends and fellow Mexican helmers Alberto Gonzalez Inarritu and Alfonso Cuaron, also saw recognition for their films. Inarritu was nommed as director for "Babel", while Cuaron received a screenplay nom for "Children of Men," which is up for three awards. In addition, Sony Pictures Classics' "Volver" received its sole bid for Penelope Cruz's performance, and Buena Vista's Mayan-language "Apocalypto" scored three bids in technical categories...
On nomination day, it seems odd to dwell on what wasn't nominated, but the "Dreamgirls" omission means a further break in Oscar tradition. In 16 of the past 20 years, the film with the most noms went on to win best picture. But the trend is reversing, with the top nom-getter winning only twice in the last five years...
Final ballots will be mailed Jan. 31 and are due Feb. 20. Oscars will be held at the Kodak Theater on Feb. 25.
Here's the complete nominations list...
Some things that jump out at me:
Dreamgirls leads the nominations pack but misses out on Best Picture and Best Director for Bill Condon.
United 93's Paul Greengrass probably took the Best Director spot reserved for Condon; While Little Miss Sunshine likely sneaked in for Dreamgirls Best Picture spot.
Leonardo DiCaprio and his bad accent in Blood Diamond get noticed over his turn in The Departed for Best Actor; While his Departed co-star Mark Wahlberg gets the only acting nod in the Best Supporting category for that film. Wow!
Meryl Streep is spotlighted for Best Actress with her turn in the comedy The Devil Wears Prada.
Golden Globe winner as Best Foreign Film Letters from Iwo Jima gets noticed over its companion flick The Flags Of Our Fathers--which is shut out completely.
It's a re-match between Superman Returns and the Pirates of the Caribbean--this time fighting it out for a Best VFX Oscar...
I'll have more to say about OSCAR as the ceremony approaches.
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