Oscar Nominations

Well, this year's Oscar Nominations were announced this morning and there were a few surprises, at least to me. So, a quick recap:

Best Picture:
Babel
The Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

Surprises: The darling of the Golden Globes and winner of Best Picture in a Musical or Comedy, Dreamgirls is conspicuously absent.

Comments: It will definitely be easier for me this year. Going into February last year I had seen none of the nominees for Best Picture (I even had to watch Crash on DVD). This year I have already seen three of the five, only missing Babel and Letters From Iwo Jima. Both of these movies are still in my local theater so it looks like Sunday is movie day for me.

Best Actor:
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

Surprises: DiCaprio for Blood Diamond, I was expecting him to get one, but for The Departed.

Comments: It looks like a tight race between Forrest Whitaker and Peter O'Toole (can anyone remember Henry Fonda and On Golden Pond?) Whitaker won the Golden Globe.

Best Actress:
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes On A Scandal
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

Surprises: none.

Comments: If anybody but Mirren wins it will be considered an upset victory, everyone has pretty much assumed that she would win for the past several months. Is Kate Winslet the new Katherine Hepburn and Meryl Streep? She sure gets a lot of nominations (this is her fifth but no wins yet, Hepburn had 12 with 4 wins, Streep is now at 14 with 2 wins)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role:
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earl Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

Surprises: Wahlberg for The Departed...where is Jack Nicholson?

Comments: My sentimental favorite is Arkin, but Eddie Murphy is probably a lock.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role:
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes On A Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

Surprises: Again, not really any.

Comments: My sentimental favorite also comes from Little Miss Sunshine. Abigail Breslin really made that movie what it is. The two from Babel may cancel out each other (although I hear Kikuchi getting a lot of buzz). But the favorite right now has to be Hudson, the Golden Globe winner.

So what do you think? Any surprises that you see? Any comments that you would like to make?