Posted on: Wednesday, January 24, 2007
'Dreamgirls' honored, snubbed by Oscars
By Beth Fouhy
Associated Press
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"An Inconvenient Truth," featuring former vice president and climate-change crusader Al Gore, garnered a best documentary feature nod.
KOJI SASAHARA | Associated Press
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LEARN MORE
See the complete list of nominations at www.oscar.com.
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Observations on the Oscar nominations:
"Dreamgirls" was a big winner — and loser. It received the most nominations — eight — but failed to secure nominations for best picture or for its director, Bill Condon.
Otherwise, most of the expected favorites were in place for possible wins, including Helen Mirren ("The Queen") for best actress, and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland") for best actor.
Once again, Oscar night's most dramatic competition may be between two legendary directors who have competed before: Martin Scorsese (for his Irish mob movie, "The Departed") and Clint Eastwood (for his all-Japanese World War II epic, "Letters From Iwo Jima").
Eastwood has twice been a recent winner, for "Million Dollar Baby" and "Unforgiven" (and a nominee for "Mystic River"). Scorsese, meanwhile, remains the greatest living director to never have won an Academy Award for himself, despite seven previous nominations and the long-lasting acclaim for such films as "Taxi Driver," "Raging Bull" and "Goodfellas."
The over-50 crowd in AARP should hold parties on Oscar night. Among the acting nominees are the silver foxes Meryl Streep (56 years old), Judi Dench (72), and Mirren (61), as well as O'Toole (74) and Alan Arkin (72). Providing a little counter-balance is "Little Miss Sunshine" herself, Abigail Breslin, age 10.
— Jack Garner, Gannett News Service
YOUNG AND OLD
At 10, Abigail Breslin isn't the youngest performer to be nominated — Justin Henry was 8 when he was nominated for 1979's "Kramer Vs. Kramer" — but if she wins as supporting actress, she'd be the second youngest Oscar winner ever. Tatum O'Neal still holds that record for 1973's "Paper Moon." (Also 10, O'Neal was just a few months younger than Breslin is now.)
It's been 38 years between Oscar nominations for the veteran Alan Arkin, up for best supporting actor as a pot-smoking grandfather in "Little Miss Sunshine." He was nominated in the best actor category for 1968's "The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter." Peter O'Toole, now up for best actor, was one of Arkin's competitors that year, for "The Lion in Winter."
"Venus" marks the eighth nomination for O'Toole, who has yet to win a competitive Oscar. (The academy bestowed an honorary Oscar upon the film legend, who starred in such classics as "Lawrence of Arabia" and "The Lion in Winter.") As a result, O'Toole, 74, could be considered the sentimental favorite in the best actor category.
Ryan Gosling, at 26, is the youngest of the best-actor bunch. If he wins, he'll be the youngest winner ever in this category.
— Susan King, Los Angeles Times
MIND-SCRAMBLERS
Veteran Oscar observers were left wondering how "Volver" was left out of the foreign-language feature category, or how Golden Globe winner Sacha Baron Cohen missed out on a best actor nod for "Borat." Instead, "Volver" director Pedro Almodóvar could take solace in the nomination for leading actress Penélope Cruz, a first-time nominee. And Cohen ended up sharing a best adapted screenplay nomination with the rest of his "Borat" team.
Additional debate is expected over Leonardo DiCaprio getting his best-actor nomination for "Blood Diamond," rather than "The Departed," or for first-time nominee Mark Wahlberg grabbing the Scorsese film's lone supporting nod over Oscar favorite Jack Nicholson.
Lest anyone think critical praise is a prerequisite to Oscar glory, Tuesday morning saw nominations go to "Click" (best makeup) and "Poseidon" (achievement in visual effects), while the blockbuster sequel "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" actually got four nominations.
— Daniel Fienberg, Zap2It.com
'TRUTH' IS OUT THERE
Who says politics is show business for ugly people? "An Inconvenient Truth," Al Gore's film on the perils of global warming, scored two Oscar nominations — for documentary feature and original song. While he is not technically a nominee — the film's director, Davis Guggenheim, won the nod, as did singer Melissa Etheridge for the song "I Need to Wake Up" — Gore said he was "thrilled" his movie was honored.
"The film ... has brought awareness of the climate crisis to people in the United States and all over the world," Gore said in a statement. "(It) proves that movies really can make a difference."
MORE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATIONS
Directing
Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Babel"
Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
Clint Eastwood, "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Stephen Frears, "The Queen"
Paul Greengrass, "United 93"
Foreign Language Film
"After the Wedding," Denmark
"Days of Glory (Indigenes)," Algeria
"The Lives of Others," Germany
"Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico
"Water," Canada
Original Screenplay
Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"
Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, "Letters From Iwo Jima"
Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Peter Morgan, "The Queen" Adapted Screenplay
Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer, Todd Phillips, "Borat"
Alfonso Cuarón, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, "Children of Men"
William Monahan, "The Departed"
Todd Field, Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"
Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"
Animated Feature
"Cars"
"Happy Feet"
"Monster House"
Art Direction
"Dreamgirls"
"The Good Shepherd"
"Pan's Labyrinth"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
"The Prestige"
Cinematography
"The Black Dahlia"
"Children of Men"
"The Illusionist"
"Pan's Labyrinth"
"The Prestige"
Costume
"Curse of the Golden Flower"
"The Devil Wears Prada"
"Dreamgirls"
"Marie Antoinette"
"The Queen"
Documentary Feature
"Deliver Us From Evil"
"An Inconvenient Truth"
"Iraq in Fragments"
"Jesus Camp"
"My Country, My Country"
Film Editing
"Babel"
"Blood Diamond"
"Children of Men"
"The Departed"
"United 93"
Visual Effects
"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"
"Poseidon"
"Superman Returns"
REACTIONS TO THE NOMINATIONS
"I'm very happy for Martin Scorsese. He's been overlooked too long."
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO | best-actor nominee for "Blood Diamond" and co-star of Scorsese's "The Departed."
"I hope that my performance has conveyed a sense of Elizabeth the woman as well as the queen."
HELEN MIRREN | in a statement on her best-actress bid for "The Queen."
"I'm in frighteningly good company. It is very nice of the queen to allow me in for a minute."
JUDI DENCH | best-actress nominee for "Notes on a Scandal," with a nod to Helen Mirren, in a statement from London.
"Without a doubt, receiving this nomination will stand out as one of the highlights of my career."
EDDIE MURPHY | supporting-actor nominee for "Dreamgirls."
"I am going to be screaming and whooping all day long. I really thought I wasn't going to get a nomination. I am really going to try to enjoy this moment. I'm speechless."
KATE WINSLET | best-actress nominee for "Little Children."
"Any time someone says you have an opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese, you jump at the chance."
Mark Wahlberg | supporting-actor nominee for "The Departed."
"For years he's been in the wilderness on global warming. Now he's ready for his grand walk. Now he's at the Academy Awards. It's a hero's return."
Davis Guggenheim
director of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth," a documentary-feature nominee.
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