2007 Oscar Nominations

Today saw the announcement of the shortlist for the 79th Academy Awards, to be held on 25th February in Los Angeles. Here are the nominations for the major awards, with my own tips to win highlighted in red:

Best Picture

• Babel
• The Departed
• Letters From Iwo Jima
• Little Miss Sunshine
• The Queen
  

Best Director

• Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima
• Stephen Frears, The Queen
• Paul Greengrass, United 93
• Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu, Babel
• Martin Scorsese, The Departed

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

• Penelope 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 Kikucki, Babel

Best Foreign Language Film

• Efter Brylluppet (aka After the Wedding), Denmark
• Indigenes (aka Days of Glory), Algeria
• El Laberinto del Fauno (aka Pan's Labyrinth), Mexico
• Das Leben der Anderen (aka The Lives of Others), Germany
• Water, Canada

Best Adapted Screenplay

• Borat
• Children of Men
• The Departed
• Little Children
• Notes on a Scandal

Best Original Screenplay

• Babel
• Letters from Iwo Jima
• Little Miss Sunshine
• The Queen
• Pan's Labyrinth

I so hope Pan's Labyrinth wins the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, it would be such a thrill to see Guillermo Del Toro bound onto the stage to collect his award. In fact I'm delighted to see the film secure six nominations - in addition to the two already mentioned above it has also been shortlisted for Best Music (Score), Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction and Best Make Up. I'm also pleased to see Children Of Men get three nominations - for Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing.