The nominees are . . . .

Best Picture
The Departed
Babel
Letters from Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen
Comments: I went 3/5 here. I knew United 93 was a long shot, but I still really think it was the best picture I saw last year (as much as I did love Little Miss Sunshine and the snubbed Dreamgirls). In retrospect, this list seems obvious. The Academy loves Clint Eastwood, and Letters from Iwo Jima (which I've note seen) is a remarkable achievement from all accounts. (The New York Times called it close to perfect) As for Dreamgirls, it's a musical with a weak script dominated by performances. I've said it before: what made Dreamgirls one of my favorite films of 2006 was not the story or the music even (outside of "And I Am Telling You"). It was Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy. Their performances were breathtaking. Their performances overcame some definite second act problems (at least on Broadway you got an intermission after "And I Am Telling You") and some pretty horrid performances from Jamie Foxx and Beyonce Knowles (who only really shined during "Listen"). In the end, I'm actually kind of impressed that the Academy was able to separate the performances from the film and recognize the performances and the other elements of the show that actually made the film work as well as it did.

Best Actor
Forrest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
Comments: I sort of went 100% on this. I thought Leo would get the nomination for The Departed rather than Blood Diamond, but I DID pick him as a nominee, so I could that as getting it right. Semantics, I know.

Best Actress
Helen Mirren, The Queen
Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children
Comments: I went 100% here. What can I say? I'm good.

Best Supporting Actor
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed
Comments: I went 3/5 here. I figured Nicholson would be the nominee from The Departed here. I mean, he's JACK NICHOLSON! And it was a pretty formidable performance. But Wahlberg was fabulous and his nomination is definitely deserved. And how awesome to see some love heading Jackie Earle Haley's way. Good ol' Kelly Lee finally made good! Who cares if he threw off my predictions? (And can I just say I'm secretly kind of happy to see Brad Pitt snubbed here? I am so sick of Brad Pitt!)

Best Supporting Actress
Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel
Comments: Emily Blunt was my wildcard in this category, and the love didn't come her way. But how exciting to see Abigail Breslin on this list. Might she be the youngest nominee? I'll have to check to see how she stacks up against Tatum O'Neal, Anna Paquin, Haley Joel Osment, and Justin Henry.

Best Director
Martin Scorcese, The Departed
Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93
Alexandre Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
Comments: Another 100% for me! Woo hoo.

Best Original Screenplay
Babel
Little Miss Sunshine
Letters from Iwo Jima
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen

Best Adapted Screenplay
Notes on a Scandal
The Departed
Borat
Little Children
Children of Men
Comments: Borat? Really? How can a movie that is supposed to be largely improvised be up for a screenplay nomination when there's Thank You for Smoking out there? Or The Devil Wears Prada? I LOVED Borat, but there's something just a little fishy to me about it being up for a screenplay nomination. As for the original nominees, I missed Iwo Jima in the hopes that maybe Volver would get it, loving the beauty of 2 foreign language films being up for best screenplay. I got my wish. I just picked the wrong foreign language film!

Overall, I really don't have a ton of complaints. I ended up averaging about 82% overall. I'm pretty happy, though, with the list of nominees. The ones I was really hoping to see on the list are all there with the exception of United 93 for best pic. I sort of love the irony of Dreamgirls leading nominations but not having any for Best Pic or Best Director. I'm sure Matthew Knowles will find a way to claim it's racist, anti-Beyonce propaganda winning the day.