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"Dreamgirls" gets 8 Oscar nominations; sentiment high for O'Toole
| Best picture choice wide open |
Nominees for Best Actress (from left): Penelope Cruz in "Volver"; Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal"; Helen Mirren in "The Queen"; Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada" and Kate Winslet in "Little Children."
BEVERLY HILLS (California): The crowd-pleasing musical ``Dreamgirls'' led Academy Awards contenders on Tuesday with eight nominations, but surprisingly was shut out in the best picture category after being considered a potential front-runner.
The sweeping ensemble drama ``Babel'' was close behind with seven, including best picture and acting honours for two newcomers to U.S. audiences, Mexico's Adriana Barraza and Japan's Rinko Kikuchi. The fairy tale ``Pan's Labyrinth'' had six nominations, including best foreign-language film.
Other best-picture nominees were the crime saga ``The Departed,'' the World War II spectacle ``Letters From Iwo Jima,'' the road-trip comedy ``Little Miss Sunshine'' and the monarchy-in-crisis chronicle ``The Queen.''
Going into nominations day, the best picture competition looked unusually wide open, with no consensus on a favourite. With ``Dreamgirls,'' a Golden Globe winner out of the race, the best picture competition was up for grabs.
But front-runners in all four acting categories nabbed nominations and seem poised to come home with Oscars on February 25: Britain's Helen Mirren for Best Actress as British monarch Elizabeth II in ``The Queen"; Forest Whitaker for Best Actor as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in ``The Last King of Scotland"; and Eddie Murphy and former ``American Idol'' finalist Jennifer Hudson as soulful singers in ``Dreamgirls.''
14th nomination
The Best Actress category featured a 14th nomination for two-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep, padding her record as the most-nominated actor ever, this time as a demonically demanding boss in ``The Devil Wears Prada.''
Joining Mirren and Streep are Spain's Penelope Cruz as a woman dealing with bizarre domestic crises in ``Volver,'' and two other British actresses, Judi Dench as a scheming teacher in ``Notes on a Scandal'' and Kate Winslet as a woman in an affair with a neighbour in ``Little Children.'' Other Best Actor nominees were Leonardo DiCaprio as a mercenary hunting a rare gem in ``Blood Diamond"; Ryan Gosling as a teacher with a drug addiction in ``Half Nelson"; Peter O'Toole as a lecherous old actor in ``Venus"; and Will Smith as a homeless dad in ``The Pursuit of Happyness.'' Sentiment is high for O'Toole, who has been nominated seven times, losing each. — AP
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