Oscar Nominations Full of Snubs and Slights

Posted on January 25, 2007

The nominations for the 79th Annual Academy Awards were announced this week and -- as usual -- there are some obvious snubs and slights. Here are some highlights of the nominees in major categories:

Best Picture:

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

    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

    Actress:

  • Penelope Cruz, Volver
  • Judi Dench, Notes on a Scandal
  • Helen Mirren, The Queen
  • Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
  • Kate Winslet, Little Children

    Supporting Actor:

  • Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
  • Jackie Earle Haley, Little Children
  • Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
  • Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
  • Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

    Supporting Actress:

  • Adriana Barraza, Babel
  • Cate Blanchett, Notes on a Scandal
  • Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
  • Jennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
  • Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

    Director:

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

    Dreamgirls had eight nominations but did not get a Best Picture nomination -- which it did not deserve. In fact, it didn't deserve eight nominations because it's no Chicago. Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy are the standouts from that film and rightly deserved to be noticed, however.

    In the best actor category, Ed Norton for The Illusionist and Matt Damon for The Good Shepherd were shocking oversights. Brad Pitt was overlooked for Babel, but that's not surprising -- or upsetting, for that matter. The Queen is overhyped -- Kirsten Dunst in Marie Antoinette was a more worthy choice here. We can only hope that Martin Scorcese wins for Best Director for The Departed, because he really deserves it. Akeelah and the Bee was overlooked entirely, which is a shame. But of all the slights, we think Thank You For Smoking was the biggest oversight. Aaron Eckhart deserves a Best Actor nod for his brilliant portrayal of a cynical tobacco lobbyist.

    The 2007 Oscars airs Sunday, February 25, 8:00 p.m. Eastern/5:00 p.m. Pacific on ABC.



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