79th Oscar Nominations

Update: The Oscars are tonight in Hollywood beginning at 8:00 PM and they are being shown on ABC. It is nice to see that there will be other news out of Hollywood other than Britney Spears.

Article was first published on January 23.

For those who know me, I have a penchant for watching a lot of movies. Therefore, I present to you, the readers of Random Thoughts, the 79th Annual Oscar Awards Nominees:

Best motion picture of the year:

“Babel”

“The Departed”

“Letters from Iwo Jima”

“Little Miss Sunshine”

“The Queen”

Performance by an actor in a leading role:

Leonardo DiCaprio in “Blood Diamond”

Ryan Gosling in “Half Nelson”

Peter O’Toole in “Venus”

Will Smith in “The Pursuit of Happyness”

Forest Whitaker in “The Last King of Scotland”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:

Alan Arkin in “Little Miss Sunshine”

Jackie Earle Haley in “Little Children”

Djimon Hounsou in “Blood Diamond”

Eddie Murphy in “Dreamgirls”

Mark Wahlberg in “The Departed”

Performance by an actress in a leading role:

Penélope Cruz in “Volver”

Judi Dench in “Notes on a Scandal”

Helen Mirren in “The Queen”

Meryl Streep in “The Devil Wears Prada”

Kate Winslet in “Little Children”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:

Adriana Barraza in “Babel”

Cate Blanchett in “Notes on a Scandal”

Abigail Breslin in “Little Miss Sunshine”

Jennifer Hudson in “Dreamgirls”

Rinko Kikuchi in “Babel”

Best animated feature film of the year:

“Cars”

“Happy Feet”

“Monster House”

Best documentary feature:

“Deliver Us from Evil”

“An Inconvenient Truth”

“Iraq in Fragments”

“Jesus Camp”

“My Country, My Country” (Zeitgeist Films)

Best foreign language film of the year:

“After the Wedding”

“Days of Glory (Indigènes)”

“The Lives of Others”

“Pan’s Labyrinth”

“Water”

Achievement in art direction:

“Dreamgirls”

“The Good Shepherd”

“Pan’s Labyrinth”

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”

“The Prestige”

Achievement in cinematography:

“The Black Dahlia” (Universal) Vilmos Zsigmond

“Children of Men” (Universal) Emmanuel Lubezki

“The Illusionist” (Yari Film Group) Dick Pope

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Guillermo Navarro

“The Prestige” (Buena Vista) Wally Pfister

Achievement in costume design:

“Curse of the Golden Flower” (Sony Pictures Classics) Yee Chung Man

“The Devil Wears Prada” (20th Century Fox) Patricia Field

“Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Sharen Davis

“Marie Antoinette” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Milena Canonero

“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Consolata Boyle

Achievement in directing:

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Alejandro González Iñárritu

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Martin Scorsese

“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Clint Eastwood

“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Stephen Frears

“United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal) Paul Greengrass

Best documentary short subject:

“The Blood of Yingzhou District”

“Recycled Life”

“Rehearsing a Dream”

“Two Hands”

Achievement in film editing:

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)

“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.)

“Children of Men” (Universal)

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.)

“United 93” (Universal and StudioCanal)

Achievement in makeup:

“Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano

“Click” (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kazuhiro Tsuji and Bill Corso

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) David Marti and Montse Ribe

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Gustavo Santaolalla

“The Good German” (Warner Bros.) Thomas Newman

“Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Philip Glass

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Javier Navarrete

“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Alexandre Desplat

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):

“I Need to Wake Up” from “An Inconvenient Truth” Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge

“Listen” from “Dreamgirls” Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler Lyric by Anne Preven

“Love You I Do” from “Dreamgirls” Music by Henry Krieger Lyric by Siedah Garrett

“Our Town” from “Cars” Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

“Patience” from “Dreamgirls” Music by Henry Kriege Lyric by Willie Reale

Best animated short film:

“The Danish Poet” (National Film Board of Canada)

“Lifted” (Buena Vista)

“The Little Matchgirl” (Buena Vista)

“Maestro” (Szimplafilm)

“No Time for Nuts” (20th Century Fox)

Best live action short film:

“Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)”

“Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)” (Kimuak)

“Helmer & Son”

“The Saviour”

“West Bank Story”

Achievement in sound editing:

“Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Sean McCormack and Kami Asgar

“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Lon Bender

“Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) Alan Robert Murray and Bub Asman

“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Alan Robert Murray

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) Christopher Boyes and George Watters II

Achievement in sound mixing:

“Apocalypto” (Buena Vista) Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Fernando Camara

“Blood Diamond” (Warner Bros.) Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer and Ivan Sharrock

“Dreamgirls” (DreamWorks and Paramount) Michael Minkler, Bob Beemer and Willie Burton

“Flags of Our Fathers” (DreamWorks and Warner Bros., Distributed by Paramount) John Reitz, Dave Campbell, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) Paul Massey, Christopher Boyes and Lee Orloff

Achievement in visual effects:

“Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest” (Buena Vista) John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and Allen Hall

“Poseidon” (Warner Bros.) Boyd Shermis, Kim Libreri, Chaz Jarrett and John Frazier

“Superman Returns” (Warner Bros.) Mark Stetson, Neil Corbould, Richard R. Hoover and Jon Thum

Adapted screenplay:

“Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (20th Century Fox)
Screenplay by Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer Story by Sacha Baron Cohen & Peter Baynham & Anthony Hines & Todd Phillips

“Children of Men” (Universal) Screenplay by Alfonso Cuarón & Timothy J. Sexton and David Arata and Mark Fergus & Hawk Ostby

“The Departed” (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by William Monahan

“Little Children” (New Line) Screenplay by Todd Field & Tom Perrotta

“Notes on a Scandal” (Fox Searchlight) Screenplay by Patrick Marber

Original screenplay:

“Babel” (Paramount and Paramount Vantage) Written by Guillermo Arriaga

“Letters from Iwo Jima” (Warner Bros.) Screenplay by Iris Yamashita Story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis

“Little Miss Sunshine” (Fox Searchlight) Written by Michael Arndt

“Pan’s Labyrinth” (Picturehouse) Written by Guillermo del Toro

“The Queen” (Miramax, Pathé and Granada) Written by Peter Morgan

Technorati: Oscars, Academy Awards