Bill Condon's musical "Dreamgirls" received eight Oscar nominations Tuesday morning, but the film was a surprising Best Picture snub, losing its slot to Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima."
Close behind "Dreamgirls," which padded its nomination total with three best song nominations, was the ensemble "Babel." The Golden Globe winner for best dramatic feature earned seven nominations, including best picture, though its biggest star, Brad Pitt, was also snubbed.
Joining "Babel" and "Letters from Iwo Jima" in the best picture race are "The Departed," "The Queen" and the quirky comedy "Little Miss Sunshine."
The 79th Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 25 at the Kodak Theater. The show, telecast live on ABC, will be hosted by Emmy winner Ellen DeGeneres.
Here's a partial list of nominees:
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
—"Babel"
—"Letters from Iwo Jima"
—"The Queen"
—"The Departed"
—"Little Miss Sunshine"
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
—Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"
—Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
—Stephen Frears, "The Queen"
—Paul Greengrass, "United 93"
—Clint Eastwood, "Letters from Iwo Jima"
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
—Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"
—Peter O'Toole, "Venus"
—Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"
—Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"
—Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
—Helen Mirren, "The Queen"
—Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"
—Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"
—Kate Winslet, "Little Children"
—Penelope Cruz, "Volver"
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
—Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"
—Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
—Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"
—Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children"
—Djimon Hounsou, "The Blood Diamond"
OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
—Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"
—Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"
—Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"
—Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
—Adriana Barraza, "Babel"
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
—Peter Morgan, "The Queen"
—Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"
—Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"
—Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth"
—Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, "Letters from Iwo Jima"
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
—William Monahan, "The Departed"
—Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"
—Sacha Baron Cohen & Anthony Hines & Peter Baynham & Dan Mazer,
—Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, "Children of Men"
—Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FEATURE
—"After the Wedding"
—"Days of Glory"
—"The Lives of Others"
—"Pan's Labyrinth"
—"Water"
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
—"Cars"
—"Happy Feet"
—"Monster House"
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services