ROTTEN TOMATOES: Oscar Nominations Announced: "Little Miss Sunshine," "Dreamgirls," "Borat" Deemed Worthy

Oscar Nominations Announced: "Little Miss Sunshine," "Dreamgirls," "Borat" Deemed Worthy

by Jen Yamato | January 23, 2007

The expected heavy hitters made the grade -- Scorsese, Whitaker, "Dreamgirls" -- but there were a handful of surprises...let's just say, if you thought you'd never read "the Oscar-nominated 'Borat'" in print, think again! The nominees for the 79th annual Academy Awards are in!

Yes, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" stole a nomination for best adapted screenplay, and will compete against "Children of Men," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Departed," and "Little Children" in that category. High Five!

Fans of Ryan Gosling will be happy to know that he made the Oscar list for his work in "Half Nelson," joining company like Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Departed"), Peter O'Toole ("Venus") and Forest Whitaker ("Last King of Scotland") in the lead actor category. The fifth nominee? The Fresh Prince himself, Will Smith ("Pursuit of Happiness").

Golden Globe winner Martin Scorsese is also up for the best director Oscar in a near-rematch of that race. This time, the Academy's given only one nod to Clint Eastwood ("Letters From Iwo Jima") to make room for "United 93" director Paul Greengrass.

"Little Miss Sunshine" tot Abigail Breslin has a nomination for supporting actress and will face off with "Babel" twosome Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi, "Notes on a Scandal"'s Cate Blanchett, and "Dreamgirls" star Jennifer Hudson. Breslin's ten years old. Is that a new youngest-ever nominee?

"Dreamgirls" nabbed noms in both supporting categories (Golden Globe winners Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy, respectively), as well as art direction, costume design, and three of the five Best Song nominations. We'll see if voters can differentiate between "Listen," "Love You I Do," and "Patience" or if they'll split their "Dreamgirls" votes and send the Oscar to Melissa Etheridge's "Inconvenient Truth" song or Randy Newman's ditty from "Cars."

And then, the other awards. Those categories that enable certain sub-performing films to call themselves "Oscar-nominated."

The Oscar-nominated "Black Dahlia" (36 percent Tomatometer), for best cinematography
The Oscar-nominated "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (53 percent Tomatometer), for achievement in sound mixing and visual effects
The Oscar-nominated "Poseidon" (32 percent Tomatometer), for achievement in visual effects
The Oscar-nominated "Click" (31 percent Tomatometer), for achievement in make-up

Tune in Sunday, February 25 at 5pm PST/8 pm EST for the awards ceremony telecast on ABC!

Read on for the full list of Oscar Nominations!

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Leonardo DiCaprio in "Blood Diamond" (Warner Bros.)
Ryan Gosling in "Half Nelson" (THINKFilm)
Peter O'Toole in "Venus" (Miramax, Filmfour and UK Council)
Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness" (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Forest Whitaker in "The Last King of Scotland" (Fox Searchlight)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Alan Arkin in "Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
Jackie Earle Haley in "Little Children" (New Line)
Djimon Hounsou in "Blood Diamond" (Warner Bros.)
Eddie Murphy in "Dreamgirls" (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Mark Wahlberg in "The Departed" (Warner Bros.)

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Penélope Cruz in "Volver" (Sony Pictures Classics)
Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal" (Fox Searchlight)
Helen Mirren in "The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
Meryl Streep in "The Devil Wears Prada" (20th Century Fox)
Kate Winslet in "Little Children" (New Line)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Adriana Barraza in "Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Cate Blanchett in "Notes on a Scandal" (Fox Searchlight)
Abigail Breslin in "Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
Jennifer Hudson in "Dreamgirls" (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Rinko Kikuchi in "Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)

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 animated feature film of the year

"Cars" (Buena Vista) John Lasseter
"Happy Feet" (Warner Bros.) George Miller
"Monster House" (Sony Pictures Releasing) Gil Kenan

Achievement in art direction

"Dreamgirls" (DreamWorks and Paramount)
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

"The Good Shepherd" (Universal)
Art Direction: Jeannine Oppewall
Set Decoration: Gretchen Rau and Leslie E. Rollins

"Pan's Labyrinth" (Picturehouse)
Art Direction: Eugenio Caballero
Set Decoration: Pilar Revuelta

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (Buena Vista)
Art Direction: Rick Heinrichs
Set Decoration: Cheryl A. Carasik

"The Prestige" (Buena Vista)
Art Direction: Nathan Crowley
Set Decoration: Julie Ochipinti

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

Best documentary feature

"Deliver Us from Evil" (Lionsgate)
A Disarming Films Production
Amy Berg and Frank Donner

"An Inconvenient Truth" (Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
A Lawrence Bender/Laurie David Production
Davis Guggenheim

"Iraq in Fragments" (Typecast Releasing)
A Typecast Pictures/Daylight Factory Production
James Longley and John Sinno

"Jesus Camp" (Magnolia Pictures)
A Loki Films Production
Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady

"My Country, My Country" (Zeitgeist Films)
A Praxis Films Production
Laura Poitras and Jocelyn Glatzer

Best documentary short subject

"The Blood of Yingzhou District"
A Thomas Lennon Films Production
Ruby Yang and Thomas Lennon

"Recycled Life"
An Iwerks/Glad Production
Leslie Iwerks and Mike Glad

"Rehearsing a Dream"
A Simon & Goodman Picture Company Production
Karen Goodman and Kirk Simon

"Two Hands"
A Crazy Boat Pictures Production
Nathaniel Kahn and Susan Rose Behr

Achievement in film editing

"Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
Stephen Mirrione and Douglas Crise

"Blood Diamond" (Warner Bros.)
Steven Rosenblum

"Children of Men" (Universal)
Alex Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón

"The Departed" (Warner Bros.)
Thelma Schoonmaker

"United 93" (Universal and StudioCanal)
Clare Douglas, Christopher Rouse and Richard Pearson

Best foreign language film of the year

"After the Wedding" A Zentropa Entertainments 16 Production
Denmark
"Days of Glory (Indigènes)" A Tessalit Production
Algeria
"The Lives of Others" A Wiedemann & Berg Production
Germany
"Pan's Labyrinth" A Tequila Gang/Esperanto Filmoj/Estudios Picasso Production
Mexico
"Water" A Hamilton-Mehta Production
Canada

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"
(Paramount Classics and Participant Productions)
Music and Lyric by Melissa Etheridge

"Listen" from "Dreamgirls"
(DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger and Scott Cutler
Lyric by Anne Preven

"Love You I Do" from "Dreamgirls"
(DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Siedah Garrett

"Our Town" from "Cars"
(Buena Vista)
Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

"Patience" from "Dreamgirls"
(DreamWorks and Paramount)
Music by Henry Krieger
Lyric by Willie Reale

Best motion picture of the year

"Babel" (Paramount and Paramount Vantage)
An Anonymous Content/Zeta Film/Central Films Production
Alejandro González Iñárritu, Jon Kilik and Steve Golin, Producers

"The Departed" (Warner Bros.)
A Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Nominees to be determined

"Letters from Iwo Jima" (Warner Bros.)
A DreamWorks Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures Production
Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz, Producers

"Little Miss Sunshine" (Fox Searchlight)
A Big Beach/Bona Fide Production
Nominees to be determined

"The Queen" (Miramax, Pathé and Granada)
A Granada Production
Andy Harries, Christine Langan and Tracey Seaward, Producers

Best animated short film

"The Danish Poet" (National Film Board of Canada)
A Mikrofilm and National Film Board of Canada Production
Torill Kove

"Lifted" (Buena Vista)
A Pixar Animation Studios Production
Gary Rydstrom

"The Little Matchgirl" (Buena Vista)
A Walt Disney Pictures Production
Roger Allers and Don Hahn

"Maestro" (Szimplafilm)
A Kedd Production
Geza M. Toth

"No Time for Nuts" (20th Century Fox)
A Blue Sky Studios Production
Chris Renaud and Michael Thurmeier

Best live action short film

"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)"
A Peliculas Pendelton and Tus Ojos Production
Javier Fesser and Luis Manso

"Éramos Pocos (One Too Many)" (Kimuak)
An Altube Filmeak Production
Borja Cobeaga

"Helmer & Son"
A Nordisk Film Production
Soren Pilmark and Kim Magnusson

"The Saviour" (Australian Film Television and Radio School)
An Australian Film Television and Radio School Production
Peter Templeman and Stuart Parkyn

"West Bank Story"
An Ari Sandel, Pascal Vaguelsy, Amy Kim, Ravi Malhotra and Ashley Jordan Production
Ari Sandel

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

Related Items

Movie:	United 93
	The Queen
	Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan
	The Pursuit of Happyness
	Dreamgirls
	Little Children
	Babel
	Flags of Our Fathers
	The Departed
	Half Nelson
	Little Miss Sunshine
	The Last King of Scotland

(1-20 of 82 posts) | Reply

gunnar1969 writes:
on Jan 23 2007 09:53 AM

Thank god Dreamgirls did not get nominated for Best Picture. It is even sweeter that Beyonce did not get nominated. Both are so overhyped and overrated it is comical.

(Reply to this)

dastly75 writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:04 AM

aghhhhhhh Clint Mansell didn't get any nom for his score for The Fountain, damn

(Reply to this)

sikauf writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:10 AM

I really like this nominations, especially because it has a lot of mexicanas

(Reply to this)

lrm8 writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:12 AM

sacha baron cohen got robbed. will smith? come on

(Reply to this)

tommyl120882 writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:21 AM

Pan's Labyrinth should be nominated for Best Picture. They can take out any one of those five.

(Reply to this)

villain78 writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:33 AM

I'm glad Dreamgirls didn't get the best picture nomination but dominated the trade nominations (costume, production design, etc) because that's where the real strength of the film lies, in the making of it. A well put together movie but a bit too shallow to be a best picture. Glad Murphy and Hudson got the noms.

(Reply to this)

FireflyFan4evr writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:34 AM

ben affleck should have gotten a nomination for supporting for Hollywoodland. and where's Volver for best foreign and sacha baron cohen for best actor? and leo dicaprio should have been nominated for the departed, not blood diamond.

(Reply to this)

pokthecat writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:40 AM

Maybe being ignored for an oscar will put a tiny pinprick in that thick bubble of conceit that surrounds Beyonce. It must hurt her oversized ego to be upstaged by an American Idol hopeful. I am loving it.

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ttboy80 writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:43 AM

so at least some of my fav's got a little attention. Cinematography is the only group that I would have chosen exactly the same.

too bad for clint and kronos

(Reply to this)

lonechicken writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:46 AM

Cinematography... No "The Fountain"???

(Reply to this)

Capote writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:46 AM

Where the heck is brad pitt for babel?
Congrats ryan gosling

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WorldDude writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:50 AM

Phew...Dreamgirls didn't get nominated for Best Picture! I'm happy now.

But...no Clint Mansell for Best Original Score? The Fountain's score was better than any other's this year.

But, other than that, I'm happy with this nominations. I expect either The Departed or Babel to take the big award.

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highdough writes:
on Jan 23 2007 10:55 AM

I had hoped Children of Men would be nominated for Best Picture, but I can't argue with any of the ones that were nominated (for once).

I liked Dreamgirls, but I thought there was no way it deserved Best Picture nomination, so I'm glad more deserving one's did.

Where the hell is Matt Damon for The Departed??? I thought his inner conflict made the movie.

I like Mark Walberg, and thought he was hilarious, but does he really deserve an Oscar nomination for his small role? It wasn't exactly a demanding role.

Why is there always one movie that is nominated for Best Picture that doesn't get nominated for Best Director? It's gotten predictable.

I admit I haven't seen Volver, yet, but did it not qualify for Best Foreign Film due to some stupid technicality that precludes far too many good foreign films?

Borat getting a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination was a nice surprise. Probably no chance of winning, though.

Can they ever get Best Documentary nominations right? No Dixie Chicks:Shut Up and Sing, no Wordplay, no Who Killed the Electric Car? Did the nomination comittee feel that the inclusion of an Inconvenient Truth was enough `lefty' movies?

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MovieSamurai writes:
on Jan 23 2007 11:07 AM

I found Pan's Labryinth to be asthetically pleasing and beautiful but not overall great. It should win the makeup easily and some of the other technical categories as well.
Really pleased with Ryan Gosling being nominated, I (similar to most others) have been hoping that he would get his due for his role. I would love to see him win, but in the end it will most likely go to Whitaker or O'toole (both of which I adore seeing on screen every time)

(Reply to this)

RuSH- writes:
on Jan 23 2007 11:24 AM

Its going to be funny when Borat sweeps all its nominations...and Dreamgirls flops like a fish outa water

(Reply to this)

gunnar1969 writes:
on Jan 23 2007 11:27 AM

In reply to this comment (#853731)
Well said. I get so sick of seeing on every magazine cover.This movie has overexposed her to the point where you cannot pick up a magazine or watch EW w/o having her forced down our throats.

(Reply to this)

Count_Vertigo writes:
on Jan 23 2007 11:35 AM

I think my biggest shock was not seeing The Dixie Chicks' "Shut Up And Sing" nominated for Feature Documentary. It was an outstanding documentary that I'm still recommending to friends. Did we really need two documentaries on Iraq in there? It'll be a battle between "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Jesus Camp" I think. Both are frightening for completely different reasons.

And why did we need three songs from Dreamgirls nominated for Best Original Song? Prince and Sheryl Crow should've filled two of those (now wasted to me) spots. Hopefully Melissa Etheridge will take it. The only thing I want to see Dreamgirls win is Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Hudson. That way she can complete her upstaging of the overrated Beyonce.

And can't forget to congratulate Ryan Gosling, Pan's Labyrinth and Little Miss Sunshine for all of their so deserving nominations.

(Reply to this)

CavA writes:
on Jan 23 2007 11:42 AM

I am a bit surprised that Leo got the nod for Blood Diamond and not the Departed..wtf? He was much, much better in the much better Departed. The big question is whether or not Scorcese will finally get the Oscar... well academy default Clint Eastwood made a movie this year so... we all know what usually happens there

(Reply to this)

denkyu writes:
on Jan 23 2007 11:49 AM

THANK GOD!!! I was afraid Children of Men, United 93 and Pan's Labyrinth wouldn't get recognized this year cuz of the timing of their releases.

surprised 'Shut Up and Sing' and 'Wordplay' weren't nominated for best documentary. Overall good job academy (for once :P)

(Reply to this)

TheIceGhost writes:
on Jan 23 2007 11:51 AM

Have to agree with most that overall I'm not dissatisfied with the picks. There are some good ones in here and most have gotten their due (was happy Pan's got as much as it did).

The Academy is still a joke though, that's never going to change. I've always hated how it's always 5 or 6 movies that get most nominations. It's like, "Hey, this aspect of the film was great! Let's dump 5 more nods on them because this one aspect really makes the film awesome!" You know how many films are made each year? Neither do I, but it's a whole lot. There are some good ones out there that just aren't getting any respect.

Like I said though, overall, this year isn't too bad. There have been much, much worse.

(Reply to this)

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