79th Annual Oscar Nominations Are Announced

The Academy Awards are the height of Hollywood achievement and prestige, and that time of the year is coming. Oscar’s big day is already dawning as the nominees were announced on Tuesday, January 23rd. The Golden Globes are always a good indication who and what will be up for a nod from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and that is just as true this year as ever.

In the Best Picture category, the big showdown is between "Babel," "The Departed," "Letters from Iwo Jima," "Little Miss Sunshine," and "The Queen." Leonardo DiCaprio, Peter O’Toole, Will Smith, and Forrest Whitaker are all up for Best Actor, but the most wonderfully surprising (and certainly a deserving) nomination in this category is Ryan Gosling for his stellar performance in "Half Nelson." Under the Best Supporting Actor category, we have Eddie Murphy for his role in "Dreamgirls," for which he already won the Golden Globe Award. Under Best Supporting Actress, Helen Mirren and Meryl Streep are nominated for the same respective roles in "The Queen" and "The Devil Wears Prada" that earned them their spots on the Golden Globe list of nominees earlier this year.

In other categories, "Pan’s Labyrinth" earned nominations for Achievement in Cinematography along side "The Black Dahlia," "The Illusionist," and "The Prestige." Also, "Pan" is up for Best Foreign Language Film, and sadly, "Apocalypto" is not among the nominees in that category and seems to have been unjustly excluded for that nod. Mel Gibson’s Mayan epic did garner a place for itself under the categories of Achievement in Sound Mixing, Achievement in Sound Editing, and Achievement in Makeup, and in Makeup, it sits along side another nod for "Pan." On a very solemn note, "United 93" has brought Paul Greenglass a nomination for his wonderful dramatic and realistic direction. And, Al Gore’s stirring and eye-opening "An Inconvenient Truth" has earned a spot on the list in line for Best Documentary Feature. Finally, "Superman Returns" was nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects; that’s what you get when you show someone being shot in the eye without him so much as blinking.

This is an awards year of serious dramatic films that hit political and social issues hard and come from a world-conscious perspective. There are no big epics or heavy popular favorites dominating the stage for statuettes this time around, but there are a lot of worthy pieces and performances, not to mention behind-the-scenes talent, all deserving every bit of recognition coming their way.

The Oscars are scheduled to be presented on Sunday, February 25th, at their usual location, the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. For a complete list of nominees, visit the official website of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences here: http://www.oscars.org/79academyawards/noms.html