Oscars 2007: Brits high among nominations shortlist
Story by Jack Foley
BRITISH stars feature strongly among the nominations for the 2007 Academy Awards with no less than three UK actresses competing for the best actress prize.
Dame Helen Mirren is the obvious favourite for The Queen but she faces competition from Kate Winslet, for Little Children and Dame Judi Dench for Notes On A Scandal, as well as Meryl Streep for The Devil Wears Prada and Penelope Cruz for Volver.
Elsewhere, Brit director Stephen Frears is in the running for best picture for The Queen and best director (along with Paul Greengrass for United 93), and veteran Peter O’Toole has secured a nomination for best actor for his performance in Venus.
Screenwriter Patrick Marber is also in the running for best adapted screenplay for Notes On A Scandal, and will be looking to go one better than he did for his previous Oscar bid, Closer.
The 79th Academy Awards will be presented at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles on February 25 when comedian Ellen DeGeneres will host for the first time.
In what is expected to be a very competitive year with no one film emerging as the firm favourite to sweep the board, there’s plenty to capture the interest in every category.
The best film will be between The Queen, Golden Globe winner Babel, Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima, indie hit Little Miss Sunshine and Martin Scorsese’s The Departed.
Musical drama Dreamgirls, which won best film for a musical or comedy at the Golden Globes, missed out on a nomination for the main award at the Oscars but still emerged with a total of eight nominations, including three for best song.
Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy will also compete for the best supporting actress and actor title.
Little Miss Sunshine‘s nod came just days after it was named best picture by the Producers Guild of America – which has picked the Oscar winner 11 times in the last 17 years.
Competing against Irish star O’Toole in the best actor category is Forest Whitaker, who will is the firm favourite in light of the awards he has already received for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in The Last King Of Scotland.
But don’t count out Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness or Leonardo DiCaprio (Blood Diamond) – as well as Ryan Gosling, a surprise nominee for another indie drama, Half Nelson.
Martin Scorsese will be hoping to finally land an Oscar for best director for The Departed, but once again finds himself pitted against Clint Eastwood (Letters From Iwo Jima), who beat him to the title in 2004.
Other directors on the 2007 shortlist are Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Babel, Stephen Frears for The Queen and Paul Greengrass for United 93.
Meryl Streep’s nomination for best actress in The Devil Wears Prada extends her lead as the most-nominated actress in the history of the Academy Awards with a tally of 14 nominations and two wins.
And history could be made by 10-year-old Abigail Breslin if she takes home the supporting actress Oscar for Little Miss Sunshine – as she would be the youngest winner in its history. So Miss Hudson, beware!