Dreamgirls dismissed

I think I'm happier that "Dreamgirls" didn't get a best picture Oscar nomination than I would have been had "Rocky Balboa" gotten nominated. As much as I liked "Rocky," I guess I hated "Dreamgirls" even more.

It looks like the director race will come down to Eastwood vs. Scorsese once again, although it wouldn't surprise me if those two split the vote and leave an opening for Paul Greengrass to snag the prize. Here's a list of nominees - which were announced today - in the categories that matter, with my prediction of the winner marked with an X.

BEST PICTURE
Babel
XThe Departed
Letters From Iwo Jima
Little Miss Sunshine
The Queen

BEST DIRECTOR
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Babel
XMartin Scorsese, The Departed
Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima
Stephen Frears, The Queen
Paul Greengrass, United 93

BEST ACTOR
Leonardo DiCaprio, Blood Diamond
Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Peter O'Toole, Venus
Will Smith, The Pursuit of Happyness
XForest Whitaker, Last King Of Scotland

BEST ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz, Volver
Judi Dench, Notes On A Scandal
XHelen Mirren, The Queen
Meryl Streep, The Devil Wears Prada
Kate Winslet, Little Children

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
XJackie Earle Haley, Little Children
Djimon Hounsou, Blood Diamond
Eddie Murphy, Dreamgirls
Mark Wahlberg, The Departed

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Adriana Barraza, Babel
Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine
Cate Blanchett, Notes of a Scandal
XJennifer Hudson, Dreamgirls
Rinko Kikuchi, Babel

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Babel
Letters From Iwo Jima
XLittle Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
The Queen

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
XBorat
Children Of Men
The Departed
Little Children
Notes On A Scandal

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
After The Wedding
Days Of Glory (Indigènes)
The Lives Of Others
XPan's Labyrinth
Water

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Deliver Us From Evil
XAn Inconvenient Truth
Iraq In Fragments
Jesus Camp
My Country, My Country

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Cars
XHappy Feet
Monster House

BEST ART DIRECTION
XDreamgirls
The Good Shepherd
Pan's Labyrinth
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
The Prestige

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Black Dahlia
Children Of Men
The Illusionist
XPan's Labyrinth
The Prestige

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
XCurse Of The Golden Flower
The Devil Wears Prada
Dreamgirls
Marie Antoinette
The Queen

BEST EDITING
Babel
Blood Diamond
Children Of Men
The Departed
XUnited 93

BEST SONG
"I Need To Wake Up" - An Inconvenient Truth
X"Listen" - Dreamgirls
"Love You I Do" - Dreamgirls
"Our Town" - Cars
"Patience" - Dreamgirls