When is a film with eight Oscar nods considered a snub?

When it doesn't get a best-picture nomination.

That's the bittersweet Dreamgirls story.

Elsewhere, Babel looks to follow up its Golden Globe with Oscar glory, Clint and Marty go head-to-head yet again, and an indie comedy just might spread a little Sunshine.

Without further ado, here's our take on this year's Academy Award nominations.

BEST ACTOR

Peter O'Toole vs. Forest Whitaker

First-time nominee Mr. Whitaker takes on one of Oscar's all-time losers, Mr. O'Toole, who is 0-for-7 lifetime. Mr. Whitaker's portrayal of brutal, manipulative dictator Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland couldn't be further from how the actor seems off-screen. Meanwhile, Mr. O'Toole plays an aging actor who likes to drink while remembering his younger days as a real ladies' man in Venus. Wonder how he researched that part? Anyway, despite the sentiment in Hollywood to finally reward one of the greatest actors of the last 50 years, Mr. Whitaker will be tough to beat.

BEST PICTURE

Babel vs. The Departed

Early indications were that Dreamgirls would be part of this discussion, but now it appears this is a two-movie race. Martin Scorsese managed to go back to the mob well while not repeating himself in adapting the Hong Kong favorite Infernal Affairs into The Departed. Alejandro González Iñárritu crisscrosses the globe to tell intimate stories that speak to our interconnectedness. Don't be surprised if this is the second straight year with a director-picture split, with the much loved Mr. Scorsese finally hearing his name called.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

Cars vs. Happy Feet

Last year was one of the few exceptions to the rule that winning this category requires big box office. (Wallace & Gromit in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit made $56 million, but that's chump change for animated blockbusters). Past winners of this category include Shrek, The Incredibles and Finding Nemo — all box-office dynamos. Which is why this race is narrowed to Happy Feet ($190.7 mil) and Cars ($244 mil). The extra bucks and the Pixar prestige probably give Cars the edge.

THE SNUBS

Dreamgirls

For a second year, the Golden Globe winner for best picture (musical or comedy) fails to snag an Oscar nomination for best picture. In both cases (Walk the Line last year), the films earned multiple acting performances, enough for the academy voters.

Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt in Babel

Jack Nicholson

There was a time earlier this fall when Mr. Nicholson was thought to be the front-runner in the supporting actor field for his showy, scenery-chewing role as an Irish mobster in The Departed. In its campaign, Warner Bros. did not categorize the actors as "lead" or "supporting," which may have led to confusion among voters as to how to vote for him (that may also explain Leonardo DiCaprio's lack of a nod for this film). Jack will just have to console himself by staring at the mantel and his three previous statuettes, wondering where it all went wrong ...

Volver

Pedro Almodóvar's dramedy from Spain was thought to be a lock for the foreign language category (along with nominee Pan's Labyrinth), and there was an outside chance he could have landed a directing nod. Instead, the only thing the film has to show is Penélope Cruz's actress nomination. Not that box office figures equal nominations, but this is a film that's made more than $70 mil worldwide, including $7.5 million in the U.S. — not a bad sum at all for a non-Hollywood movie.

THE SHOCKERS

Mark Wahlberg

Lola Duenas, Yohana Cobo and Penelope Cruz in Volver

His inclusion in the supporting actor field was a welcome surprise (call him this year's William Hurt nominee). His role was largely a comedic one used to break up all the Departed tension, but you can argue he had the best lines in the movie.

Paul Greengrass

Grabbing a directing nod for United 93 (likely edging out Bill Condon for Dreamgirls and the husband-and-wife directing team of Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris behind Little Miss Sunshine) is a nice tip of the cap to that film. He had one of the toughest jobs of any director this year, because if he didn't get that film exactly right (using unknown actors, no less) he would have heard it from a load of people emotionally invested in that film. That we didn't hear those criticisms is a testament to the job he did.

THE STORY LINES

MONEY TALKS: The box-office king of 2006, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($423 million), snatched four nominations, all in technical categories. The biggest film of 2005, Star Wars: Episode III ­ Revenge of the Sith, only managed one — for makeup.

Cate Blanchett and Judi Dench in Notes on a Scandal

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Diversity found a place among the major individual categories, as eight of the 20 acting nods went to minorities. Babel director Alejandro González Iñárritu also heard his name called, and Mexico's Pan's Labyrinth racked up six nominations. That's an about-face from last year, when Ang Lee and Terrence Howard were the only minorities nominated in major categories.

PERFECT 10: Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin, as a girl obsessed with beauty pageants, became the fourth 10-year-old to earn a nomination. The others — Tatum O'Neal (Paper Moon), Mary Badham (To Kill a Mockingbird) and Quinn Cummings (The Goodbye Girl) – were all a few months younger than Abigail.

FOREIGN TO US, TOO: Of the foreign-language-film contenders, only Pan's Labyrinth is currently playing on Dallas screens. The Lives of Others (Germany) and Days of Glory (Algeria) are scheduled to open on Feb. 23 (Oscar weekend). Water (Canada) played here in May. No date yet on Denmark's After the Wedding.

— Stephen Becker

Best Picture:

"Babel"

"The Departed"

"Letters From Iwo Jima"

"Little Miss Sunshine"

"The Queen"

Actor:

Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"

Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"

Peter O'Toole, "Venus"

Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"

Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"

Actress:

Penelope Cruz, "Volver"

Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"

Helen Mirren, "The Queen"

Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"

Kate Winslet, "Little Children"

Supporting Actor:

Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"

Jackie Earle Haley, "Little Children"

Djimon Hounsou, "Blood Diamond"

Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"

Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"

Supporting Actress:

Adriana Barraza, "Babel"

Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"

Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine"

Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"

Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"

Directing:

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"

Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"

Clint Eastwood, "Letters From Iwo Jima"

Stephen Frears, "The Queen"

Paul Greengrass, "United 93"

Foreign Language Film:

"After the Wedding," Denmark

"Days of Glory (Indigenes)," Algeria

"The Lives of Others," Germany

"Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico

"Water," Canada

Adapted Screenplay:

Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips, "Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"

Alfonso Cuaron, Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby, "Children of Men"

William Monahan, "The Departed"

Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"

Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"

Original Screenplay:

Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"

Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, "Letters From Iwo Jima"

Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"

Guillermo del Toro, "Pan's Labyrinth"

Peter Morgan, "The Queen"

Animated Feature Film:

"Cars"

"Happy Feet"

"Monster House"

Art Direction:

"Dreamgirls"

The Good Shepherd

"Pan's Labyrinth"

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

"The Prestige"

Cinematography:

The Black Dahlia

"Children of Men"

"The Illusionist"

"Pan's Labyrinth"

"The Prestige"

Sound Mixing:

"Apocalypto"

"Blood Diamond"

"Dreamgirls"

"Flags of Our Fathers"

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

Sound Editing:

"Apocalypto"

"Blood Diamond"

"Flags of Our Fathers"

"Letters From Iwo Jima"

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

Original Score:

"Babel," Gustavo Santaolalla

"The Good German," Thomas Newman

"Notes on a Scandal," Philip Glass

"Pan's Labyrinth," Javier Navarrete

"The Queen," Alexandre Desplat

Original Song:

"I Need to Wake Up" from "An Inconvenient Truth," Melissa Etheridge

"Listen" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger, Scott Cutler and Anne Preven

"Love You I Do" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger and Siedah Garrett

"Our Town" from "Cars," Randy Newman

"Patience" from "Dreamgirls," Henry Krieger and Willie Reale

Costume:

"Curse of the Golden Flower"

"The Devil Wears Prada"

"Dreamgirls"

"Marie Antoinette"

"The Queen"

Documentary Feature:

"Deliver Us From Evil"

"An Inconvenient Truth"

"Iraq in Fragments"

" "Jesus Camp""

"My Country, My Country"

Documentary (short subject):

"The Blood of Yingzhou District"

"Recycled Life"

"Rehearsing a Dream"

"Two Hands"

Film Editing:

"Babel"

"Blood Diamond"

"Children of Men"

"The Departed"

"United 93"

Makeup:

"Apocalypto"

"Click"

"Pan's Labyrinth"

Animated Short Film:

"The Danish Poet"

"Lifted"

"The Little Matchgirl"

"Maestro"

"No Time for Nuts"

Live Action Short Film:

"Binta and the Great Idea (Binta Y La Gran Idea)"

"Eramos Pocos (One Too Many)"

"Helmer & Son"

"The Saviour"

"West Bank Story"

Visual Effects:

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"

"Poseidon"

"Superman Returns"

Academy Award winners previously announced this year:

HONORARY AWARD (Oscar statuette): Ennio Morricone

JEAN HERSHOLT HUMANITARIAN AWARD (Oscar statuette): Sherry Lansing