The Departed
	The Departed

Well, so much for that. After being crowned the heir apparent for months, the Academy effectively put the kibosh on Golden Globes dominatrix Dreamgirls' Oscar hopes by shutting it out of the Best Picture race entirely, not to mention the Director and Screenplay categories as well. With its most major nominations for supporting players Eddie Murphy and It Girl Jennifer Hudson, the splashy adaptation of the Broadway hit will go down in film history as one of Oscar's biggest snubs, seeing as it grabbed eight other nominations, the most for any movie this year. But enough about what movies aren't nominated -- time to turn to the movies actually in contention.

This wasn't exactly planned as the year that Martin Scorsese would finally get an Oscar, but as it's played out, The Departed has emerged as one of the strongest contenders for the top award. Returning to canny form, Scorsese scored the biggest hit of his career with the Boston-based action drama, which everyone was expecting to be good but not as great as it turned out to be. The Boston critics gave it their top honor, naturally, and copious guild nominations have followed. Five nominations in top-heavy categories such as Director, Screenplay, and Supporting Actor (for Marky Mark Wahlberg) make it the most high-profile candidate of the race.

But the Bah-ston gangsters will have to fend off a challenge from a once-unlikely competitor. Babel, Alejandro González Iñárritu's highest-profile film to date, was an early dark horse that has now surged to the forefront of this category thanks to its seven Golden Globe nominations (more than any other movie) and subsequent win for Best Picture - Drama. Final inclusion in the DGA's and PGA's final five have helped seal the deal, as well as acknowledgement by the Screen Actors Guild, who also nominated the film's Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi for their wordy Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role award. What gives this movie a possible edge over The Departed? Pure numbers -- its seven nominations top its competitor's five.

Even though Bob and Harvey are no longer at the helm, it appears Miramax still has the magic -- serious-minded dramaThe Queen, in addition to racking up awards left and right for star Helen Mirren, is now a Best Picture contender in its on right, with six nominations overall. Furthering its own cause, the film opened in early October of last year and is still packing theaters. That said, it appears to be on purely for the ride in this category.

Remember back when Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers was supposed to be a Best Picture heavyweight and Letters from Iwo Jima was slated for a 2007 release? Thanks to National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics' wins, and a Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film, Iwo Jima's now up for the top award, taking Dreamgirls' place (most likely) and proving that Hollywood still loves Clint. We wouldn't rule out a win entirely, but this seems like the it's-a-really-really-good-movie-but-doesn't-stand-a-chance candidate. Its four nominations alone is the film's victory.

Rounding out the top five is Sundance and indie hit of the year, Little Miss Sunshine, which didn't play its Golden Globes card right (it got zip) but scored a surprise award from the Producers Guild over higher-profile and more expensive movies. However, as the Academy is wont to do, it left at least one Best Picture nominee without a corresponding directing nod, overlooking directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris in favor of United 93's Paul Greengrass. Some are trumpeting a surprise victory, but we say don't count on it.

So who's out in the cold along with the Dreamgirls? United 93, which has been notoriously flagged as the movie most of Hollywood doesn't want to see; searing drama Little Children, which still managed to pick up three nominations; Mexico's foreign-language contender Pan's Labyrinth, which scored an impressive six nominations; and the movie a lot of people are calling the true best of the year, the dystopian Children of Men. All got love from the Academy, but we'll see you in those other categories.