British actresses lead in Oscar nominations

Three British actresses will compete for the Best Actress Oscar at this year's Academy Awards.

Dame Helen Mirren leads the nominations, with her nod for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in 'The Queen'. She is joined by Dame Judi Dench, who picks up her sixth Oscar nomination for her role as a schoolteacher in 'Notes On A Scandal' and Kate Winslet who gets the nod for her role as a frustrated mother in 'Little Children'.

They will compete against two-time Oscar-winner Meryl Streep who picks up her fourteenth nomination for her role as a tough magazine boss in 'The Devil Wears Prada' and Spanish actress Penelope Cruz, who gets her first nomination for her role in Pedro Almodovar's 'Volver', which, surprisingly, missed out on a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film.

Forest Whitaker is the front-runner in the Best Actor category, winning mass acclaim for his portrayal of Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in 'The Last King Of Scotland'. He will compete against Leonardo DiCaprio, nominated for his role as a diamond smuggler in 'Blood Diamond', Will Smith, nominated for his role in rags-to-riches tale 'The Pursuit of Happyness', Peter O'Toole, nominated for his role in 'Venus' and Ryan Gosling, nominated for 'Half Nelson'.

'The Queen' is also nominated in the Best Picture category, alongside Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's hard-hitting drama 'Babel', Martin Scorcese's Irish mob drama 'The Departed', Clint Eastwood's Second World War drama 'Letters From Iwo Jima' and independent road trip comedy 'Little Miss Sunshine'.

Stephen Frears, who directed 'The Queen', is also nominated for the Best Director award alongside Eastwood, Inarritu and Scorcese and Paul Greengrass, who gets a nod for his September 11 drama 'United 93'.

There are no nominations for 'Babel' stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, but Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikucki are both nominated for their roles in the Best Supporting Actress category. Blanchett is also nominated, but for her role as a schoolteacher embroiled in an affair with a pupil in 'Notes On A Scandal'.

'American Idol' star Jennifer Hudson is also nominated in the same category for her debut role in musical 'Dreamgirls', while ten-year-old Abigail Breslin rounds out the nominations for her role in 'Little Miss Sunshine'.

Alan Arkin picks up a nomination in the Best Supporting Actor category for his role as the foul-mouthed grandfather in 'Little Miss Sunshine', joining Jackie Earle Haley (nominated for 'Little Children'), Djimon Hounsou (nominated for 'Blood Diamond') and Eddie Murphy (nominated for 'Dreamgirls'). Mark Wahlberg, the only actor to be nominated for 'The Departed', rounds out the nominations.

Guillermo Del Toro's fantasy film 'Pan's Labyrinth' is the favourite to win the Best Foreign Language film category, while 'Cars' leads the line-up in the Best Animated Film category, alongside 'Happy Feet' and 'Monster House'.

Sacha Baron Cohen missed out on nominations in the main categories for his controversial comedy 'Borat', but collected a nomination in the Best Adapted Screenplay category.

'Dreamgirls' receives three nominations in the Best Song' category.

The 79th annual Academy Awards ceremony will be held on February 25 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles.

Comedienne Ellen DeGeneres will host the ceremony this year for the first time.

(KMcA)