The Oscars Race is On

On the morning of January 23, 2007; the list of Academy Awards Nominees were posted throughout the world, giving the nominees a sense of joy and validation. Some of this year's nominees have just stepped into the ring, others have nominated before, but none of that changes that they're the best of the best in Hollywood. Everyone has put their blood, sweat and tears into their acting, directing and writing. Now; it all comes down to this. Here is the list of the nominees:

Best Picture: Babel, Letters From Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine, The Queen

Best Actor: Leonardo Dicaprio (The Blood Diamond), Ryan Gosling (Half Nelson), Peter O' Toole (Venus), Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness), Forrest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)

Best Actress: Penelope Cruz (Volver), Judi Dench (Notes on a Scandal), Helen Mirren (The Queen), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada), Kate Winslet (Little Children)

Best Supporting Actor: Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine), Jackie Earle Haley (Little Children), Djimon Honsou (Blood Diamond), Eddie Murphy (Dreamgirls), Mark Wahlberg (The Departed)

Best Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza (Babel), Cate Blanchett (Notes on a Scandal), Abigail Breslin (Little Miss Sunshine), Rinko Kikuchi (Babel)

Best Director: Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu (Babel), Martin Scorsese (The Departed), Clint Eastwood (Letters From Iwo Jima), Stephen Frears (The Queen), Paul Greengrass (United 93)

Best Foreign Language Film: After The Wedding (Denmark), Days of Glory/Indigines (Algeria), The Lives of Others (Germany), Pan's Labyrinth (Mexico), Water (Canada)

Best Adapted Screenplay: Sacha Baron Cohen, Anthony Hines, Peter Baynham, Dan Mazer and Todd Phillips (Borat: Cultural Leanings of America...), Alfonso Cuaron,Timothy J. Sexton, David Arata, Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Children of Men), William Monahan (The Departed), Todd Field and Tom Perotta (Little Children), Patrick Marber (Notes of a Scandal)