"BABEL" leads the Golden Globe nominations

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"Babel," the intertwined, cross-cultural story of desperate people in three far-flung parts of the world, led all films in nominations for the 64th Golden Globes, picking up seven nods Wednesday.

"The Departed" also received strong support, earning nods for best drama, best director (Martin Scorsese), best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), best supporting actor (Jack Nicholson) and best screenplay.

Other films nominated for best drama are "Bobby," "Little Children" and "The Queen."

The Globes have separate categories for drama and comedy or musical. The nominees in the latter category are "Borat," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Thank You for Smoking."

Several performers received multiple nominations. DiCaprio was nominated for best actor for both "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond." Helen Mirren earned nominations for her performances in the theatrical film "The Queen," the TV miniseries "Elizabeth I" and the show "Prime Suspect." Collette earned nominations for "Little Miss Sunshine" and the TV program "Tsunami: The Aftermath."

But the Globe nominations were sometimes a study in contradiction.

Clint Eastwood received two nominations for best director -- for his films "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" -- but neither film earned a best drama nod.

The ensemble drama "Bobby" earned just two nominations, but one of them was in one of the most important categories -- best drama. (The other was for best song.)

"Little Miss Sunshine" was nominated for best comedy or musical and best actress in a comedy or musical (Toni Collette), but its screenplay -- widely hailed as one of the best of the year -- failed to earn a nomination.

Moreover, best foreign-language film had an American tint to it, with both "Mel Gibson's Apocalypto" (spoken in a Mayan dialect) and Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima" (almost entirely in Japanese) both in the running.

The nominations also were striking for what wasn't nominated, given the rush of high-profile films coming out.

"The Good German," Steven Soderbergh's film set just after World War II, was overlooked, as was Robert De Niro's "The Good Shepherd," Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men" and Paul Greengrass' "United 93."

"Cars," "Happy Feet" and "Monster House" all earned nominations for best animated film.

Nominees a diverse lot
Joining DiCaprio for best actor in a drama are Peter O'Toole ("Venus"), Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland").

Along with Mirren, best actress in a drama nominees are Penelope Cruz ("Volver"), Judi Dench ("Notes on a Scandal"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Sherrybaby") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children").

The nominees for best actor in a comedy or musical are Sasha Baron Cohen ("Borat"), Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"), Aaron Eckhart ("Thank You for Smoking"), Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Kinky Boots") and Will Ferrell ("Stranger Than Fiction").

The nominees for best actress in a comedy or musical are Annette Bening ("Running With Scissors"), Toni Collette ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Beyonce Knowles ("Dreamgirls"), Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") and Renee Zellweger ("Miss Potter").

The best director nominees -- aside from Eastwood -- all had their films nominated for best drama. They are Stephen Frears ("The Queen"), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel") and Scorsese ("The Departed").

The Globes also nominate in the medium of television. Best drama nominees are "24," "Big Love," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes" and "Lost"; best comedy nominees include "Desperate Housewives," "Entourage," "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "Weeds."

"Grey's" also earned nominations for performers Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo. "Housewives' " Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman were both nominated for best actress in a TV comedy.

"The Sopranos," long a Globe favorite, failed to receive a nomination for best drama, though star Edie Falco earned a nod for best actress in a TV drama.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony, scheduled for January 15.