‘Babel’ leads Golden Globe nominees

The musical penguin tale "Happy Feet," the talking autos comedy "Cars" and the spooky children's flick "Monster House" were nominated for best animated film of 2006.

Along with "Apocalypto" and "Letters From Iwo Jima," foreign language film nominees were Germany's "The Lives of Others," Mexico's "Pan's Labyrinth," and Spain's "Volver."

Best TV drama contenders: "24," "Big Love," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes" and "Lost." Comedy or musical TV series nominees: "Desperate Housewives," "Entourage," "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "Weeds."

"Desperate Housewives" co-stars Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman both were nominated for best actress in a TV comedy or musical.

The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 people who write about the film industry for overseas media. Some critics question the validity of the Globes, saying the group has many part-time journalists and reporters who write for obscure outlets.

But the Globes have long stood as the second-biggest Hollywood honors after the Oscars. Academy Awards contenders can solidify their prospects with a win at the Globes, which serve as solid forecasts for how the Oscars might play out.

All four winners of the 2005 acting Oscars -- Reese Witherspoon, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Rachel Weisz and George Clooney -- preceded their wins with triumphs at the Globes.

But the Globes failed to predict the best-picture Oscar winner the last two years. "The Aviator" won best drama at the Globes for 2004 while "Million Dollar Baby" took the Oscar, and "Brokeback Mountain" won best drama at the Globes for last year, while "Crash" was the Oscar champ.

Golden Globe winners will be announced Jan. 15, eight days before Oscar nominations. The Oscars will be presented Feb. 25.

The Globes feature 13 categories for film and 11 for television. Warren Beatty will receive the Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.

COMPLETE LIST OF NOMINEES:

MOTION PICTURES:

Picture, Drama: "Babel," "Bobby," "The Departed," "Little Children," "The Queen"

Actress, Drama: Penelope Cruz, "Volver"; Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Sherrybaby"; Helen Mirren, "The Queen"; Kate Winslet, "Little Children"

Actor, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"; Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"; Peter O'Toole, "Venus"; Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"; Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"

Picture, Musical or Comedy: Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Thank You for Smoking"

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "Running With Scissors"; Toni Collette, "Little Miss Sunshine"; Beyonce Knowles, "Dreamgirls"; Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Renee Zellweger, "Miss Potter"

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"; Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"; Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You for Smoking"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Kinky Boots"; Will Ferrell, "Stranger than Fiction"

Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, "Babel"; Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"; Emily Blunt, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"; Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"

Supporting Actor: Ben Affleck, "Hollywoodland"; Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"; Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"; Brad Pitt, "Babel"; Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"

Director: Clint Eastwood, "Flags of Our Fathers"; Clint Eastwood, "Letters from Iwo Jima"; Steven Frears, "The Queen"; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"; Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"

Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"; Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"; William Monahan, "The Departed"; Peter Morgan, "The Queen"

Foreign Language: "Apocalypto," USA; "Letters from Iwo Jima," USA/Japan; "The Lives of Others," Germany; "Pan's Labyrinth," Mexico; "Volver" Spain

Animated Film: "Cars," "Happy Feet," "Monster House"

Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, "The Painted Veil"; Clint Mansell, "The Fountain"; Gustavo Santaolalla, "Babel"; Carlo Siliotto, "Nomad"; Hans Zimmer, "The Da Vinci Code"

Original Song: "A Father's Way" from "The Pursuit of Happyness"; "Listen" from "Dreamgirls"; "Never Gonna Break My Faith" from "Bobby"; "The Song of the Heart" from "Happy Feet"; "Try Not to Remember" from "Home of the Brave"

MORE FROM ACCESS HOLLYWOOD

Access Hollywood Section Front

Jake and Reese reportedly split Kourtney Kardashian welcomes baby boy Kendra Wilkinson gives birth to baby boy 10 most expensive movies ever made Underwood says song isn’t about Tony Romo Amanda Peet expecting baby No. 2 Kate Gosselin spotted filming new series Beware of online ‘Breaking Dawn’ casting scam Lohan: Jon Gosselin ‘stabbed me in the back’ Oprah won’t bring current talk show to cable Access Hollywood Section Front