Best Picture
Babel: A series of interlocking tragedies involving six families is sparked off by a bullet that strikes a married couple (played by Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, right) on vacation in the Moroccan desert. Also starring Gael Garcia Bernal, Yoji Yashuko and Rinko Kikuchi. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu directs this ensemble drama.
The Departed: Martin Scorsese directs this remake of the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs, starring Matt Damon as a gangster who infiltrates the police. Leonardo DiCaprio is the undercover cop working to topple the mob boss (Jack Nicholson). Director Andrew Lau Wai-keung said the film failed to capture the essence of his original, but western critics loved it.
Little Miss Sunshine: A quirky comedy-drama about a dysfunctional family travelling from New Mexico to California in a yellow mini-van after their seven-year-old daughter (Abigail Breslin) qualifies for the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant. Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris direct. Toni Collette and Greg Kinnear star.
The Queen: The kind of movie that you will leave you arguing with your friends for hours afterwards. Directed by Stephen Frears, it is a behind-the-scenes account of the struggle between Queen Elizabeth II (Helen Mirren, left) and British Prime Minister Tony Blair (Michael Sheen) following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales.
Letters from Iwo Jima: Clint Eastwood's complementary film to his Flags of Our Fathers, which is also about the battle of Iwo Jima but from the perspective of Japanese soldiers. Starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya.