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'Babel' scores big with 7 Golden Globe nods

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(CNN) -- "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." (Watch Rosario Dawson, Jessica Biel and Matthew Perry make the announcement )

The Globes have separate categories for drama and comedy or musical. The nominees in the latter category are "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Thank You for Smoking." (Gallery: Major nominees)

"I have been trying to let Borat know this great news but for the last 4 hours both of Kazakhstan's telephones have been engaged," said "Borat" star -- and alter ego -- Sacha Baron Cohen in a statement. "Eventually, Premier Nazarbayev answered and said he would pass on the message as soon as Borat returned from Iran, where he is guest of honor at the Holocaust Denial Conference."

Baron Cohen was also honored, receiving a nomination for best actor in a comedy or musical.

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." Chiwetel Ejiofor received nominations for the film "Kinky Boots" and "Tsunami: The Aftermath."

"This has been an unprecedented year for me, and I am grateful to have had such well-written roles and to have worked with wonderful directors, actors and crews," said Mirren in a statement.

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 of recent months.

"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. (Full list)

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").

"What a great wake-up call. I couldn't be more honored," Smith said in a statement. "This film has been an extraordinary experience for me and my family and having the opportunity to work alongside my son Jaden was one of the great joys of my life."

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"). (Watch Cruz talk about her director -- 1:26 )

The nominees for best actor in a comedy or musical are 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 Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 people who write about the film industry for overseas media.

Though the awards' worth has long been questioned -- critics are fond of recalling a newcomer award to Pia Zadora in the early '80s -- stars enjoy the ceremony for its informality, and the awards have also been used as a predictor of the Oscars. The Oscar nominations will be announced January 23, eight days after the Golden Globes ceremony.

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, the Associated Press noted, even if the Globes' drama winners -- "The Aviator" in 2004 and "Brokeback Mountain" in 2005 -- didn't win the Academy Award for best picture. (Indeed, "Crash" wasn't even nominated for a best drama Globe.)

Warren Beatty will receive the Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.

Copyright 2006 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.

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