"The Aviator," directed by Martin Scorsese, led the Oscar nominations this year with 11 nods. Among those was Leonardo DiCaprio (as Howard Hughes) in the category of performance by an actor in a leading role.
Cate Blanchett's performance as Katharine Hepburn in "The Aviator" brought her a nomination in the category of actress in a supporting role. She won.
Alan Alda, who plays Sen. Ralph Owen Brewster in "The Aviator," was up for an Oscar in the category of performance by an actor in a supporting role.
Clint Eastwood pulled double honors from the Academy. He was up for an Oscar for playing the leading role of Frankie in "Million Dollar Baby" and also for directing the movie. He was similarly honored in 1992 for "Unforgiven." In both instances, he won as director, but lost as actor.
Hilary Swank was nominated as lead actress for her work as Maggie in "Million Dollar Baby." She won, adding another Oscar to her mantle. (She already had won an Oscar for her lead performance in "Boys Don't Cry" in 1999.)
Morgan Freeman, who had been nominated for an Oscar three times before, finally won the gold for his supporting performance as Scrap in "Million Dollar Baby."
It seems lately that every time you turn around, someone is handing Jamie Foxx a trophy for his virtuoso performance as Ray Charles in the movie "Ray." It would have been a huge surprise if he had not been nominated for an Oscar, and to many award experts, it would have been just as big a surprise if he had not won.
And here is Jamie Foxx again, nominated as an actor in a supporting role for his work in "Collateral." He played Max, a Los Angeles cab driver whose cab is hijacked by a contract killer (Tom Cruise) who has been hired to kill five people in a single night.
Don Cheadle (nominated as a leading actor) and Sophie Okonedo (nominated as supporting actress) star as husband and wife Paul and Tatiana Rusesabagina in "Hotel Rwanda."
Natalie Portman in "Closer" was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of performance by a supporting actress. She won the Golden Globe this year, but Cate Blanchett went home with Oscar.
Clive Owen, another Golden Globe winner, had been tapped as an Oscar nominee for his supporting performance in "Closer."
"Sideways" drew Oscar nominations for Virginia Madsen, right, as supporting actress, as well as for outstanding picture, director and screenplay. But its lead actor, Paul Giamatti, left, was out of the running.
Another Oscar nominee from "Sideways" was Thomas Haden Church, left, shown here with Paul Giamatti. Church, who won the Golden Globe for this performance, was nominated in Oscar's supporting actor category, but lost to Morgan Freeman.
Annette Bening had been nominated for an Oscar twice before (in "The Grifters" in 1990 and "American Beauty" in 1999). This time, she was up for her leading role in "Being Julia." Hilary Swank won this year, the second time Academy voters chose Swank over Bening.
Laura Linney was nominated for her supporting role in "Kinsey." She was up for an Oscar in the same category in 2000 for her work in "You Can Count On Me."
Catalina Sandino Moreno, appearing in her first film, was nominated for best actress for playing a teenage Colombian drug mule in the Spanish-language film "Maria Full of Grace."
Imelda Staunton, nominated as leading actress for her work in "Vera Drake," lost the Oscar but earned two major awards for that performance from the film critics' groups in New York and Los Angeles.
Kate Winslet was nominated for her lead performance in "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
In a scene from "Finding Neverland" (nominated as best picture), here are Freddie Highmore, Joe Prospero, Johnny Depp (nominated as actor in a leading role), Nick Roud, Kate Winslet (up for an Oscar but not in this role), and Luke Spill.
Here is the cast of "The Incredibles," which won as outstanding animated feature: Left to right, Violet Parr, Dashiel "Dash" Parr, Mr. Incredible, and Elastigirl.