"Dreamgirls" among group's top award picks

Beyonce Knowles attends the premiere of "Dreamgirls" at the Wilshire theatre in Beverly Hills, December 11, 2006.[Reuters]

"Dreamgirls" and three other films scored seven nominations each on Tuesday for the Broadcast Film Critics Association awards, putting the highly touted musical among the favorites vying for Oscars.

"Dreamgirls," which is based on the 1980s stage show about a group of three black American singers, was joined by drama "Babel," crime thriller "The Departed" and comedy "Little Miss Sunshine," all with seven nominations apiece including best movie.

Those four will compete alongside six other movies nominated for best film including director Clint Eastwood's Japanese war drama "Letters From Iwo Jima." That movie already was named 2006's best movie in the United States by The National Board of Review and The Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Five others round out the 10 best film nominees from the Broadcast Critics including thriller "Blood Diamond" and dramas "Little Children," "Notes on a Scandal," "The Queen" and "United 93," which on Monday picked up the year's best film honor from the New York Film Critics Circle.

In recent days, several top critics groups have named their favorite films, but "Dreamgirls" has failed to win the top spot from any of them and was even absent from the National Board of Review's top 10 list.

The early critics awards do not always indicate Oscar wins, but they do help narrow the list of contenders. Putting "Dreamgirls" among the Broadcast Critics' nominees restores some momentum to it because a nod from the 200-member TV, radio and Internet group is often a gauge of widespread popularity.

Elsewhere, Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for best actor in two films, "Blood Diamond," and "The Departed," in the first time the broadcasters have nominated one actor in that category for two different films.

DiCaprio will battle Forest Whitaker, an early favorite for his role as former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, as well as Ryan Gosling for drama "Half Nelson," veteran Peter O'Toole in "Venus," and Will Smith for "The Pursuit of Happyness."

The best actress race features Spanish actress Penelope Cruz in "Volver" against three British actresses, Kate Winslet for "Little Children," Helen Mirren in "The Queen" and Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal," as well as American Meryl Streep for "The Devil Wears Prada."

"Letters from Iwo Jima," which tells of the famed World War II battle from the Japanese perspective and is in Japanese, will compete for best foreign language film along with best film in another first for the broadcast group.

The Broadcast Film Critics' Association gives out awards on January 12. The Oscars, which are awarded by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be given out on February 25.