The unkindest cut for 'Dreamgirls,' Damon

Eight nominations and not a nod for best picture? Was "Dreamgirls" robbed?

Of course it was, and what else is new? Lest we forget, "The Color Purple" was nominated for 11 Oscars 20 years ago and director Steven Spielberg was not among them. Quoth Billy Crystal, speaking for Hollywood and the world, "Did this film direct itself?" "Dreamgirls" director Bill Condon may be muttering the same thing; he was shut out, too.

This may be the year of Oscar's coldest shoulder. Matt Damon ("The Departed" and "The Good Shepherd") and Sacha Baron Cohen ("Borat") were snubbed, as expected, even though they gave three of the most intriguing performances of the year. After all that aging make up and emoting, though, Brad Pitt came up with bupkis for "Babel" while his unknown co stars Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi were nominated. And Pedro Almodóvar and "Volver" not making it into best foreign language film? It is to laugh.

The oddest slight, though, is in the best actor category, where Leonardo DiCaprio was nominated for his fine work in "Blood Diamond" and not for "The Departed," the movie that finally won back those doubters who thought he was just a "Titanic" poster boy. As Borat might say: "Wha-a-a-t?!"

Remember, the Oscars are not about fair. If they were, Alfred Hitchcock would have won 20 best directing Oscars. Instead, he got none.

TY BURR