Notable by their absence

'The Reader" won the Kate Winslet derby, putting the actress's performance in "Revolutionary Road" on ice. (Costar Leonardo DiCaprio got no Oscar love, either.) Momentum for "The Dark Knight" proved overstated, too, as the year's biggest box-office hit didn't get a best picture nomination, nor one for director Christopher Nolan. Clint Eastwood promised it would be his last acting role, but that didn't put the fear into Academy voters when it came to his growling, grizzled "Gran Torino" performance, which was shockingly left off the best actor list. Chipper Sally Hawkins looked a lock for "Happy-Go-Lucky," but finished yesterday sadder then expected. Even Bruce Springsteen took a beating. His haunting closing-credits theme for "The Wrestler" - written especially for friend Mickey Rourke - was denied a best song nod. Instead the Bollywood thump of "Slumdog Millionaire" snagged two of the three nominations in that category.