| "It is one of the hardest roles to play, not just a living person but one who is part of our everyday lives in Britain. … I hope that my performance has conveyed a sense of Elizabeth the woman as well as the queen." — Helen Mirren, in a statement on her best-actress bid for "The Queen."
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"I’m in frighteningly good company. It is very nice of the queen to allow me in for a minute." — Judi Dench, best-actress nominee for "Notes on a Scandal," with a nod to Helen Mirren, in a statement from London.
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"Without a doubt, receiving this nomination will stand out as one of the highlights of my career." — Eddie Murphy, supporting-actor nominee for "Dreamgirls."
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"I am going to be screaming and whooping all day long. I really thought I wasn’t going to get a nomination. I am really going to try to enjoy this moment. I’m speechless." — Kate Winslet, best-actress nominee for "Little Children."
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"Any time someone says you have an opportunity to work with Martin Scorsese you jump at the chance." — Mark Wahlberg, supporting-actor nominee for "The Departed."
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"On a professional level, what’s really wonderful about it is to be part of a film that dealt with these difficult and painful and contentious events." — Paul Greengrass, best-director nominee for "United 93," speaking on BBC television.
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"The biggest effect it’s having on little kids is they all want to go to tap-dancing lessons." — George Miller (news, bio, voting record), director of animated feature nominee "Happy Feet."
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"If each one of them got nominated on their own, that would be great, but the fact that they all did … that’s just too much for one little girl this early in the morning." — Salma Hayek, nominations announcer, on a slew of bids for Hispanics, including friends Penelope Cruz ("Volver") and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel").
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"If you get put in a list with those guys you’ve done pretty well." — Stephen Frears, director of "The Queen," talking to BBC television about fellow best-director nominees Clint Eastwood ("Letters From Iwo Jima") and Martin Scorsese ("The Departed").
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"I think the Academy responded to the movie on an emotional level." — Jon Kilik, a producer of best-picture nominee "Babel."
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"I am now going out to buy a new dress." — Susanne Bier, director of Denmark’s foreign-language nominee "After the Wedding," talking to Copenhagen’s TV2 News.
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"It’s sort of like asking who your favorite child is. We’re thrilled for both the films, the filmmakers." — Jonathan Sehring, president of IFC Entertainment, which distributed two foreign-language nominees, "After the Wedding" and "Days of Glory."
AP
No one I want to hear from has commented yet! I think that Ryan Gosling is going to be this year’s Oscar sweetheart, so I can’t waitg to hear from him! I can’t wait for Jennifer Hudson’s remarks and Eddie Murphy’s was not pompous at all about it. Talking about pompous, hopefully Sascha Baron Cohen will respond as himself and not Borat. What a schmuck!
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This year’s Oscar ceremony will see three of Britain’s finest leading ladies compete to win the statuette for Best Actress. But while Dame Helen Mirren, nominated for her role in The Queen, and Kate Winslet, for her performance in Little Children, have both spoken of their excitement at attending the most prestigious award ceremony in film, on February 25, Dame Judi Dench will be unable to attend due to poor health. But the 72-year-old, who famously won an Oscar in 1999 for her eight-minute performance as Queen Elizabeth I in Shakespeare In Love, is scheduled to have an important knee operation at the end of this month and has told friends it will coincide with the most important date in the film industry’s calender. ‘Judi has had this knee injury for a while and finally decided to do something about it,’ says a friend. ‘It has to be carried out by a specialist at a certain time. Even if they bring the operation forward, she is going to need some recovery time.’ Dame Judi has suffered from the knee problem for a number of years and has told friends that the pain is unbearable – she once described it as ‘bone on bone’. ‘She feels she would be jeopardising her health if she were to miss the operation for the sake of going to the Oscars,’says a chum. ‘She wants to go but Judi has been to the Oscars before and doesn’t care about the glitz and the glam of it all.’ However, sources insist Judi’s insouciant approach to the ceremony also lies in her belief there is no point attending as Helen Mirren is tipped to win. ‘Judi said in a recent interview that she didn’t give ‘two hoots’ that Helen had been nominated, but really she thinks it has ruled out any chance of her walking away with a gong,’ continues a friend. ‘Helen has already won the Golden Globe for best actress and that’s usually a good indicator of who will go on to win an Oscar.’
You can not only forget about Beyonce Knowles winning an Oscar for best actress this year. Now it looks like Beyonce won’t win as a songwriter either — for "Listen," one of the original new tunes added to the original Broadway score. Officially, she’s listed as one of the song’s four writers, but the motion-picture academy only permits three names — max — as a credit. To see the specific language of its Rule 16 — 
