At a glance: Best picture nominees

What are they about, who stars in them and what are their chances of winning? Find out all you need to know.

BABEL

Babel stars Cate Blanchett and Brad Pitt

What is it about?
Tragedy strikes a married couple while they are on holiday in the north African desert, kicking off four interlocking stories set in Morocco, Tunisia, Mexico and Japan.

Who is in it?
Brad Pitt has received rave reviews for his performance in the film, which also stars Cate Blanchett and Gael Garcia Bernal.

What are its chances?
Babel has received seven Golden Globe nominations - including best film and best actor - and is up for three awards from the Screen Actors Guild. It also took the best director's award at the Cannes Film Festival.

What do the critics think?
"In the towering dramatic achievement that is Babel, fate and bad decisions bring disparate people together with heartbreaking consequences. Babel wrings tears on no fewer than three continents with uniformly superb performances by a huge cast headed by Brad Pitt." Lou Lumenick, New York Post

"There is no way for a review to encompass the beautifully integrated, soul-searching portrait of a world in crisis. Pitt, raw and emotionally bruised, gives his most mature and moving performance to date. All of Babel is like this - it's impossible to shake." Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE

Little Miss Sunshine was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival

What is it about?
Little Miss Sunshine tell the tale of a dysfunctional family determined to get their daughter, seven-year-old Olive, into the finals of a beauty pageant.

Who is in it?
Oscar-nominated actress Toni Collette stars alongside Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear and Alan Arkin.

What are its chances?
It has two Golden Globe nominations and numerous nods from critics' associations - but is seen as an outside bet.

What do the critics think?
"This ensemble comedy-drama is a tonic, but one laced with dysfunction, depression and the reliably ghastly spectacle of dolled-up seven-year-olds, hairdos piled up like wigs on hamsters... It lays on the quirks then the group hugs in a tried-and-tested indie manner you may find faintly coercive." Tim Robey, The Daily Telegraph

"Even though at first glance Little Miss Sunshine has a pretty slim and over-familiar plot - family goes on a road-trip where they're all stuck with one another, and can't escape - the characters are so well crafted and performed, that you find yourself watching a minor comic classic." Richard Bacon, People

THE DEPARTED

Jack Nicholson and Leonardo DiCaprio head an impressive cast

What is it about?
A young undercover cop infiltrates the mob, while a criminal infiltrates the police department. Both become consumed by their double lives - but those lives are put in danger when the mob and police realise there is are moles in their midst.

Who is in it?
Hollywood veteran Jack Nicholson leads a cast that includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg.

What are its chances?
With six Golden Globe nominations in top categories, it is a big hitter this awards season. It has already won Martin Scorsese the best director award from the New York Film Critics Circle and is one of the frontrunners for a Screen Actors Guild Award.

What do the critics think?
"Martin Scorsese returns to contemporary crime fiction with a hugely satisfying bang. The Departed is a robust piece of storytelling and his best film since Casino in 1995. Everything is rock solid." Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

"The Departed is splattered with moments of pure, dead-eyed, blood-soaked Scorsesean violence - the pop-pop of bullets and oof-oof of beatings that explode skulls and smash faces." Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly

THE QUEEN

Dame Helen Mirren has been praised for her performance

What is it about?
The film dramatises the fallout the death of Princess Diana in 1997. The result is an intimate yet witty portrait of royalty and government torn between protocol and emotion against the backdrop of a grieving nation.

Who is in it?
Dame Helen Mirren shines as the monarch. Michael Sheen, Sylvia Sims and Helen McCrory also star.

What are its chances?
This home-grown film, brimming with British talent, must be seen as a front rider for the Bafta. With four Golden Globe nominations, a best actress award for Dame Helen from the Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco Film Critics Associations, and a win at the Venice Film Festival, The Queen is where the smart money is.

What do the critics think?
"Blessed with a cracking, witty script... cleverly judging its tonal blend of Spitting Image-style satire with moving, humanising moments, all crowned by several remarkable performances, particularly from Helen Mirren." Jason Solomons, The Observer

"[Mirren] gives an extraordinary performance, parched and prickly and tinged with pathos in this sly, quasi-forensic reconstruction of the backstage wheeling and dealing that went on between Downing Street and Buck House." Sukhdev Sandhu, The Daily Telegraph

THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Forest Whitaker is chilling as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin

What is it about?
Based on the novel by Giles Foden, The Last King of Scotland revolves around how a young Scot becomes Ugandan President Idi Amin's personal doctor. The doctor is eventually forced to confront the reality of Amin's crimes.

Who is in it?
The formidable Forest Whitaker leads a cast that includes rising British star James McAvoy and Gillian Anderson.

What are its chances?
Numerous awards and nominations for Whitaker has made his performance one to watch. His tally includes awards from the Chicago, New York and Los Angeles Film Critics Associations as well as a Golden Globe nod.

What do the critics think?
"It is, above all things, a fantastic display of old-fashioned character acting from Forest Whitaker in a satanically villainous role. This is the kind of performance for which awards are designed." The Guardian

"The Last King of Scotland is as gloriously shambolic as its unpredictable star. I've never seen an actor take every single scene by the throat. It's not an exercise in power. It's pure force of nature. The film is at the actor's total mercy." James Christopher, The Times

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