Could "The Departed" be the one for Scorsese?

Oscar Watch continues with a look at Martin Scorsese's crime drama "The Departed," which received five nominations. A tale of corruption within a South Boston police department, it's the most-seen of the best-picture nominees, with a box-office total of just over $125 million. It ranked 16th in box office for 2006 and is Scorsese's biggest hit in 40 years of feature filmmaking.

Based on the Hong Kong hit "Infernal Affairs," "The Departed" was written by William Monahan (nominated in the original screenplay category). "Infernal Affairs" spawned two popular sequels (all of which screened here at the Seattle International Film Festival a few years back), and word is "The Departed" may follow in its footsteps: The L.A. Times reports this week that Monahan is at work scripting a follow-up, but noted that Scorsese's participation is unclear.

Though an ensemble picture filled with strong performances, only one member of the cast was nominated: Mark Wahlberg, in the supporting actor category (where he'll likely lose to Eddie Murphy). Showing some restraint, the academy chose not to honor Jack Nicholson's hammy (but, admittedly, irresistible) performance as a mob boss; more surprisingly, fine work from Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon was overlooked. (DiCaprio was nominated for his role in "Blood Diamond.")

The film was named best picture by numerous critics' groups around the country and is surely a front-runner to win the top Oscar — which is what a lot of people were saying in 2005, when Scorsese's "The Aviator" lost out to "Million Dollar Baby." But Scorsese, who's famously never won an Oscar in his seven previous nominations, would surely be the sentimental vote this year. At the Golden Globes, "Babel" won the top award, while Scorsese took home the directing prize. Will this be another picture/director split, like last year's "Crash"/"Brokeback Mountain" result? Stay tuned.

Trivia

Last week's Oscar trivia asked the question: With how many of this year's fellow nominees has Meryl Streep shared a movie screen? Despite Streep's Golden Globe comment that she'd worked with "everyone in this room," the answer is only two: DiCaprio, who played Streep's son in "Marvin's Room," and directing nominee Clint Eastwood, who cozied up to Streep in "The Bridges of Madison County." Bonus points if you knew that Streep joins Alan Arkin (nominated for "Little Miss Sunshine") in the not-yet-released thriller "Rendition," due in theaters in late 2007.

And this week's question: "Dreamgirls" would seem to have a lock on this year's best song category, earning three of the five nominees. Which two previous films pulled off the same feat?

Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com