OSCAR SURPRISES

It was a wide-open field heading into Tuesday morning’s Oscar nominations, so of course there were going to be some notable omissions and surprising choices. Some of them were just stunners, though. Among them:

Angelina, interrupted: Angelina Jolie seemed like a lock in the best-actress category for “A Mighty Heart,” in which she gave a wrenching performance as Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl. The role has earned her Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and Spirit Award nominations, and it’s probably the best work of her career. But she isn’t among the nominees for best actress at the Academy Awards, and the film itself was shut out entirely. Jolie already has a supporting-actress Oscar for 1999’s “Girl, Interrupted.”

Not taking the Oscar bait: A couple of films that would have seemed like traditional academy favorites were barely recognized. “American Gangster” received only two nominations, for supporting actress Ruby Dee and for its art direction — nothing for Oscar perennials Denzel Washington, Russell Crowe or director Ridley Scott. And “The Kite Runner,” based on the inspiring international best-seller, got just one, for original score.

Doubling up: And sometimes tripling and quadrupling:

Cate Blanchett received two nominations, for best actress in “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and for supporting actress in “I’m Not There.” The great Roger Deakins is competing against himself in the cinematography category for “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” and “No Country for Old Men.”

The veteran music team behind “Enchanted” and many other Disney movies — Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz — received three out of the five original-song nominations. Paul Thomas Anderson also got three for “There Will Be Blood,” for best director, adapted screenplay and best picture (he’s one of the producers). And technically, the Coen brothers received four nominations — for best picture since they’re producers on “No Country for Old Men,” for director and adapted screenplay, and for editing under their longtime pseudonym, Roderick Jaynes.