'Rings' Rules Oscar Nominations

The epic film fantasy "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" led the Oscar field on Tuesday with 13 nominations, including best picture, director and supporting actor.

Drama "A Beautiful Mind" claimed eight nominations overall, tying musical "Moulin Rouge," and both movies also ended up in the best picture category. Joining them in that group were "Gosford Park" and "In the Bedroom."

The film with the most nominations often wins best picture come Oscar night. But many of the nominations for "Lord of the Rings" were for technical achievements such as visual effects, sound, costume design and editing. A sprawling fantasy adventure has never won top Oscar honors, so "Lord of the Rings" could come away with the most trophies while missing out on best picture.

Nominees in the category for best actor in a movie were Russell Crowe for "A Beautiful Mind," Sean Penn in "I Am Sam," Will Smith for "Ali," Denzel Washington for "Training Day" and Tom Wilkinson for "In the Bedroom."

It was the first time the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated two blacks — Smith and Washington — for best actor. Washington has received four Oscar nominations previously and won a supporting-actor Oscar for "Glory."

The nominations for best actress went to Halle Berry for "Monster's Ball," Judi Dench in "Iris," Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge," Sissy Spacek in "In the Bedroom" and Renee Zellweger for "Bridget Jones's Diary."

Zellweger's nomination was a rare instance where the academy singled out a comic performance.

Contenders for supporting actor are Jim Broadbent as writer Iris Murdoch's husband in "Iris;" Ethan Hawke as a rookie narcotics detective in "Training Day;" Ben Kingsley as a volatile mobster in "Sexy Beast;" Ian McKellen as an imposing wizard in "Lord of the Rings;" and Jon Voight as sportscaster Howard Cosell in "Ali."

McKellen, the only actor from "Rings" to be nominated, said he was proud to represent the film. "It's so massive in terms of what it looks like and the story it's telling," McKellen told E! Entertainment Television. "The academy has followed the good taste of the public and discerned that this is an important film."

Up for supporting actress with Connelly, who plays mathematician Nash's wife in "A Beautiful Mind," are Helen Mirren as a coolly efficient housekeeper and Maggie Smith as a flighty, pampered relation in "Gosford Park;" Marisa Tomei as a single mom involved with a younger man in "In the Bedroom;" and Kate Winslet as writer Iris Murdoch in her younger years in "Iris."

The best director nominees: Robert Altman, "Gosford Park;" Ron Howard, "A Beautiful Mind;" Peter Jackson, "Lord of the Rings;" David Lynch, "Mulholland Drive;" and Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down."

The record for most nominations is held by 1950's "All About Eve" and 1997's "Titanic," which had 14 mentions each and wins totaling six and 11, respectively. Other films with 13 nominations include "Gone Witthe Wind" (1939), "Forrest Gump" (1994) and "Shakespeare in Love" (1998).

"Moulin Rouge" was the first live-action musical to land a best-picture nomination since "All That Jazz" in 1979. The animated musical "Beauty and the Beast" was nominated for best picture in 1991. The last musical to win the top Oscar was "Oliver!" in 1968.

Nominated in the academy's new animated feature category were "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," "Monsters, Inc." and "Shrek."

Potential front-runners to win the foreign language film Oscar are the French romance "Amelie" and the Bosnian war film "No Man's Land." The other foreign language nominees are "Elling," from Norway; "Lagaan," from India; and "Son of the Bride," from Argentina.

Nominees in most categories were chosen by specific branches of the 5,700-member Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, such as actors, directors and writers.

All academy members were allowed to vote for best-picture nominees. The full academy also is eligible to vote in all categories for the awards themselves.

ABC will broadcast the Oscar ceremony on March 24 live from the show's new Hollywood home at the Kodak Theatre, just a block away from the Roosevelt Hotel, where the first Academy Awards were handed out in 1929. The show has not been held in Hollywood since 1960.

Whoopi Goldberg returns as host, her first time as master of ceremonies since 1998.

For a complete list of nominees, go to Oscar.com.
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