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Ian McKellen (left) and Elijah Wood star in "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." The movie was nominated for 13 Academy Awards, including a best supporting actor nod for McKellen.

'Lord' takes lead in Oscar race

Epic fantasy gets 13 Academy Award nominations

DAVID GERMAIN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Wednesday, February 13, 2002

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The fantasy epic "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" led the Academy Award field Tuesday with 13 nominations -- best picture, director and supporting actor among them.

Other best-picture nominees were "A Beautiful Mind," a dramatization of math genius John Nash's struggle with schizophrenia; the class-war satire and murder mystery "Gosford Park"; "In the Bedroom," a low-budget tale of family tragedy and vengeance; and "Moulin Rouge," a tragicomic musical set in 1899 Paris.

"A Beautiful Mind" and "Moulin Rouge" were tied for second place with eight nominations each, including acting nominations for "Moulin Rouge's" Nicole Kidman and "A Beautiful Mind's" Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly.

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.

"Lord of the Rings" director Peter Jackson was up all night awaiting the Oscar nominations with colleagues in New Zealand, where he is working on the next installment of the J.R.R. Tolkien epic, "The Two Towers." They watched the nominations announcement on the BBC at 2:30 a.m. New Zealand time, he said.

"We had a bunch of friends around and had a little party at our place," Jackson said. "We just stayed up to wait for the moment."

The best-actor nomination for Crowe was his third in a row and sets him up for potential back-to-back Oscars following his victory last year for "Gladiator." Also nominated in the category were Sean Penn as a retarded father seeking custody of his daughter in "I Am Sam"; Will Smith as boxer Muhammad Ali in "Ali"; Denzel Washington as a rakish bad cop in "Training Day"; and Tom Wilkinson as a vigilante father in "In the Bedroom."

With Smith and Washington's nominations, and Halle Berry being named a best-actress nominee as an executed killer's widow for "Monster's Ball," it was the first time three black actors competed in the lead categories since 1972, when Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson for "Sounder" and Diana Ross for "Lady Sings the Blues" were in the running.

Along with Kidman and Berry, best actress nominees were Judi Dench as British writer Iris Murdoch for "Iris"; Sissy Spacek as a grieving mother in "In the Bedroom"; and Renee Zellweger as a Londoner haplessly seeking romance in "Bridget Jones's Diary."

With Zellweger it was a rare instance where the academy singled out a comic performance.

"I've always thought of myself as a dramatic actress, because that's where I started. Most of my work in the beginning was really in drama," Zellweger said. "I can't say it's harder to do one or the other. The challenges are just different in comedy and drama."

Contenders for supporting actor are Jim Broadbent as 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 the imposing wizard Gandalf in "Lord of the Rings"; and Jon Voight as sportscaster Howard Cosell in "Ali."

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 Murdoch in her younger years in "Iris."

On television

The Academy Awards air at 5 p.m. March 24 on ABC.

Online

Join in our Oscar discussion forum at www.theolympian.com.

Complete list of 74th annual Oscar nominations announced Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif., by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

- 1. Best Picture: "A Beautiful Mind," "Gosford Park," "In the Bedroom," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

- 2. Actor: Russell Crowe, "A Beautiful Mind"; Sean Penn, "I Am Sam"; Will Smith, "Ali"; Denzel Washington, "Training Day"; Tom Wilkinson, "In the Bedroom."

- 3. Actress: Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball"; Judi Dench, "Iris"; Nicole Kidman, "Moulin Rouge"; Sissy Spacek, "In the Bedroom"; Renee Zellweger, "Bridget Jones's Diary."

- 4. Supporting Actor: Jim Broadbent, "Iris"; Ethan Hawke, "Training Day"; Ben Kingsley, "Sexy Beast"; Ian McKellen, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; Jon Voight, "Ali."

- 5. Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly, "A Beautiful Mind"; Helen Mirren, "Gosford Park"; Maggie Smith, "Gosford Park"; Marisa Tomei, "In the Bedroom"; Kate Winslet, "Iris."

- 6. Director: Ron Howard, "A Beautiful Mind"; Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down"; Robert Altman, "Gosford Park"; Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; David Lynch, "Mulholland Drive."

- 7. Animated Film: "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius"; "Monsters, Inc."; "Shrek."

- 8. Foreign Film: "Amelie," France; "Elling," Norway; "Lagaan," India; "No Man's Land," Bosnia and Herzegovina; "Son of the Bride," Argentina.

- 9. Screenplay (written based on material previously produced or published): Akiva Goldsman, "A Beautiful Mind"; Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, "Ghost World"; Rob Festinger and Todd Field, "In the Bedroom"; Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens, Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman, "Shrek."

- 10. Screenplay (written directly for the screen): Guillaume Laurant and Jean-Pierre Jeunet, "Amelie"; Julian Fellowes, "Gosford Park"; Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, "Memento"; Milo Addica and Will Rokos, "Monster's Ball"; Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, "The Royal Tenenbaums."

- 11. Art Direction: "Amelie," "Gosford Park," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

- 12. Cinematography: "Amelie," "Black Hawk Down," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "The Man Who Wasn't There," "Moulin Rouge."

- 13. Sound: "Amelie," "Black Hawk Down," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge," "Pearl Harbor."

- 14. Sound Editing: "Monsters, Inc.," "Pearl Harbor."

- 15. Original Score: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," John Williams; "A Beautiful Mind," James Horner; "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," John Williams; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Howard Shore; "Monsters, Inc.," Randy Newman.

- 16. Original Song: "If I Didn't Have You" from "Monsters, Inc.," Randy Newman; "May It Be" from "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Enya, Nicky Ryan and Roma Ryan; "There You'll Be" from "Pearl Harbor," Diane Warren; "Until" from "Kate & Leopold," Sting; "Vanilla Sky" from "Vanilla Sky," Paul McCartney.

- 17. Costume: "The Affair of the Necklace," "Gosford Park," "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

- 18. Documentary Feature: "Children Underground," "LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton," "Murder on a Sunday Morning," "Promises," "War Photographer."

- 19. Documentary (short subject): "Artists and Orphans: A True Drama," "Sing!," "Thoth."

- 20. Film Editing: "A Beautiful Mind," "Black Hawk Down," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Memento," "Moulin Rouge."

- 21. Makeup: "A Beautiful Mind," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

- 22. Animated Short Film: "Fifty Percent Grey," "For the Birds," "Give Up Yer Aul Sins," "Strange Invaders," "Stubble Trouble."

- 23. Live Action Short Film: "the accountant," "Copy Shop," "Gregor's Greatest Invention," "A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa)," "Speed for Thespians."

- 24. Visual Effects: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Pearl Harbor."

Academy Award winners previously announced this year:

- Gordon E. Sawyer Award (Oscar statuette): Edmund M. Di Giulio.

- Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award (Oscar statuette): Arthur Hiller.

- Honorary Awards (Oscar statuettes): Sidney Poitier and Robert Redford.

On the Web:

- 74th Annual Academy Awards

- Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Films Forum: Which films should win Oscars?

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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