Let the Oscar battle begin

The time has come. The fateful night the Hollywood year revolves around. The evening that could make or break an upcoming filmmaker or actor. The Super Bowl of the film industry.\nYes, the Oscars are upon us, and Tuesday morning, the starting lineup was officially announced.\nNo more heated debates with your friends about whether "Moulin Rouge" or "A Beautiful Mind" will receive more nominations. No longer will you have to wonder if the Academy will recognize a fantasy epic like "Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring." \nThose inquiries can now be put to rest.\nLeading the pack with 13 nominations was Peter Jackson's "Lord of the Rings." However, most of these nominations were in technical categories, with only one acting nomination (Ian McKellen for supporting actor).\nTying for second place are "A Beautiful Mind" and "Moulin Rouge" with eight nominations each.\nThe fight for the coveted award of best picture will be between "Lord of the Rings", "A Beautiful Mind," "Gosford Park," "In the Bedroom," and "Moulin Rouge." \nWere "Moulin Rouge" to take this category, it would be the first time since "Oliver!" in 1968 that a live-action musical won for best picture.\nDuking it out for best actor are Russell Crowe for his role as a schizophrenic mathematician in "A Beautiful Mind," Sean Penn for his portrayal of a mentally disabled father fighting for custody of his daughter in "I Am Sam," Will Smith for the title role in "Ali," Denzel Washington for playing an evil cop in "Training Day" and Tom Wilkinson for his performance as the vigilante father in "In the Bedroom."\nBecause Crowe took home this award last year for "Gladiator," if he wins for this category, he will achieve the rare honor of winning back-to-back years.\nAlso of notable mention is the fact that three black actors (Smith, Washington, and Halle Berry) are up for lead categories for the first time since 1972.\nAlong with Berry for "Monster's Ball," the honor of best actress will be sought by Nicole Kidman for her role in "Moulin Rouge," Judi Dench for her portrayal of British writer Iris Murdoch in "Iris," Sissy Spacek for playing a grieving mother in "In the Bedroom" and Renee Zellweger as a love-sick Londoner in "Bridget Jones's Diary."\nThe supporting actor category includes Jim Broadbent for his role as the husband of Murdoch in "Iris," Ethan Hawke for playing a rookie narcotics detective in "Training Day," Ben Kingsley for his portrayal of a mobster in "Sexy Beast," Ian McKellen for the role of the wizard Gandalf in "Lord of the Rings" and Jon Voight for portraying sportscaster Howard Cosell in "Ali".\nWith two nominees from the film "Gosford Park," the category for best supporting actress includes Helen Mirren for the role of a housekeeper in "Gosford Park," Maggie Smith for her role in the same film, Jennifer Connelly for the role of Crowe's wife in "A Beautiful Mind," Marisa Tomei for playing a single mom involved with a younger man in "In the Bedroom" and Kate Winslet for her portrayal of writer Murdoch in her early years in "Iris."\nThe high honor of best director will be debated between Peter Jackson for "Lord of the Rings," Robert Altman for "Gosford Park," Ron Howard for "A Beautiful Mind," David Lynch for "Mulholland Drive" and Ridley Scott for "Black Hawk Down."\nIn addition to these familiar categories, this year's Oscars will include a new category for animated feature films. Apparently, the Academy has taken notice of the high ticket sales for these films and has decided that they should be a part of Oscar glory, as well. Nominees for the first award include "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," "Monsters Inc." and "Shrek."\nAnother category or high regard is the best musicall score. This year's nominees include "A.I.: Artificial Intelligence", "A Beautiful Mind", "Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone", "Lord of the Rings", and "Monsters Inc."\nAs most people know, the Golden Globes serve as a fairly accurate predictor of how the Oscar slate will look. But it is not uncommon for films that are successful at the Globes to be missing among the Oscar nominees.\nSome of the more notable snubs this year include "The Royal Tenenbaums" and its lead actor Gene Hackman, who took home a Golden Globe for his role of an estranged patriarch working his way back into his family's lives. Also missing from the Oscar nominations is Billy Bob Thornton, who was nominated twice for "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Bandits" and who received notable mention for "Monster's Ball" at the Globes.\nAnother film with a conspicuously few number of nominations is "Harry Potter," the year's top grossing film. It received only three nominations: art direction, costume design and original score. Then again, the Academy has never been keen on big-budget movies.\nNow you know the contenders for this year's Oscar brawl. With this information, you might be able to hold your own in a conversation with movie buff friends. These actors and directors will be the talk of the industry until (and most likely months after) the awards March 24. \nWhat do you think? Who do you think deserves the top Hollywood honors? We here at the IDS want to know what you, the readers, think. We've decided not to let the critics have the only say! Within the next week, we will post a ballot for you to cast your votes for the Oscar categories on our Web Site (www.idsnews.com). We believe Bloomington's voice should be heard, because after all, we are the ones who spend our hard earned money to see these movies! Votes will be counted March 20, and the IDS will report on who the community has chosen as the champions of film. I encourage all of you to go online and vote for your favorites and let the public know what Bloomington's Oscars would be like.