Lord of the Rings leads Oscar field

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, the final chapter in Peter Jackson’s majestic fantasy trilogy, led the Academy Awards race today with 11 nominations, including best picture and director.

The Napoleonic era naval adventure Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World was right behind with 10 nominations, among them best picture and director.

Other best-picture nominees for the 76th annual Oscars include Lost in Translation, about two lonely Americans in Tokyo the brooding murder thriller Mystic River and the horse-racing drama Seabiscuit.

Along with best picture and director, the nominations for Return of the King included original score and song, visual effects, film editing and adapted screenplay for the script based on JRR Tolkien’s fantasy classic.

Return of the King led last weekend’s Golden Globes with four wins, including best dramatic picture and director, and its broad critical and fan support give the film the inside track at the Oscars.

Besides Jackson and Master and Commander director Peter Weir, the directing nominees included Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, only the third woman ever nominated for best director.

The previous nominees were Lina Wertmuller for 1976’s Seven Beauties and Jane Campion for 1993’s The Piano. Both lost.

Coppola, the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, also earned an original-screenplay nomination for Lost in Translation.

The other directing nominees: Clint Eastwood for Mystic River and a surprise choice, Fernando Meirelles for the Brazilian film City of God.

In the best actor category, Law and Kingsley are up against Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Bill Murray for Lost In Translation and Sean Penn for Mystic River.

They face tough competition – Penn and Murray both won best actor awards at the Golden Globes on Monday.

Samantha Morton was not the only surprise inclusion on the best actress list.

Thirteen-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes is nominated for her performance in the New Zealand film Whale Rider.

Castle-Hughes was discovered by a casting director who visited her school and had no previous acting experience.

The other best actress nominees are Diane Keaton for Something’s Gotta Give, Naomi Watts for 21 Grams and Golden Globe winner Charlize Theron for Monster.

There was no nomination for Cold Mountain star Nicole Kidman, although Renee Zellweger has been nominated for best supporting actress.

The 76th annual Oscar nominations announced today in Beverly Hills, California, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

Best Picture: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Lost in Translation”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Mystic River”, ”Seabiscuit”.

Actor: Johnny Depp, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”, Ben Kingsley, “House of Sand and Fog”, Jude Law, “Cold Mountain”, Bill Murray, “Lost in Translation”, Sean Penn, “Mystic River.”

Actress: Keisha Castle-Hughes, “Whale Rider”, Diane Keaton, “Something’s Gotta Give”, Samantha Morton, “In America”, Charlize Theron, “Monster”, Naomi Watts, “21 Grams”.

Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin, “The Cooler”, Benicio Del Toro, “21 Grams”, Djimon Hounsou, “In America”, Tim Robbins, “Mystic River”, Ken Watanabe, “The Last Samurai”.

Supporting Actress: Shohreh Aghdashloo, “House of Sand and Fog”, Patricia Clarkson, “Pieces of April”, Marcia Gay Harden, “Mystic River”, Holly Hunter, “thirteen”, Renee Zellweger, “Cold Mountain”.

Director: Fernando Meirelles, “City of God”, Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, Sofia Coppola, “Lost in Translation”, Peter Weir, ”Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, Clint Eastwood, “Mystic River”.

Foreign Film: “The Barbarian Invasions,” Canada, ”Zelary,” Czech Republic, “The Twilight Samurai”, Japan, “Twin Sisters”, The Netherlands, “Evil”, Sweden.

Adapted Screenplay: Robert Pulcini & Shari Springer Berman, “American Splendor”, Braulio Mantovani, “City of God” , Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens & Peter Jackson, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, Brian Helgeland, “Mystic River” Gary Ross, “Seabiscuit”.

Original Screenplay: Denys Arcand, “The Barbarian Invasions”, Steven Knight, “Dirty Pretty Things”, Andrew Stanton, Bob Peterson and David Reynolds, “Finding Nemo”, Jim Sheridan & Naomi Sheridan & Kirsten Sheridan, “In America”, Sofia Coppola, “Lost in Translation.”

Animated feature film: “Brother Bear”, “Finding Nemo”, “The Triplets of Belleville”.

Art Direction: “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, “The Last Samurai”, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Seabiscuit”.

Cinematography: “City of God”, “Cold Mountain”, ”Girl with a Pearl Earring”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Seabiscuit”.

Sound Mixing: “The Last Samurai”, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”, “Seabiscuit”.

Sound Editing: “Finding Nemo”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”.

Original Score: “Big Fish”, Danny Elfman, “Cold Mountain”, Gabriel Yared, “Finding Nemo” Thomas Newman, ”House of Sand and Fog”, James Horner “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, Howard Shore.

Original Song: “Into the West” from “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, Fran Walsh, Howard Shore and Annie Lennox, “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” from “A Mighty Wind”, Michael McKean and Annette O’Toole ,“Scarlet Tide” from “Cold Mountain”, T Bone Burnett and Elvis Costello, “The Triplets of Belleville” from “The Triplets of Belleville,” Benoit Charest and Sylvain Chomet, “You Will Be My Ain True Love” from “Cold Mountain,” Sting.

Costume: “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, “The Last Samurai”, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Seabiscuit”.

Documentary Feature: “Balseros”, “Capturing the Friedmans”, “The Fog of War”, “My Architect”, “The Weather Underground”.

Documentary (short subject): “Asylum”, “Chernobyl Heart”, “Ferry Tales”.

Film Editing: “City of God”, “Cold Mountain”, ”The Lord of the Rings: The Return of The King”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Seabiscuit”.

Makeup: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”.

Animated Short Film: “Boundin”’, “Destino”, “Gone Nutty”, “Harvie Krumpet”, “Nibbles”.

Live Action Short Film: “Die Rote Jacke (The Red Jacket)”, “Most (The Bridge)”, “Squash”, “(A) Torzija (‘A~ Torsion)”, “Two Soldiers”.

Visual Effects: “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World”, “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl”.