Aviator flies to top of Oscar nominations list

The Howard Hughes epic The Aviator led Academy Awards contenders with 11 nominations today, best picture among them, plus acting honours for Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett and Alan Alda and a directing slot for Martin Scorsese.

The boxing saga Million Dollar Baby and the JM Barrie tale Finding Neverland followed with seven nominations each, among best picture and acting nominations for Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman, Hillary Swank and Johnny Depp.

Eastwood also got a directing nomination for Million Dollar Baby.

The other best-picture nominees were the Ray Charles portrait Ray and and the buddy comedy Sideways.

Along with Eastwood, Jamie Foxx also scored two nominations, as best actor for the title role in “Ray” and supporting actor as a taxi driver whose cab is hijacked by a hitman in “Collateral”.

Foxx’s dead-on emulation of Charles has made him the front-runner in the lead-actor category.

Starring as aviation trailblazer and Hollywood rebel Hughes, DiCaprio also was nominated for best actor.

He and Foxx will compete against Depp as Peter Pan playwright Barrie in Finding Neverland; Eastwood as a cantankerous boxing trainer in Million Dollar Baby; and Don Cheadle for Hotel Rwanda, starring as hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina, who sheltered refugees from the Rwandan genocide.

The best-actress category presents a rematch of the 1999 showdown, when underdog Swank won the Oscar for Boys Don’t Cry over Annette Bening, who had been the front-runner for American Beauty.

This time, Swank was nominated as a bullheaded boxing champ whose life takes a cruel twist in Million Dollar Baby. Bening was chosen for Being Julia, in which she plays an ageing 1930s stage diva exacting wickedly comic revenge on the men in her life and a young rival.

Both actresses won Golden Globes for the roles, Swank for best dramatic actress, Bening for actress in a musical or comedy.

Also nominated for the best-actress Oscar were Catalina Sandino Moreno as a Colombian woman imperilled when she signs on to smuggle heroin in Maria Full of Grace; Imelda Staunton as a good-hearted housekeeper in 1950s Britain who performs illegal abortions on the side in Vera Drake; and Kate Winslet as a woman who has had memories of her ex-boyfriend erased in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

List of the 77th annual Oscar nominations announced today in Beverly Hills by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

Picture: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, Sideways.

Director: Martin Scorsese, The Aviator; Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby; Taylor Hackford, Ray; Alexander Payne, Sideways; Mike Leigh, Vera Drake.

Actor: Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda; Johnny Depp, Finding Neverland; Leonardo DiCaprio, The Aviator; Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby; Jamie Foxx, Ray.

Actress: Annette Bening, Being Julia; Catalina Sandino Moreno, Maria Full of Grace; Imelda Staunton, Vera Drake; Hilary Swank, Million Dollar Baby; Kate Winslet, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Supporting actor: Alan Alda, The Aviator; Jamie Foxx, Collateral; Morgan Freeman, Million Dollar Baby; Thomas Haden Church, Sideways; Clive Owen, Closer.

Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, The Aviator; Laura Linney, Kinsey; Virginia Madsen, Sideways; Sophie Okonedo, Hotel Rwanda; Natalie Portman, Closer.

Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke, Before Sunset; David Magee, Finding Neverland; Paul Haggis, Million Dollar Baby; Jose Rivera, The Motorcycle Diaries; Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, Sideways.

Writing (Original Screenplay): John Logan, The Aviator; Charlie Kaufman, Michel Gondry and Pierre Bismuth, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind; Brad Bird, The Incredibles; Mike Leigh, Vera Drake.

Foreign Film: As It Is In Heaven (Sweden), The Chorus (Les Choristes) (France), Downfall (Germany), The Sea Inside (Spain), Yesterday (South Africa).

Animated Feature Film: The Incredibles, Shark Tale, Shrek 2.

Animated Short Film: Birthday Boy, Gopher Broke, Guard Dog, Lorenzo, Ryan.

Live Action Short Film: Everything in This Country Must, Little Terrorist, 7:35 in the Morning (7:35 de la Manana), Two Cars, One Night, and Wasp.

Documentary: Born Into Brothels, The Story of the Weeping Camel, Super Size Me, Tupac: Resurrection, Twist of Faith.

Documentary Short Subject: Autism Is a World, The Children of Leningradsky, Hardwood, Mighty Times: The Children’s March, Sister Rose’s Passion.

Art Direction: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Phantom of the Opera, A Very Long Engagement.

Cinematography: The Aviator, House of Flying Daggers, The Passion of the Christ, The Phantom of the Opera, A Very Long Engagement.

Film Editing: The Aviator, Collateral, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray.

Costume Design: The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, Ray, Troy.

Makeup: Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Passion of the Christ, The Sea Inside.

Original Score: Finding Neverland, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Passion of the Christ, The Village.

Original Song: Accidentally In Love from Shrek 2, Al Otro Lado Del Rio from The Motorcycle Diaries, Believe from The Polar Express, Learn To Be Lonely from The Phantom of the Opera, Look To Your Path (Vois Sur Ton Chemin) from The Chorus (Les Choristes).

Sound Editing: The Incredibles, The Polar Express, Spider-Man 2.

Sound Mixing: The Aviator, The Incredibles, The Polar Express, Ray, Spider-Man 2.

Visual Effects: Harry Potter and the Prince of Azkaban, I, Robot, Spider-Man 2.

Oscar winners previously announced this year:

Honorary Academy Award: Sidney Lumet.

Gordon E Sawyer Award (technical achievement): Takuo Miyagishima.

Scientific and Technical Oscars: Horst Burbulla, Jean-Marie Lavalou, Alain Masseron and David Samuelson.