Brokeback Mountain gets eight Oscar nominations

The cowboy love story Brokeback Mountain led the Academy Awards field today with eight nominations, including those for Best Picture, Best Actor and Best Director.

Also nominated for best picture were the Truman Capote story Capote; the ensemble drama Crash; the Edward Murrow chronicle Good Night, and Good Luck, and the assassination thriller Munich.

The Johnny Cash biography, Walk the Line, considered a likely best picture nominee, was shut out, though Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon earned acting nominations for the film.

George Clooney picked up two nominations, as supporting actor for his role as a steadfast CIA undercover agent in Syriana and best director for his Edward Murrow tale Good Night, and Good Luck.

Along with best-actor contender Heath Ledger, and directing nominee Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain scored nominations for Michelle Williams as supporting actress, Jake Gyllenhaal as supporting actor and Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for their screenplay adaptation of Annie Proulx’s short story.

The nominations were announced in Beverly Hills, California.

This is the first Oscar nomination for 20-year-old Knightley and the fourth for Dame Judi, 71, who won best actress in 1999 for Shakespeare In Love.

They face stiff competition for this year’s award – Charlize Theron in mining drama North Country, Reese Witherspoon in Walk The Line and the hotly tipped Felicity Huffman as a transsexual in Transamerica.

Best actor will go to either Philip Seymour Hoffman for Capote, Heath Ledger for Brokeback Mountain, Joaquin Phoenix for Walk The Line, David Strathairn as journalist Edward R Murrow in Good Night And Good Luck, or Terrence Howard as a pimp-turned-rap star in Hustle and Flow.

In the best supporting actress category, Rachel Weisz is one of the favourites to win after scooping a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award for her role as activist Tessa Quayle in the adaptation of John Le Carre’s The Constant Gardener.

Best director nominees are Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain, George Clooney for Syriana, Steven Spielberg for Munich, and first-time feature directors Paul Haggis for Crash and Bennett Miller for Capote.

The eight nominations for gay cowboy film Brokeback Mountain include best supporting actor for Jake Gyllenhaal and best supporting actress for Michelle Williams.

The 78th annual Oscar nominations announced today in Beverly Hills, California, by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:

Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck, Munich.

Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote; Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow; Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain; Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line; David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck.

Best Actress: Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents; Felicity Huffman, Transamerica; Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice; Charlize Theron, North Country; Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line.

Best Supporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana; Matt Dillon, Crash; Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man; Jake Gyllenhaal, Brokeback Mountain; William Hurt, A History of Violence.

Best Supporting Actress: Amy Adams, Junebug; Catherine Keener, Capote; Frances McDormand, North Country; Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener; Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain.

Best Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain; Bennett Miller, Capote; Paul Haggis, Crash; George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck; Steven Spielberg, Munich.

Best Foreign Film: Don’t Tell, Italy; Joyeux Noel, France; Paradise Now, Palestine; Sophie Scholl – The Final Days, Germany; Tsotsi, South Africa.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain; Dan Futterman, Capote; Jeffrey Caine, The Constant Gardener; Josh Olson, A History of Violence; Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, Munich.

Best Original Screenplay: Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash; George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck; Woody Allen, Match Point; Noah Baumbach, The Squid and the Whale; Stephen Gaghan, Syriana.

Best Animated Feature Film: Howl’s Moving Castle; Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride; Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

Best Art Direction: Good Night, and Good Luck, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha, Pride & Prejudice.

Best Cinematography: Batman Begins, Brokeback Mountain, Good Night, and Good Luck, Memoirs of a Geisha, The New World.

Best Sound Mixing: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha, Walk the Line, War of the Worlds.

Best Sound Editing: King Kong, Memoirs of a Geisha, War of the Worlds.

Best Original Score: Brokeback Mountain, Gustavo Santaolalla; The Constant Gardener, Alberto Iglesias; Memoirs of a Geisha, John Williams; Munich, John Williams; Pride & Prejudice, Dario Marianelli.

Best Original Song: In the Deep from Crash, Kathleen Bird York and Michael Becker; It’s Hard out Here for a Pimp from Hustle & Flow, Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard; Travellin’ Thru from Transamerica, Dolly Parton.

Best Costume: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Memoirs of a Geisha, Mrs. Henderson Presents, Pride & Prejudice, Walk the Line.

Best Documentary Feature: Darwin’s Nightmare, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, March of the Penguins, Murderball, Street Fight.

Best Documentary (short subject): The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club, God Sleeps in Rwanda, The Mushroom Club, A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin.

Best Film Editing: Cinderella Man, The Constant Gardener, Crash, Munich, Walk the Line.

Best Make-up: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Cinderella Man, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith.

Best Animated Short Film: Badgered, The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation, The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, 9, One Man Band.

Best Live Action Short Film: Ausreisser (The Runaway), Cashback, The Last Farm, Our Time Is Up, Six Shooter.

Best Visual Effects: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, King Kong, War of the Worlds.”

Academy Award winners previously announced this year:

Honorary Award (Oscar statuette): Robert Altman.

The Gordon E. Sawyer award (Oscar statuette): Gary Demos.