'Rings' leads Oscar field

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Feb. 12 (UPI) -- "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" led the field with 13 nominations -- including one for best picture and one for Russell Crowe for best actor -- as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the nominees Tuesday for the 74th Academy Awards.

Two other best picture nominees -- "A Beautiful Mind" and "Moulin Rouge" -- had eight nominations each. The remaining two best picture nominees, "Gosford Park" and "In the Bedroom," had seven and five, respectively.

As expected, Russell Crowe of "A Beautiful Mind" and "Sissy Spacek of "In the Bedroom" were nominated for their second best actor and actress trophies.

In addition to its best picture nomination, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" was nominated for best supporting actor (Ian McKellen), director (Peter Jackson) and adapted screenplay, as well as several technical and creative awards.

"A Beautiful Mind" snagged nominations for supporting actress (Jennifer Connelly), director (Ron Howard) and adapted screenplay.

Nicole Kidman received her first nomination for best actress for "Moulin Rouge," which scored most heavily in the technical categories. Director Baz Luhrmann, who won a Golden Globe for his vision of dance hall Paris at the dawn of the 20th century, was not nominated for an Oscar.

Three of the nominees for the top acting awards are black, a rare recognition by the Academy of black actors.

Denzel Washington of "Training Day" and Will Smith of "Ali" are up for best actor. Halle Berry is up for best actress for her breakthrough performance in "Monster's Ball."

In the only new category this year, "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius," "Monsters, Inc." and "Shrek" were nominated for best animated feature.

The nominees for best foreign language film are: "Amélie" (France), "Elling" (Norway), "Lagaan" (India), "No Man's Land" (Bosnia & Herzogovina) and "Son of the Bride" (Argentina).

"Amélie" received five nominations.

"In the Bedroom" also received five nominations, including one for best actor for Tom Wilkinson.

Sean Penn was nominated for best actor for "I Am Sam."

Along with Spacek, Berry and Kidman, the nominees for best actress are Judi Dench for "Iris" and Renee Zellweger for "Bridget Jones's Diary."

The academy will present honorary Oscars to Robert Redford and Sidney Poitier, and will honor veteran director Arthur Hiller with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

The 74th Academy Awards will be presented on March 24 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, in ceremonies hosted by Whoopi Goldberg, to be telecast on ABC-TV.