Entertainment Today: Showbiz news

OSCAR NOMINATIONS

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" led the field with 13 nominations -- including one for best picture -- 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, while Halle Berry is up for best actress for her breakthrough performance in "Monster's Ball."

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 nominees:

Best picture: "A Beautiful Mind"; "Gosford Park"; "In the Bedroom"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; "Moulin Rouge."

Animated feature film: "Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius"; "Monsters, Inc."; "Shrek."

Actor: Russell Crowe, "A Beautiful Mind"; Sean Penn, "I Am Sam"; Will Smith, "Ali"; Denzel Washington, "Training Day"; Tom Wilkinson, "In the Bedroom."

Actress: Halle Berry, "Monster's Ball"; Judi Dench, "Iris"; Nicole Kidman, "Moulin Rouge"; Sissy Spacek, "In the Bedroom"; Renée Zellweger, "Bridget Jones's Diary."

Supporting actor: Jim Broadbent, "Iris"; Ethan Hawke, "Training Day"; Ben Kingsley, "Sexy Beast"; Ian McKellen, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; Jon Voight, "Ali."

Supporting actress: Jennifer Connelly, "A Beautiful Mind"; Helen Mirren, "Gosford Park"; Maggie Smith, "Gosford Park"; Marisa Tomei, "In the Bedroom"; Kate Winslet, "Iris."

Director: Robert Altman," Gosford Park"; Ron Howard, "A Beautiful Mind"; Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; David Lynch, "Mulholland Drive"; Ridley Scott, "Black Hawk Down."

Original screenplay: "Amélie," Guillame Laurant and Jean-Pierre Jeunet; "Gosford Park," Julian Fellowes; "Memento," Christopher Nolan; "Monster's Ball," Milo Addica & Will Rokos; "The Royal Tenenbaums," Wes Anderson & Owen Wilson.

Adapted screenplay: "A Beautiful Mind," Akiva Goldsman, book by Sylvia Nasar; "Ghost World," Daniel Clowes & Terry Zwigoff; "In the Bedroom," Rob Festinger and Todd Field, short story by Andre Dubus; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, book by J.R.R. Tolkien; "Shrek," Ted Elliott & Terry Rossio and Joe Stillman and Roger S.H. Schulman.

Foreign-language film: "Amélie" (France); "Ellis" (Norway); "Lagaan" (India); "No Man's Land" (Bosnia); "Son of the Bride" (Argentina).

Original music score: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence," John Williams; "A Beautiful Mind," James Horner; "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," John Williams; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," Howard Shore; "Monsters, Inc.," Randy Newman.

Song: "If I Didn't Have You," Randy Newman (Monsters, Inc."); "May It Be," Enya ("The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"); "There You'll Be," Diane Warren ("Pearl Harbor"); "Until...," Sting ("Kate & Leopold"); "Vanilla Sky," Paul McCartney ("Vanilla Sky").

Art direction: "Amélie"; "Gosford Park"; "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; "Moulin Rouge."

Cinematography: "Amélie"; "Black Hawk Down"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; "The Man Who Wasn't There"; "Moulin Rouge."

Costume design: "The Affair of the Necklace"; "Gosford Park"; "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; "Moulin Rouge."

Documentary feature: "Children Underground"; "LaLee's Kin: The Legacy of Cotton"; "Murder on a Sunday Morning"; "Promises"; "War Photographer."

Documentary short: "Artists and Orphans: A True Drama"; "Sing!"; "Thoth."

Film editing: "A Beautiful Mind"; "Black Hawk Down"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; "Memento"; "Moulin Rouge"; "Mulholland Drive."

Makeup: "A Beautiful Mind"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "Moulin Rouge."

Short film (animated): "Fifty Percent Grey"; "For the Birds"; "Give Up Yer Aul Sins"; "Strange Invaders"; "Stubble Trouble."

Short film (live action): "the account"; "Copy Shop"; "Gregor's Greatest Invention"; "A Man Thing (Meska Sprawa)"; "Speed for Thespians."

Sound: "Amélie"; "Black Hawk Down"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; "Moulin Rouge"; "Pearl Harbor."

Sound editing: "Monsters, Inc."; Pearl Harbor."

Visual effects: "A.I. Artificial Intelligence"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"; "Pearl Harbor."

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

'FRIENDS'

"Friends" will continue airing on NBC-TV for at least one more season.

A statement issued by the sitcom's stars, Warner Bros. Television and NBC announced that a deal had been worked out between the cast and the producers for a ninth -- and apparently final -- season on the network.

"We are enormously pleased and excited to be returning for a ninth season," said Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox Arquette, Lisa Kudrow, Matt LeBlanc, Matthew Perry and David Schwimmer in the statement. "We could not ignore the outpouring of public support for the show and we are looking forward to creating one more season with the best writers, producers, directors and production people in television."

NBC West Coast president Scott Sassa called the return of "Friends" for a ninth season "a wonderful event for everyone ... the fans, NBC, Warner Bros., the producers and the cast."

The show has been a ratings winner for NBC since Rachel, Monica, Phoebe, Joey, Chandler and Ross first started hanging out at their New York apartments and the Central Perk coffee shop in 1994.

Series creators and executive producers Kevin Bright, Marta Kauffman and David Crane said in the statement that they intend for the final season to wrap up the storyline and "send our characters out into the world."

(The above two items thanks to UPI Hollywood Reporter Pat Nason)

KEVIN SPACEY

Long a champion of independent film production, Kevin Spacey has told the media that he's taking a break from acting for a while to devote more time to his pet project, Trigger St. Productions.

Published reports indicate he thinks that adding his name to low-budget projects can be the boost that young filmmakers need to get their projects off the ground. At a film festival in Berlin this week, Spacey made a plea for independent productions.

He won the Oscar for best supporting actor in 1995 for his work in "The Usual Suspects" and was named best actor of the year for 1999's "American Beauty."

(Thanks to UPI's Dennis Daily)

'WE WERE SOLDIERS'

Special screenings of the new Mel Gibson movie "We Were Soldiers" will be held Wednesday at Ft. Benning, Ga., and Friday at Ft. Hood, Texas. It's a show of appreciation for the First Battalion of the Seventh Calvary, which fought in the first major battle of the Vietnam War.

On hand at the Ft. Benning screening will be director/writer/producer Randall Wallace, as well as Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (Ret.) and civilian war correspondent Joseph L. Galloway, the authors of the best-selling book "We Were Soldiers Once ... And Young", upon which the movie was based.

Moore and Galloway -- who will sign copies of their book at Ft. Benning -- will also be on hand for signings at the Fort Hood screening. Joining the authors at Fort Hood, where the current 7th Calvary is based, will be Madeleine Stowe, who plays Moore's wife, Julie, and Barry Pepper, who plays Galloway.

"We Were Soldiers" is the true story of the first major battle between the United States and North Vietnamese forces, which took place in November 1965. The film -- which opens nationwide March 1 -- also stars Greg Kinnear, Sam Elliott, Chris Klein and Keri Russell.