<i>Chicago</i> leads pack in Oscar race (7718)

Nominations for the 75th annual Academy Awards were announced Tuesday, and gay artists and characters had their best showing ever. Chicago leads the pack this year with an astounding 13 nominations, including Best Picture (producer Martin Richards with, among others, out executive producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron), Best Director (out filmmaker Rob Marshall), and Best Adapted Screenplay (out writer Bill Condon). Other notable gay filmmakers nominated this year include Pedro Almodovar (Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, Talk to Her), Todd Haynes (Best Original Screenplay, Far From Heaven), producer Scott Rudin (Best Picture, The Hours), Stephen Daldry (Best Director, The Hours), and Dean DeBlois (Best Animated Film, Lilo & Stitch--although an Academy rule that allows only one name to be listed per animated film means that DeBlois's codirector, Chris Sanders, is the listed filmmaker). Salma Hayek received a Best Actress nod for playing bisexual painter Frida Kahlo in Frida, and competing against her will be Nicole Kidman, playing bisexual poet and author Virginia Woolf in The Hours. Ed Harris is up for Best Supporting Actor as a poet dying of AIDS complications in The Hours, although the Academy overlooked Dennis Quaid's powerful performance as a closeted gay man in 1950s suburbia in Far From Heaven. A Best Foreign Film nomination went to the Dutch gay-themed comedy Zus & Zo. The Oscars will be presented March 23 in Los Angeles.

Best motion picture of the year: Chicago (Miramax), a Producer Circle Co., Zadan/Meron Production, Martin Richards, Producer; Gangs of New York (Miramax), an Alberto Grimaldi Production, Alberto Grimaldi and Harvey Weinstein, Producers; The Hours (Paramount and Miramax), a Scott Rudin/Robert Fox Production, Scott Rudin and Robert Fox, Producers; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line), a New Line Cinema and Wingnut Films Production, Barrie M. Osborne, Fran Walsh, and Peter Jackson, Producers; The Pianist (Focus Features), an R.P. Productions, Heritage Films, Studio Babelsberg, Runtime LTD. Production, Roman Polanski, Robert Benmussa, and Alain Sarde, Producers

Performance by an actor in a leading role: Adrien Brody, The Pianist (Focus Features); Nicolas Cage, Adaptation (Sony Pictures Releasing); Michael Caine, The Quiet American (Miramax and Intermedia); Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York (Miramax); Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt (New Line)

Performance by an actress in a leading role: Salma Hayek, Frida (Miramax); Nicole Kidman, The Hours (Paramount and Miramax); Diane Lane, Unfaithful (20th Century Fox); Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven (Focus Features); Renee Zellweger, Chicago (Miramax)

Performance by an actor in a supporting role: Chris Cooper, Adaptation (Sony Pictures Releasing); Ed Harris, The Hours (Paramount and Miramax); Paul Newman, Road to Perdition (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox); John C. Reilly, Chicago (Miramax); Christopher Walken, Catch Me If You Can (DreamWorks)

Performance by an actress in a supporting role: Kathy Bates, About Schmidt (New Line); Julianne Moore, The Hours (Paramount and Miramax); Queen Latifah, Chicago (Miramax); Meryl Streep, Adaptation (Sony Pictures Releasing); Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago (Miramax)

Achievement in directing: Chicago, Rob Marshall (Miramax); Gangs of New York, Martin Scorsese (Miramax); The Hours, Stephen Daldry (Paramount and Miramax); The Pianist, Roman Polanski (Focus Features); Talk to Her, Pedro Almodovar (Sony Pictures Classics)

Adapted screenplay: About a Boy, Peter Hedges and Chris Weitz & Paul Weitz (Universal); Adaptation, Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman (Sony Pictures Releasing); Chicago, Bill Condon (Miramax); The Hours, David Hare (Paramount and Miramax); The Pianist, Ronald Harwood (Focus Features)

Original screenplay: Far From Heaven, Todd Haynes (Focus Features); Gangs of New York, screenplay by Jay Cocks and Steve Zaillian and Kenneth Lonergan, story by Jay Cocks (Miramax); My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nia Vardalos (IFC/Gold Circle Films); Talk to Her, Pedro Almodovar (Sony Pictures Classics); Y Tu Mama Tambien, Carlos Cuaron and Alfonso Cuaron (IFC Films)

Best animated feature film of the year: Ice Age, Chris Wedge (20th Century Fox); Lilo & Stitch, Chris Sanders (Buena Vista); Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, Jeffrey Katzenberg (DreamWorks); Spirited Away, Hayao Miyazaki (Buena Vista); Treasure Planet, Ron Clements (Buena Vista)

Achievement in art direction: Chicago (Miramax), Art Direction: John Myhre, Set Decoration: Gord Sim; Frida (Miramax), Art Direction: Felipe Fernandez del Paso, Set Decoration: Hannia Robledo; Gangs of New York (Miramax), Art Direction: Dante Ferretti, Set Decoration: Francesca Lo Schiavo; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line), Art Direction: Grant Major, Set Decoration: Dan Hennah and Alan Lee; Road to Perdition (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox), Art Direction: Dennis Gassner, Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh

Achievement in cinematography: Chicago, Dion Beebe (Miramax); Far From Heaven, Edward Lachman (Focus Features); Gangs of New York, Michael Ballhaus (Miramax); The Pianist, Pawel Edelman (Focus Features); Road to Perdition, Conrad L. Hall (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox)

Achievement in costume design: Chicago (Miramax) Colleen Atwood; Frida (Miramax) Julie Weiss; Gangs of New York (Miramax) Sandy Powell; The Hours (Paramount and Miramax) Ann Roth; The Pianist (Focus Features) Anna Sheppard

Best documentary feature: Bowling for Columbine (United Artists and Alliance Atlantis), a Salter Street Films/VIF 2/Dog Eat Dog Films Production Michael Moore and Michael Donovan; Daughter From Danang (Balcony Releasing in association with Cowboy Pictures), an Interfaze Educational Production Gail Dolgin and Vincente Franco; Prisoner of Paradise (Alliance Atlantis), a Media Verite/Cafe Production Malcolm Clarke and Stuart Sender; Spellbound (THINKFilm), a Blitz/Welch Production Jeffrey Blitz and Sean Welch; Winged Migration (Sony Pictures Classics), a Galatee Films/France 2 Cinema/France 3 Cinema/Les Productions de la Gueville/Bac Films/Pandora Film/Les Productions JMH/ Wanda Vision/Eyescreen Production Jacques Perrin

Best documentary short subject: The Collector of Bedford Street, an Alice Elliott Production, Alice Elliott; Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks, a Tell the Truth Pictures Production, Robert Hudson and Bobby Houston; Twin Towers, a Wolf Films/Shape Pictures/Universal/Mopo Entertainment Production, Bill Guttentag and Robert David Port; Why Can't We Be a Family Again?, a Public Policy Production, Roger Weisberg and Murray Nossel

Achievement in film editing: Chicago (Miramax) Martin Walsh; Gangs of New York, (Miramax) Thelma Schoonmaker; The Hours (Paramount and Miramax) Peter Boyle; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line) Michael Horton; The Pianist (Focus Features) Herve de Luze

Best foreign language film of the year: El Crimen del Padre Amaro, an Alameda Films/BluFilms/Foprocine/Gob. del Estado de Veracruz-Llave Production, Mexico; Hero, a Beijing New Picture Film Company/Elite Group Enterprises Production, People's Republic of China; The Man Without a Past, a Sputnik Oy/Pandora Film/Pyramide Prods. Production, Finland; Nowhere in Africa, an MTM Medien & Television Munchen Production, Germany; Zus & Zo, a Filmprodukties de Luwte Production, The Netherlands

Achievement in makeup: Frida (Miramax) John Jackson and Beatrice De Alba; The Time Machine (DreamWorks and Warner Bros.) John M. Elliott, Jr. and Barbara Lorenz

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (original score): Catch Me If You Can (DreamWorks) John Williams; Far From Heaven (Focus Features) Elmer Bernstein; Frida (Miramax) Elliot Goldenthal; The Hours (Paramount and Miramax) Philip Glass; Road to Perdition (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (original song): "Burn It Blue" from Frida (Miramax) Music by Elliot Goldenthal, Lyric by Julie Taymor; "Father and Daughter" from The Wild Thornberrys Movie (Paramount and Nickelodeon Movies) Music and Lyric by Paul Simon; "The Hands That Built America" from Gangs of New York (Miramax) Music and Lyric by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, and Larry Mullen; "I Move On" from Chicago (Miramax) Music by John Kander, Lyric by Fred Ebb; "Lose Yourself" from 8 Mile (Universal) Music by Eminem, Jeff Bass, and Luis Resto, Lyric by Eminem

Best animated short film: The Cathedral, a Platige Image Production, Tomek Baginski; The ChubbChubbs! (Columbia), a Sony Pictures Imageworks Production, Eric Armstrong; Das Rad, a Filmakademie Baden-Wurttemberg GmbH Production, Chris Stenner and Heidi Wittlinger; Mike's New Car (Buena Vista), a Pixar Animation Studios Production, Pete Docter and Roger Gould; Mt. Head, a Yamamura Animation Production, Koji Yamamura

Best live action short film: Fait D'Hiver, an Another Dimension of an Idea Production, Dirk Belien and Anja Daelemans; I'll Wait for the Next One... (J'Attendrai Le Suivant...), a La Boite Production, Philippe Orreindy and Thomas Gaudin; Inja (Dog), an Australian Film TV & Radio School (AFTRS) Production, Steven Pasvolsky and Joe Weatherstone; Johnny Flynton, a Red Corner Production, Lexi Alexander and Alexander Buono; This Charming Man (Der Er En Yndig Mand), an M&M Productions for Novellefilm Production, Martin Strange-Hansen and Mie Andreasen

Achievement in sound: Chicago (Miramax) Michael Minkler, Dominick Tavella, and David Lee; Gangs of New York (Miramax) Tom Fleischman, Eugene Gearty, and Ivan Sharrock; The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line) Christopher Boyes, Michael Semanick, Michael Hedges, and Hammond Peek; Road to Perdition (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott Millan, Bob Beemer, and John Patrick Pritchett; Spider-Man (Sony Pictures Releasing) Kevin O'Connell, Greg P. Russell and Ed Novick

Achievement in sound editing: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line) Ethan Van der Ryn and Michael Hopkins; Minority Report (20th Century Fox and DreamWorks) Richard Hymns and Gary Rydstrom; Road to Perdition (DreamWorks and 20th Century Fox) Scott A. Hecker

Achievement in visual effects: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (New Line) Jim Rygiel, Joe Letteri, Randall William Cook, and Alex Funke; Spider-Man (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Dykstra, Scott Stokdyk, Anthony LaMolinara, and John Frazier; Star Wars Episode II--Attack of the Clones (20th Century Fox) Rob Coleman, Pablo Helman, John Knoll, and Ben Snow