US: Proving that size matters less than quality, the voters for the 78th annual Academy Awards chose to honour medium-budget, serious dramas in the nominations announced in Los Angeles yesterday. As expected, Ang Lee's critically acclaimed film of the gay relationship between two cowboys, Brokeback Mountain, led the field with eight nominations.
The announcement produced a personal triumph for George Clooney, who collected three nominations in his own right - as best supporting actor for the political thriller Syriana, and as director and co-screenwriter of Good Night and Good Luck, which deals with the conflict between US broadcaster Edward R Murrow and Senator Joe MacCarthy in the 1950s.
Irish interest lies in the category of best live action short film, where Martin McDonagh's Six Shooter was nominated. McDonagh wrote and directed the film. The Clonakilty-based English writer, Jeffrey Caine, was nominated in the best adapted screenplay category for his adaptation of John Le Carré's The Constant Gardener.
Brokeback Mountain is one of the five nominees for the academy's most coveted award, best picture, along with the multi-character drama Crash and Good Night and Good Luck. They have six nominations each and will be up against Steven Spielberg's Munich and Bennett Miller's Capote, which have five each. The directors of all five films were nominated in the best director category.
In the best actor category, three of the five nominees were chosen for their portrayals of real-life people - Philip Seymour Hoffman as author Truman Capote in Capote, Joaquin Phoenix as singer Johnny Cash in Walk the Line, and David Strathairn as Edward R Murrow in Good Night and Good Luck.
Completing that shortlist are Terrence Howard for Hustle & Flow and the only non-US nominee, Australian actor Heath Ledger, for Brokeback Mountain. This was widely regarded as the most competitive category, and among those who did not make the five final places were Irish actor Cillian Murphy (Breakfast on Pluto) and former winner Russell Crowe (Cinderella Man).
Reese Witherspoon was nominated in the best actress category for her portrayal of June Carter, the country singer who married Johnny Cash, in Walk the Line. The other nominees are Desperate Housewives star Felicity Huffman as a man facing the final operation for a sex change in Transamerica, along with South African actress Charlize Theron (North Country) and two English actresses, Judi Dench (Mrs Henderson Presents) and Keira Knightley (Pride and Prejudice).
The nominees for best supporting actress are Catherine Keener (as novelist Harper Lee in Capote), Amy Adams (Junebug), Michelle Williams (Brokeback Mountain), Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener) and former winner Frances McDormand (North Country).
On the shortlist for best supporting actor, George Clooney (Syriana) is joined by Matt Dillon (Crash), Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain), Paul Giamatti (Cinderella Man) and former winner William Hurt (A History of Violence).
The Palestinian drama Paradise Now, which deals with two childhood friends recruited for a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv, is one of the five nominees for best foreign language film, along with Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noel (France), Sophie Scholl (German), Don't Tell (Italy) and Tsotsi (South Africa).
In the nominations for best animated feature film, the three finalists are the Japanese entry Howl's Moving Castle, Tim Burton's Warner Bros-funded Corpse Bride, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.
With the exception of Steven Spielberg's Munich, big-budget productions were shut out of the main categories. The hugely expensive remake of King Kong, which had been the subject of a vigorous campaign for best picture and best director, received just four nominations; for art direction, visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing.
The results will be announced at a ceremony in Hollywood on March 5th, when Jon Stewart, presenter of The Daily Show, will compere.
Irish interest lies in the category of best live action short film, where Martin McDonagh's Six Shooter was nominated.
Born in London to immigrant Irish parents, McDonagh is best known as the playwright of the award-winning Connemara Trilogy that includes The Beauty Queen of Leenane.
McDonagh wrote and directed Six Shooter, an Irish Film Board-backed black comedy following an encounter between a grieving widower (Brendan Gleeson) and a loquacious young man (Ruaidhri Conroy) aboard a train. The Clonakilty-based English writer, Jeffrey Caine, was nominated in the best adapted screenplay category for his adaptation of John Le Carré's The Constant Gardener.
Best Picture: Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night and Good Luck, Munich.
Best Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote; Terrence Howard, Hustle and 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 and 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.