Romans, drug dealers, Chinese warriors, sweets and a legal researcher will square off for this year's Oscar for best picture, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today.
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Best Actor nominee Russell Crowe as General Maximus |
Swords and sandals epic Gladiator topped the list with 12 nominations including Russell Crowe in the Best Actor category and Ridley Scott for Best Director.
Steven Soderbergh picked up two Best Director nominations, for Erin Brockovich with Julia Roberts in the Best Actress list and Traffic, which stars husband and wife Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta Jones.
Two more of Soderbergh's stars also picked up Best Supporting Actor nominations, Benico del Torro for Traffic and Albert Finney for Erin Brockovich.
Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, which is also nominated in the Best Foreign Language category, and Chocolat directed by Lasse Hallestrom will also fight it out for the 2001 Academy Award for best picture on March 25th.
Julie Walters is in the running in the Best Supporting Actress category for her role as the no-nonsense dance teacher who spots a star in Billy Elliot, and Steven Daldry is a contender for Best Director, but there was no mention for newcomer Jamie Bell who played the title role.
Tom Hanks could pick up his third Oscar after he was nominated for Cast Away. Ed Harris, a two-time best supporting actor nominee was shortlisted for his performance as American painter Jackson Pollock. Javier Bardem for Before Nigh Falls and Geoffrey Rush for Quills make up the rest of the list.
Other nominations include Judi Dench (Best Supporting Actress) for Chocolat and Joaquin Phoenix (Best Supporting Actor) for Gladiator.
In other award news, John Travolta's Battlefield Earth topped the Golden Raspberry Awards with eight nominations. The 'Razzies' annually hand out gongs to the worst the industry has to offer.
Travolta was also nominated for Worst Actor, his wife Kelly Preston for Worst Supporting Actress, Battlefield director Roger Christian also got a mention and Travolta also featured in the Worst Screen Couple category (Travolta and "anyone sharing the screen with him").
Trailing Battlefield Earth in nominations were Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, Adam Sandler's Little Nicky and Madonna's The Next Best Thing, all with five.
The winners will be announced on Saturday, March 24th, the day before the Oscars.