On January 27th, many worthy contenders received nominations for Oscar® statuettes from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Who can argue with Johnny Depp's nod for his wildly entertaining performance in Pirates of the Caribbean? Or with the nomination of Tim Robbins for his total immersion into the complex character he portrayed in Mystic River? Or about the inclusion of 13 year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes in the Best Actress category for her charismatic work in Whale Rider? Or with the nominations of Seabiscuit and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King as Best Picture? And, if Girl with a Pearl Earring hadn't been nominated for Best Cinematography, the Academy would surely have received a nasty letter from me.   

Unfortunately, as usual, some of the year's best movie achievements didn't make the cut. The most glaring omissions? Big Fish, my pick for the top film of 2003, was ignored almost completely, earning only one nomination -- and that for Danny Elfman's musical score. Cate Blanchett, who delivered two of the best performances of the year (in Veronica Guerin and The Missing) failed to get even one nomination. Kurt Russell missed out in the Best Actor category, probably because his incredible work in Dark Blue took place too early in the year for voters to remember. But, for the life of me, I can't explain the lack of support for Robert Rodriguez's spirited and sometimes haunting music in Once Upon a Time in Mexico or for Ian McKellen's superb portrayal of Gandalf in the final movie of The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Nevertheless, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King racked up the most nominations, earning recognition in 11 categories: Best Picture,  Director, Adapted Screenplay, Editing, Art Direction, Musical Score, Original Song, Sound, Visual Effects, Costumes, and Make-Up. Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World ran a close second with nominations in 10 categories. Surprisingly, Russell Crowe, who made the latter movie worth watching, is another actor missing from the nomination list.

Here are the nominations in the major categories:

BEST PICTURE:

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Lost in Translation; Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Mystic River; Seabiscuit. 

BEST DIRECTOR:

Fernando Meirelles, City of God; Peter Jackson, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation; Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Clint Eastwood, Mystic River.

BEST ACTRESS:

Keisha Castle-Hughes, Whale Rider; Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give; Samantha Morton, In America; 
Charlize Theron, Monster; Naomi Watts, 21 Grams.  

BEST ACTOR:

Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl;  Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog;
Jude Law, Cold Mountain; Bill Murray, Lost in Translation; Sean Penn, Mystic River.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:

Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog; Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April; Marcia Gay Harden, Mystic River; Holly Hunter, Thirteen; Renée Zellweger, Cold Mountain.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR:

Alec Baldwin, The Cooler; Benicio Del Toro, 21 Grams;
Djimon Honsou, In America; Tim Robbins, Mystic River;
Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai.  

For a complete list of nominations, go to www.oscar.com.

Winners will be announced on February 29th at the 76th Annual Academy Awards Ceremony to be hosted by Billy Crystal and televised by ABC.