'Beauty' leads Oscar nods, but 'Cider House' surprises

By Matthew Barrett

Daily Film Editor

In Hollywood, there's nothing quite as beautiful as Oscar gold.

And in Oscar's eyes, there's nothing quite as beautiful as "American Beauty," the film that led the pack with eight nominations. Yesterday, when the nominations were announced for the 72nd annual Academy Awards, "Beauty" received nods for, among other things, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Kevin Spacey) and Best Actress (Annette Bening) and Best Original Screenplay.

Right behind "American Beauty" was the tobacco drama "The Insider," which among its seven nominations were nods for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor (Russell Crowe), and "The Sixth Sense" which received six nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director.

And while some may look at the many nominations for the sharp and somewhat dark "American Beauty" as a step in the right direction, in general the Academy stuck to its guns and went with traditional movies over edgier ones. Both "The Green Mile" and "The Cider House Rules" - literary adaptations that seemed to have little critical praise or hype going for them - scored Best Picture nominations, with Lasse Hallstrom also picking up a nod for his direction of "Cider House."

Perennial nominee Meryl Streep scored yet another nomination for her role in the dud "Music of Heart." Joining Streep in the Best Actress category are Bening, Janet McTeer, for "Tumbleweeds," Julianne Moore for "The End of the Affair," and odds-on-favorite Hilary Swank from "Boys Don't Cry."

Swank's costar Chloe Sevigny picked up a nomination for her supporting role in "Boys," and will be up against Toni Collette of "The Sixth Sense," Angelina Jolie from "Girl, Interrupted," Catherine Keener of "Being John Malkovich" and Samantha Morton from "Sweet and Lowdown."

On the male supporting side, Tom Cruise leads the pack with a nod for his daring turn as a motivational speaker in "Magnolia." Cruise's competition includes Michael Caine of "Cider House," Michael Clark Duncan of "The Green Mile," Jude Law from "The Talented Mr. Ripley" and Haley Joel Osment, the little fella from "Sixth Sense."

The male nominees for Best Actor are all worthy choices and include Crowe, Richard Farnsworth from "The Straight Story," Sean Penn for "Sweet and Lowdown," Spacey and Denzel Washington for the title role in "The Hurricane."

Noticeably absent from the category was Jim Carrey, who despite playing it at least somewhat straight in "Man on the Moon," was once again left without a nomination. Others who were passed over include Matt Damon for "Ripley," Reese Witherspoon for "Election," John Malkovich (for playing himself) and both "Three Kings" and "Magnolia" for Best Picture. The fact that "Three Kings" was not nominated for editing or cinematography is a further smack in the face to the filmmakers and a sign that those voting for the nominations have no concept of either category. Clueless or not, the Academy will hand out its awards on March 26.

Notable Nominations:

Best Picture: "American Beauty," "The Insider," "The Cider House Rules," "The Sixth Sense" and "The Green Mile"

Best Actor: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Richard Farnsworth, Sean Penn and Denzel Washington

Best Actress: Annette Bening, Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, Janet McTeer and Hillary Swank

Best Director: Spike Jonze ("Being John Malkovich"), Sam Mendes ("American Beauty"), Michael Mann ("The Insider"), Lasse Hallstrom ("The Cider House Rules") and M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense")

AP PHOTO

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Robert Rehme and Dustin Hoffman announce the Oscar nominations.