FILE PHOTO Oscar stands on the lookout for the good films.

Titanic floats at Oscars

The dreaded iceberg never emerged at this years 70th Annual Academy Awards. That meant smooth sailing for "Titanic," the epic romance that can now add the words "Best Picture" to its already golden resume.

In the annual ceremony honoring excellence in motion pictures, director James Cameron's film about the legendary 1912 ocean disaster received a total of 11 awards. It took home statuettes in nearly every technical category, and tied "Ben-Hur"'s 38-year-old record for Oscar wins, a mark that hasn't been neared in decades.

Also tying records was industry favorite Jack Nicholson's Best Actor award for his role as an obsessive-compulsive writer in "As Good as it Gets" - his third Oscar. With the nod, Nicholson joined the company of silver screen legends Ingrid Bergman and Walter Brennan as the most heralded actors in movie history.

Nicholson's co-star Helen Hunt, who also appears on NBC's "Mad About You," was another one of the night's many anticipated winners, snagging a trophy for Best Actress.

Also rising out of television fame was supporting actor winner Robin Williams, who became popular with his free-association comedy riffs and his role as a wacky alien on the early 1980s TV comedy "Mork and Mindy." Williams took home his first-ever Oscar for playing a tough therapist in "Good Will Hunting," a film that was also nominated for Best Picture.

The popular independent movie's only other Oscar went to original screenplay writers and best friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, who crafted "Good Will Hunting" and waited more than five years to see their script become a motion picture.

In another one of the night's most anticipated moments, Curtis Hanson, who wrote and directed the critically acclaimed crime thriller "L.A. Confidential," collected an Oscar for the screenplay he wrote with Brian Helgeland.

09-08-98