A lovelorn army deserter nosed ahead of large armies of Orcs as “Cold Mountain” notched up a leading 13 nominations Monday for the British Academy Film Awards. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” followed with 12 nominations
Both movies were nominated in the best film, director, adapted screenplay and film music categories, as well as in a host of technical slots. “Mountain” also picked up two acting nominations, Jude Law for lead actor and Renee Zellweger for supporting actress.
Only Sir Ian McKellen from the cast of nominated director Peter Jackson’s third installment of “Rings” secured an acting nomination, for his supporting role as Gandalf.
The BAFA nominations, presented by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), also included 10 nods for Peter Webber’s “Girl With a Pearl Earring.” Sofia Coppola’s “Lost In Translation” and Peter Weir’s “Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World” each picked up eight nominations.
Other nominees
Other contenders for best film were “Big Fish,” “Lost in Translation” and “Master and Commander.” Minghella and Jackson will also compete with Tim Burton (“Big Fish”), Coppola (“Lost in Translation”) and Weir (“Master and Commander”) for the directors prize.
Actor Sean Penn and actress Scarlett Johanssen were each nominated in the same category twice. Penn secured nominations for actor for his roles in “21 Grams” and “Mystic River,” while Johanssen picked up actress nominations for her roles in “Translation” and “Earring.”
Penn will not only have to beat himself and “Mountain” man Law, but also fellow “Grams” star Benicio Del Toro, “Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” chief pirate Johnny Depp and Johanssen’s “Translation” male lead Bill Murray.
Johanssen goes up against Naomi Watts for her role in “21 Grams,” Uma Thurman for “Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” and Anne Reid for her role in “The Mother.”
Where to watchThe awards will be presented Feb. 15 at the Odeon Leicester Square and will be telecast live on BBC1, and will be presented by writer, actor and comedian Stephen Fry. He unveiled the full list of nominations Monday morning at BAFTA’s Piccadilly headquarters.
Eligible films must have been screened for at least seven consecutive days for a public, paying audience by the date of the ceremony itself and/or released during 2003. Previously movies must have been released during Jan. 1-Dec. 31 of the previous year.
The nominations did contain one or two high profile omissions with “Calendar Girls” not receiving any nominations and both Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe missing out for their roles in “Cold Mountain” and “Master And Commander” respectively. “The Last Samurai” was also snubbed.