Nominations announced for 78th Academy Awards

Today, the nominees for the 78th Academy Awards were announced in Los Angeles, California.

Best Picture nominees this year are Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck., and Munich. The director of each of these films received director nominations. Nominees include George Clooney (Good Night, and Good Luck.), Paul Haggis (Crash), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain), Bennett Miller (Capote), and Steven Spielberg (Munich). This is the first time since 1981 that every Best Picture nominee also received a nod for Direction.

Brokeback Mountain leads this year's Oscar pack overall, with eight nominations. Brokeback is followed by Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck., and Memoirs of a Geisha, who each earned six. Capote, Munich, and Walk the Line each received five nominations. King Kong, Pride and Prejudice, and The Constant Gardener picked up four nominations, while Cinderella Man, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and War of the Worlds pick up three. A History of Violence, Hustle & Flow, Mrs. Henderson Presents, North Country, Syriana, and Transamerica each received two nods each.

Best Animated Feature Film nominees are Howl's Moving Castle, Tim Burton's Corpse Bride, and Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. None of these films used primarily CGI-animation, the first year this can be claimed, since the 2001 creation of the award category. Corspe Bride marks both Tim Burton and Mike Johnson's first nominations. Wallace & Gromit'''s Steve Box is celebrating his first nomination, while co-producer Nick Park has three Oscars for Best Animation Short, a fourth nomination, of which he lost to himself in 1990. Hayao Miyazaki won the Best Animated Feature award in 2002, for Spirited Away.

Uniquely neither animation powerhouse, Disney or DreamWorks, is directly nominated in the category. Disney's Buena Vista Entertainment distributes Miyazaki film Howl's Moving Castle, while DreamWorks distributed Wallace and Gromit, animated by Aardman Animations.

Best Foreign Language Film nominees include Italian film Don't Tell, France's Joyeux Noël, Palestine's Paradise Now, Germany's Sophie Scholl - The Final Days, and South Africa's Tsotsi. Italy has been up for an Oscar 27 times, France 34 times, and Germany has had six nominations. This is only South Africa's second nomination, with the first coming last year, and Palestine's first ever Academy Award nomination.

Nominees for Best Documentary Feature are Darwin's Nightmare, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, March of the Penguins, Murderball, and Street Fight. March of the Penguins, produced in France, actually grossed more than any of the Best Picture nominees, the first time in history such an occurrence has happened.

The top 19 films in box office received a total of only 14 nominations, with a majority of these in the categories of Visual Effects, Sound Mixing and Sound Editing.

Perhaps one of the most interesting stories for Hollywood as a whole, is the tremendous success of Participant Productions in its first year of operation. eBay founder Jeff Skoll's movie house produced nominees Good Night and Good Luck. (6), North Country (2), Syriana (2), and Murderball (1). The company aims to fund feature films and documentaries that promote social values while still being commercially viable.

The 78th Academy Awards presentation will be held on Sunday, March 5.

Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role

Philip Seymour Hoffman - Capote

Terrence Howard - Hustle & Flow

Heath Ledger - Brokeback Mountain

Joaquin Phoenix - Walk the Line

David Strathairn - Good Night, and Good Luck

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

George Clooney - Syriana

Matt Dillon - Crash

Paul Giamatti - Cinderella Man

Jake Gyllenhaal - Brokeback Mountain

William Hurt - A History of Violence

Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role

Judi Dench - Mrs. Henderson Presents

Felicity Huffman - Transamerica

Keira Knightley - Pride & Prejudice

Charlize Theron - North Country

Reese Witherspoon - Walk the Line

Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams - Junebug

Catherine Keener - Capote

Frances McDormand - North Country

Rachel Weisz - The Constant Gardener

Michelle Williams - Brokeback Mountain

Adapted Screenplay

Brokeback Mountain

Capote

The Constant Gardener

A History of Violence

Munich

Original Screenplay

Crash

Good Night, and Good Luck

Match Point

The Squid and the Whale

Syriana

Achievement in Art Direction

Good Night, and Good Luck

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

King Kong

Memoirs of a Geisha

Pride & Prejudice

Achievement in Cinematography

Batman Begins

Brokeback Mountain

Good Night, and Good Luck

Memoirs of a Geisha

The New World

Achievement in Costume Design

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Memoirs of a Geisha

Mrs. Henderson Presents

Pride & Prejudice

Walk the Line

Best Documentary Short Subject

The Death of Kevin Carter: Casualty of the Bang Bang Club

God Sleeps in Rwanda

The Mushroom Club

A Note of Triumph: The Golden Age of Norman Corwin

Achievement in Film Editing

Cinderella Man

The Constant Gardener

Crash

Munich

Walk the Line

Achievement in Makeup

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

Cinderella Man

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith

Achievement in Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Score)

Brokeback Mountain

The Constant Gardener

Memoirs of a Geisha

Munich

Pride & Prejudice

Achievement in Music Written For Motion Pictures (Original Song)

In the Deep - Crash

It's Hard Out Here For a Pimp - Hustle & Flow

Travelin' Thru - Transamerica

Best Animated Short Film

Badgered The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello 9 One Man Band''

Best Live Action Short Film

Ausreisser (The Runaway)

Cashback

The Last Farm

Our Time is Up

Six Shooter

Achievement in Sound Editing

King Kong

Memoirs of a Geisha

War of the Worlds

Achievement in Sound Mixing

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

King Kong

Memoirs of a Geisha

Walk the Line

War of the Worlds

Achievement in Visual Effects

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe

King Kong

War of the Worlds