Surprises spice up Oscar nominations

	[Publicity photo]
	Nicole Kidman and Jude Law star in Cold Mountain. Law picked up a nomination for best actor.
	Want the inside scoop on the favorites? Times film critic Steve Persall is taking questions from readers for a special Oscars online Q&A. Complete List of Oscar Nominations

Voters turned a cold shoulder to Cold Mountain when nominations for the 76th annual Academy Awards were announced this morning. That wasn't the only choice that caused gasps when Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Frank Pierson and actor Sigourney Weaver read the finalists in major categories during a nationwide television broadcast.

The Civil War drama Cold Mountain, which had been considered a frontrunner in several races, was shut out of the best-picture competition. Instead, the best-picture nominees are The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (the overall leader with 11 nominations), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (10 nominations), Lost in Translation, Mystic River and Seabiscuit.

Sofia Coppola (Lost in Translation) became only the third woman ever nominated for best director, and joined a select list of filmmakers - including her father, Francis Ford Coppola - as a double nominee with her screenplay.

Cold Mountain star Nicole Kidman didn't make the list of best actress nominees. The Academy delivered three independent film stunners in the category with the selections of 13-year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes of Whale Rider, a small coming-of-age tale from New Zealand; Naomi Watts (21 Grams), and Samantha Morton (In America). Golden Globe winners Diane Keaton (Something's Gotta Give) and Charlize Theron (Monster) made the list as expected.

Jude Law of Cold Mountain snagged a best-actor nomination. Also on the list are Johnny Depp (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl); Ben Kingsley (House of Sand and Fog), and Golden Globe winners Sean Penn (Mystic River), and Bill Murray (Lost in Translation).

Another Golden Globe winner, Renee Zellweger, earned Cold Mountain's only other major nomination, for best supporting actress. She'll compete against Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April), Oscar winners Holly Hunter (Thirteen) and Marcia Gay Harden (Mystic River), and another surprising choice, Shohreh Aghdashloo of House of Sand and Fog.

Golden Globe winner Tim Robbins (Mystic River) heads the list of best supporting actors, joined by Alec Baldwin (The Cooler), Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai), and a previous winner in this category, Benicio Del Toro (21 Grams). The fifth spot, surprisingly, went to Djimon Hounsou of In America.

The Academy Awards will be presented Feb. 29 at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood. See Wednesday's page 2B for a closer look at today's Oscar nominations announcement.