Date: 27th January 2004

Hollywood waits for Oscar nominations


The movie world is waiting to discover the Oscar nominations, which will be announced this afternoon.

One of the favourites to pick up awards is Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003) after it scooped best film and best director at the Golden Globes on Sunday.

Other films in contention for best picture include Cold Mountain (2003), Lost in Translation (2003) and Mystic River (2003).

The nominations are due to be announced at 1.30pm UK time, from the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Los Angeles.

Nicole Kidman is expected to pick up her third best actress nomination in a row for her performance in Cold Mountain (2003), reports the BBC. She won the award last year for The Hours.

But following Charlize Theron's surprise Golden Globe win for her portrayal of a serial killer in Monster (2003) she is now tipped as one of the favourites.

Names expected to be included in the best actor category include Jude Law for Cold Mountain (2003), Russell Crowe for Master and Commander (2003) and Sean Penn for Mystic River (2003).

The first two films in the Lord of the Rings trilogy missed out on winning best picture prizes despite both being nominated. This year there seems to be a greater enthusiasm for Lord Of The Rings: Return Of The King (2003) to win and its director Peter Jackson to be honoured.

Source: Press Release