Three Ring Circus

Harry Potter took a pummelling yesterday (6 January) as The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring scored a hat-trick at the American Film Institute Awards. Landing gongs for Best Film, Production Designer and Digital Artist, Jackson's Tolkien adaptation left a certain child wizard holding the bag as the Fellowship was heaped with praise. As one of the early indicators as to who can be expecting big smiles on Oscar night, the AFI awards have shown that, while Harry may have cleaned up at the box-office, Frodo and friends may yet have the last laugh. Both films were passed over at the National Society of Film Critics awards, however. Nevertheless, Jackson's opus did receive two nods, as second runner up for both Best Film and Best Director, which were scooped by Mulholland Drive and Robert Altman respectively. Also given recognition at the AFI ceremony was Denzel Washington, who scooped the Actor award for his role as a corrupt cop in Antoine Fuqua's Training Day. Sissy Spacek took the Actress award for her superb performance in Todd Field's in The Bedroom. 'Featured Actor' awards for supporting roles went to Gene Hackman for The Royal Tenenbaums and Jennifer Connelly for A Beautiful Mind. The National Society likewise tipped their collective hats to Hackman's performance while also lauding Naomi Watts for Mulholland Drive, Steve Buscemi for Ghost World Helen Mirren for Gosford Park.