Oscars Nominations Announced

The field, as they say, was wide open for this year's Oscars, meaning more than a few breaths were held as the nominations were announced today (13 February 2001) in Los Angeles by the Academy's President Robert Rehme and Oscar winning actress Kathy Bates. But once the main categories had been read out and the full list of nominations released, it was clear that Ridley Scott's Gladiator was the main film in contention with a total of 12 nominations. Running a close second with 10 nominations is Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Young star Jamie Bell failed to win a nomination, but his fellow Billy Elliot cohorts fared better. Julie Walters scooped a Best Supporting Actress nomination, Stephen Daldry joined the shortlist for Best Director and Lee Hall is in competition for Best Original Screenplay. The UK also scooped another of the major awards with Ridley Scott getting a Best Director nomination for Gladiator. Dame Judi Dench upped the UK score to five with a Best Supporting Actress nomination and was joined by fellow Brit Albert Finney who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Erin Brockovich. Perhaps the biggest surprise was Stephen Soderbergh who was nominated a total of four times, twice for Best Director and twice for Best Picture for both Traffic and Erin Brockovich. The nominations once again prove that there is no shortage of British talent working in the movie industry and amid the high profile Oscar nods for Ridley Scott, Dame Judi Dench, Julie Walters and Albert Finney are a raft of nominations for other UK talent. Many of Gladiator’s 12 nominations can boast British involvement, including those for Best Screenplay, Best Art Direction and Best Visual Effects. British composer, Rachel Portman, receives her third Best Original Score nomination for Chocolat and cinematographer Roger Deacons has been recognised for his work on the Coen Brothers’ O Brother, Where Art Thou? Not to be outdone, Sting follows in the footsteps of his musical peers Elton John and Phil Collins with a nomination for Best Original Song. 'My Funny Friend and Me', for which Sting wrote the lyrics and co-wrote the music with Dave Hartley, is taken from the latest Disney movie, The Emperor’s New Groove. Speaking of his nomination, Sting told Empire Online: “Dave Hartley and I are the first ever Oscar nominees from Cleckheaton and Newcastle respectively (we think). We are obviously very proud (and where the hell’s Cleckheaton?).” For the full list of Oscar nominations click here for Empire Online's Oscar feature.