'Brokeback Mountain', 'Crash' lead Critics Choice nominees

Brokeback Mountain director Ang Lee and star Jake Gyllenhaal attend the Los Angeles premiere. Picture / Reuters

LOS ANGELES - A pair of critically praised independent movies, "Brokeback Mountain" and "Crash", lead the list of nominees for the Critics Choice Awards, giving them an early boost in this year's Oscars race.

Gay love story "Brokeback Mountain" earned nominations in eight categories including best film, best director for Ang Lee and best actor for Heath Ledger. "Crash," which deals with race and class issues, landed nominations in six groups, including best film, best director for Paul Haggis and best acting ensemble.

Another independent, "Capote," detailing the early career of author Truman Capote, and two major studio releases, "Walk the Line," a love story about singers Johnny Cash and June Carter, and boxing film "Cinderella Man," had four nominations each, including best film for all three movies.

Winners of Critics Choice Awards are chosen by 200 members of the Broadcast Film Critics Association who work at radio, television and other media outlets across the United States.

This year's nominations come amid a week of critics' awards and other honors, including Tuesday's (Wednesday NZT) nominations for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globe Awards, that annually help narrow the list of Oscar contenders.

The Oscars are the US film industry's top awards and will be given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on March 5. Critics Choice winners are named on January 9.

"Brokeback Mountain," is off to a good start, having nabbed the title of 2005's best film from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association late on Saturday.

The other five movies on the Critics Choice list of 10 best film nominees are thriller "The Constant Gardener," George Clooney-directed "Good Night, and Good Luck," Steven Spielberg's "Munich," period drama "Memoirs of a Geisha" and big-budget thriller "King Kong."

Notably absent were director David Cronenberg's "A History of Violence," which was the Los Angeles film critics' runner-up to "Brokeback Mountain," and oil and politics drama "Syriana."

Other Oscar hopefuls that failed to make the list were "The New World," Woody Allen's "Match Point" and "Mrs. Henderson Presents."

Joining Lee and Haggis among best director nominees were Clooney for "Good Night," Spielberg with "Munich," Peter Jackson for "King Kong" and Ron Howard with "Cinderella Man."

Best actor nominees with Ledger include Philip Seymour Hoffman for "Capote," Joaquin Phoenix in "Walk the Line," David Strathairn in "Good Night," Russell Crowe for "Cinderella Man" and Terrence Howard in "Hustle & Flow."

Finally, best actress nominees were Reese Witherspoon for "Walk the Line," Dame Judi Dench in "Mrs. Henderson Presents," Joan Allen with "The Upside of Anger," Felicity Huffman for "Transamerica," Keira Knightley in "Pride & Prejudice" and Charlize Theron for "North Country."

- REUTERS