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Celebrity Gossip - Oscar Nominations

© Holly B. Good

Awards season in full force! The 2006 Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning. The only real surprise was the total takeover by the independent film world of the bastion of old line studio dominence, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Unlike the Golden Globes which reflect the views of less than 100 correspondents in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Academy Awards reflect the views of 6,000 full time industry veterans. It's amazing how the industry has embraced the small-scale issue-oriented quirky independent films for this awards season.

Many well known and newcomer celebrities joined the coveted ranks of Academy Award nominees in this year's crop. Best picture nominees include Brokeback Mountain, Capote, Crash, Good Night and Good Luck and Munich. Only Munich is a studio film with a bloated studio sized budget of $70 million or so. Best actor nominees come from these films and include celebrities Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Heath Lefger (Brokeback Mountain), and Dasvid Strathairn (Good Night and Good Luck). In addition celebrity actors from two smaller films, Terrence Howard of Hustle and Flow and Joachim Phoenix of Walk The Line were also nominated.

On the best actress side, similarly, celebrity actresses in smaller films were nominated: Judi Dench of Mrs. Henderson Presents, Felicity Huffman from Transamerica, Keira Knightly from Pride and Prejudice, Charlize Theron of North Country and Reese Witherspoon of Walk The line.

Supporting actor celebrity nominees include George Clooney from Syriana, Matt Dillon from Crash, Paul Giamatti from Cinderella Man, Jake Gyllenhaal from Brokeback Mountain and William Hurt from A History of Violence. Only Cinderella Man was a studio product in this group.

Supporting actress celebrity nominees include Amy Adams for Junebug, Catherine Keener for Capote, Frances McDormand for North Country, Rachel Weisz for The Constant Gardener and Michele Williams for Brokeback Mountain.

Of the sixteen films mentioned, only two are true studio big budget features. All the others would be comfortable at the major film festivals and certainly fall into the smaller budget independent film category.

The Academy Awards will be telecast on March 5th. Tune in!

That's it for celebrity gossip for Wednesday, February 1, 2006! More to come.