Heath Not Broken
From: AAP
By Peter Mitchell in Los Angeles

February 01, 2006



HEATH Ledger will lead a posse of Australian Oscar nominees along the red carpet at the 78th Annual Academy Awards after he was honoured for his role as a gay cowboy in Brokeback Mountain.

But Russell Crowe was a surprise omission, along with Naomi Watts, Eric Bana and Rhada Mitchell who also missed out when the names of the Oscar nominees were announced at a ceremony in Beverly Hills this morning.

While Ledger's face is widely recognised around the world, the four other Australians who were nominated are highly respected in the film world, but little known to the general public.

Dion Beebe, a 38-year-old Brisbane-born cinematographer, continued Australia's great history in the cinematography category with his nomination for the dazzling imagery in Memoirs of a Geisha.

Beebe was nominated in 2003 for his cinematography on the musical, Chicago.

At least one Australian cinematographer has been nominated by the Academy in four of the last five years.

Dave Elsey and Annette Miles received nominations in the make-up category for creating the creatures in Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith.

Anthony Lucas also continued Australia's strong Oscar tradition in the short animated film category with his 27 minute, cutout animation movie, The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, nominated.

The 40-year-old father of two young children was at home in Melbourne when the news came through he would be going to the March 5 Oscars ceremony at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.

"It's a relief because it's such a long campaign to get there," a jubilant Lucas, who worked on the film for 4-1/2 years, said.

"It's so exciting."

Australia has been nominated the last three years in the short animated film category, with Sejong Park's Birthday Boy nominated last year and Adam Elliot's Harvey Krumpet winning the Oscar in 2004.

The nominations begin a whirlwind of attention for the Australian nominees, who will be courted by fashion designers to wear their gowns and suits to the ceremony.

The nominees will also be invited to the Academy's traditional Nominees Luncheon at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills on February 13, where Lucas, Elsey, Miles and Beebe will sit alongside and eat with this year's other Oscar nominees, such as Ledger, George Clooney, Steven Spielberg, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Reese Witherspoon and Charlize Theron.

"It's a dream come true," Lucas said.


Odds on for Best Actor

Crowe's omission for Cinderella Man from the five best acting nominees was one of the biggest surprises at the nomination ceremony.

The snub raises speculation the 5856 members of the Academy have not forgiven him for his phone throwing incident in New York last year and his confrontation with a TV producer at the British Academy Film Awards in 2002 when Crowe was upset his acceptance speech after winning for A Beautiful Mind was cut short.

Crowe received Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations for Cinderella Man this year, but his run ended with the Academy.

American actor Terrence Howard, for his gritty performance in Hustle and Flow, stole Crowe's slot among Hollywood's top-five leading men.

The Oscars other best actor nominees were Ledger, Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote), Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line) and David Strathairn (Good Night, and Good Luck).

The short-priced favourite for the acting award is Hoffman, who has claimed all the major acting prizes so far this Hollywood awards season for his performance in Capote.

Alice Springs bookmaker Centrebet released its Oscar odds minutes after the announcement and it was not a surprise Hoffman was almost unbackable at odds of just 1-10.

Ledger is Centrebet's second favourite, although a long way back at 8-1.

Next is Phoenix (10-1) then Strathairn (25-1) and Howard is the outsider at 50-1.

"Hoffman has won pretty much every major precursor and he's much admired," Centrebet's Mark Worwood said.

"Ledger is ahead of Phoenix because he is in a drama as opposed to a musical and Phoenix has to contend with the fact that Jamie Foxx won last year (for the musical Ray).

"It looks like its Hoffman's race to lose."

Ledger has a date for the Academy Awards ceremony.

His fiancee, Michelle Williams, was nominated for her equally heartbreaking performance in Brokeback Mountain in the best supporting actress category.

The favourite for Williams' category is The Constant Gardener's Rachel Weisz, who just like Hoffman, won the Globe and SAG awards.



Brokeback leads the charge

Ledger's Brokeback Mountain received eight Oscar nominations – more than any other film.

As well as Ledger and Williams, Brokeback Mountain was nominated for best picture, best supporting actor (Jake Gyllenhaal), director (Ang Lee), cinematography, original score and best adapted screenplay.

The other best picture nominees were Capote, Crash, Good Night, and Good Luck and Munich/.

Munich scored five nominations, although its star, Bana, was not recognised.

Munich's director Steven Spielberg, a favourite of the Academy, will challenge Lee in the directing category.

Other Australians overlooked were Watts for her starring role in King Kong and Rhada Mitchell for Melinda and Melinda.

The best actress nominees are: Judi Dench (Mrs Henderson Presents); Felicity Huffman (Transamerica); Keira Knightley (Pride & Prejudice); Charlize Theron (North Country) ; and Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line).

King Kong was a big disappointment, with New Zealand's Peter Jackson ignored in the directors' race and the film only managing four nominations for minor categories such as art direction and sound mixing.

In other trivia from the Academy nomination ceremony, George Clooney became the first person in Oscar history to be nominated as a director (Good Night, And Good Luck), and also be nominated as an actor (best supporting actor for Syriana).