Academy Award Nominations

The big Oscar news on the foreign film front was a movie that was ineligible in that category. The French-language "Red," from Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, was disqualified from contention as best foreign film (it was submitted by Switzerland, but directed by a Pole and in French with several French actors), but popped up in three mainstream Oscar categories--best director, best original screenplay and best cinematography.

Robert Altman "Short Cuts" The critics' darling has never won an Academy Award. Previous nominations: 1970's "MASH," 1975's "Nashville" and 1992's "The Player." His is the only Oscar nod for the ambitious adaptation of Raymond Carver's short stories.

Periodically derided for being ossified, provincial and worse, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences did more than hand out a slew of nominations Wednesday, it struck a blow for its own reputation.

Three films nominated by Asian countries dominated the academy's foreign-language category Wednesday, and none of them would have been eligible for consideration had the organization not decided to bend its new guidelines this year. One of the nominees--Taiwan's "The Wedding Banquet"--was shot in New York by a New York director and crew. Vietnam's "The Scent of Green Papaya" was filmed on a French sound stage.

So, what does someone who has made, back to back, the biggest grossing motion picture of all time and the most critically acclaimed movie of the year do for an encore? Answer: He has no idea. Steven Spielberg is poised to win his first best director Oscar this year and his epic Holocaust drama, "Schindler's List," looks like the shoo-in of all shoo-ins to capture the best picture award.

Two years ago, director Barbra Streisand was snubbed in the best director category while her "The Prince of Tides" was nominated for best picture. Penny Marshall found herself in the same boat the year before with "Awakenings." Though Lina Wertmuller's 1976 "Seven Beauties" made her the first woman nominated for best director, her film was not a best picture nominee. The female jinx, however, has been broken.