'Gosford Park,' 'A Beautiful Mind' among films nominated for Writers Guild Awards

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ ``Moulin Rouge'' and ``A Beautiful Mind,'' already recognized by the directors' and actors' guilds, were among the movies receiving nominations Thursday for Writers

Thursday, February 7th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LOS ANGELES (AP) _ ``Moulin Rouge'' and ``A Beautiful Mind,'' already recognized by the directors' and actors' guilds, were among the movies receiving nominations Thursday for Writers Guild Awards.

The eclectic musical ``Moulin Rouge,'' written by director Baz Luhrmann and Craig Pearce, is up for best original screenplay.

Also competing in that category are Julian Fellowes' script for the British murder mystery ``Gosford Park''; ``The Man Who Wasn't There,'' Joel and Ethan Coen's black-and-white thriller; ``Monster's Ball,'' by Milo Addica and Will Rokos, about an interracial couple in the South; and ``The Royal Tenenbaums,'' by director Wes Anderson and co-star Owen Wilson, about a family of failed geniuses.

Akiva Goldsman's script for ``A Beautiful Mind'' is among those nominated for best adapted screenplay. It's based on Sylvia Nasar's biography of the same name about John Forbes Nash Jr., the mathematician who battled schizophrenia and won the Nobel Prize in 1996.

``It's a solitary job and there's something extraordinary about being appreciated by the people who do what you do ... sit by yourself, stare at the sky, stare at the keyboard,'' Goldsman said.

Four other films were nominated in that category:

_ ``Black Hawk Down'' by Ken Nolan, based on Mark Bowden's book about the October 1993 mission in Mogadishu, Somalia, in which 18 U.S. soldiers died and 73 others were injured.

_ ``Bridget Jones's Diary'' by Helen Fielding, Andrew Davies and Richard Curtis, based on Fielding's novel about a single woman's dating adventures in London.

_ ``Ghost World,'' written by Daniel Clowes and Terry Zwigoff, based on Clowes' graphic novel, about a teen-ager who befriends a reclusive older man.

_ ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,'' by Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Peter Jackson, based on the first part of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy.

``This is the writer's moment. This is your little moment in the sun,'' Walsh said. Boyens said they would celebrate with champagne, then get back to work helping with post-production of the next ``Rings'' movie, ``The Two Towers.''

Notably absent were ``Memento,'' writer-director Christopher Nolan revenge tale told in reverse, and ``In the Bedroom,'' the family drama that director Todd Field and Rob Festinger wrote based on Andre Dubus' short story.

Both films have won other honors for their scripts, but were ineligible for Writers Guild Awards because they were not produced under a writers' guild contract. Both were low-budget films made outside the Hollywood studio system.

The Writers Guild of America will give out its 54th annual awards on March 2 at simultaneous ceremonies in Beverly Hills and New York City.

The Directors Guild Awards will be given on March 9, with the Screen Actors Guild Awards scheduled for the next day. The Academy Awards are set for March 24.