'Moulin Rouge,' 'Lord of the Rings' lead British film award nominations with 13 each

LONDON (AP) _ ``Moulin Rouge'' and ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,'' two of the films expected to score big in next month's Oscar lineup, led the field Monday for

Monday, January 28th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

LONDON (AP) _ ``Moulin Rouge'' and ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring,'' two of the films expected to score big in next month's Oscar lineup, led the field Monday for the 2002 Orange British Academy Film Awards with 13 nominations each.

``Gosford Park'' and the French sleeper hit ``Amelie'' each had nine, and ``Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone,'' known in the United States as ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone,'' had eight.

The winners will be announced Feb. 24 at the Odeon Leicester Square, 12 days after this year's Academy Award nominations are announced.

``A Beautiful Mind,'' which dominated the Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 20 but has yet to open in Britain, is up for five prizes including best film, where it will compete with ``Amelie,'' ``The Lord of the Rings,'' ``Moulin Rouge'' and the animated smash, ``Shrek.''

``A Beautiful Mind'' is one of several Bafta nominees deemed eligible before its local release, having done the Bafta screening circuit.

Ron Howard, director of ``A Beautiful Mind,'' is competing for a Bafta against Jean-Pierre Jeunet (``Amelie''), Peter Jackson (``The Lord of the Rings''), Baz Luhrmann (``Moulin Rouge'') and Robert Altman (``Gosford Park''). Veteran filmmaker Altman took the Golden Globe prize earlier this month.

Last year's Oscar-winning best actor, Russell Crowe, is a Bafta nominee in the same category for ``A Beautiful Mind,'' in which he plays Nobel Prize-winning mathematician John Nash. He's up against Ian McKellen (``The Lord of the Rings''), Kevin Spacey (``The Shipping News''), Tom Wilkinson (``In the Bedroom'') and Golden Globe-winner Jim Broadbent (``Iris'').

Broadbent's ``Iris'' co-star, Judi Dench, is up for best actress alongside Nicole Kidman (``The Others''), Sissy Spacek (``In the Bedroom''), Audrey Tautou (``Amelie'') and Renee Zellweger (``Bridget Jones's Diary'').

Dench, a 67-year-old London stage veteran who has become an Oscar regular of late _ she won for 1999's ``Shakespeare in Love'' and has had two other nominations since 1998 _ also is up for a supporting actress Bafta for her performance as Spacey's aunt in ``The Shipping News.''

Other items of note include a supporting actor nomination for Eddie Murphy in ``Shrek,'' marking a rare instance of an actor receiving awards recognition for voice-over work, and the failure of critics' darlings ``Mulholland Drive'' and ``The Man Who Wasn't There'' to figure in the main categories. (Both got a smattering of technical nominations.)

Nominees for outstanding British film of the year were ``Bridget Jones's Diary,'' ``Iris,'' ``Gosford Park,'' ``Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'' and ``Me Without You.'' What constitutes a British film may be open to debate, since several of those movies are primarily backed and funded by American studios, but are set in Britain or have British casts.

Unlike the Oscars, Bafta also gives out an Orange Film of the Year, which moviegoers choose. The nominees are: ``American Pie 2,'' ``Cats & Dogs,'' ``Hannibal,'' ``Jurassic Park 3,'' ``The Mummy Returns,'' ``The Lord of the Rings,'' ``Moulin Rouge,'' ``Shrek,'' ``Bridget Jones's Diary'' and ``Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.''

Bafta is sponsored by Orange, the mobile phone company.