It’s time again for the Academy Awards
By Michael Picarella
Acorn Staff Writer

The Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements for 2001 will be presented at 5:30 p.m. on Sun., March 24. The awards show won’t take place at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion this year. The show’s new home is the Kodak Theater at Hollywood and Highland.

And a new category, Best Animated Feature, was added this year.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was organized in May 1927 as a nonprofit corporation chartered under the laws of California.

More than 6,000 motion picture artists and craftsmen and women are members of the organization and help advance the arts and sciences of movies by recognizing outstanding achievements, cooperating on technical research and improvement of methods and equipment, and fostering educational activities between professionals and the public-at-large.

Oscar-winning actress Whoopi Goldberg will host her fourth Academy Awards telecast.

"I am thrilled to have Whoopi Goldberg as the host for this year’s Academy Awards Show," said the 74th awards show producer Laura Ziskin. "Whoopi has great warmth, wit, humor, humanity and a social conscience, all qualities that I feel are essential for this year’s show."

Returning to the Oscar podium to co-conduct the music for the show with Mark Watters is Oscar-winning composer and conductor John Williams, famous for his music in the movies "Jaws," "Superman," "Star Wars," "Shindler’s List," "Jurassic Park," "Home Alone" and many others. The last time Williams conducted at the Academy Awards was in 1975.

Winners will take home the Oscar statuette, designed by MGM’s chief art director Cedric Gibbons. The award depicts a knight holding a crusader’s sword, standing on a reel of film with five spokes, signifying the original branches of the Academy: actors, writers, directors, producers and technicians.

Oscar is 13.5 inches tall and weighs 8.5 pounds. In 1927, 13 statuettes were given out. This year 25 categories are eligible.

The following is a list of the major nominees:

Best Picture of the Year

• "A Beautiful Mind"

• "Gosford Park"

•"In The Bedroom"

• "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"

• "Moulin Rouge"

Best Actor in a Leading Role

• Russell Crowe in "A Beautiful Mind"

• Sean Penn in "I Am Sam"

• Will Smith in "Ali"

• Denzel Washington in "Training Day"

• Tom Wilkinson in "In the Bedroom"

Best Actress in a Leading Role

• Halle Berry in "Monster’s Ball"

• Nicole Kidman in "Moulin Rouge"

• Sissy Spacek in "In the Bedroom"

• Renee Zellweger in "Bridget Jones’s Diary"

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

• Jim Broadbent in "Iris"

• Ethan Hawk in "Training Day"

• Ben Kingsley in "Sexy Beast"

• Ian McKellen in "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring"

• Jon Voight in "Ali"

Best Actress, Supporting Role

• Jennifer Connelly in "A Beautiful Mind"

• Helen Mirren in "Gosford Park"

• Maggie Smith in "Gosford Park"

• Marisa Tomei in "In the Bedroom"

• Kate Winslet in "Iris"

Best Direction

• Ron Howard for "A Beautiful Mind"

• Ridley Scott for "Black Hawk Down"

• Robert Altman for "Gosford Park"

• Peter Jackson for "Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring"

• David Lynch for "Mulholland Drive"

Best Animated Feature Film

•‘‘Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius’’

• ‘‘Monsters Inc.’’

• ‘‘Shrek’’