The Oscars -- Academy Loves `Shine' And `Fargo,' Snubs Madonna, Courtney Love -- `Patient' Racks Up A Dozen

Anthony Minghella's "The English Patient," a romantic World War II drama about a dying man, his memories and a devoted nurse, earned 12 Oscar nominations this morning, leading the contest for the 69th annual Academy Awards.

Also competing for best picture of the year are Joel Coen's "Fargo," a twangy, ironic Minnesota crime story; Cameron Crowe's "Jerry Maguire," a romantic comedy about a sports agent who's having an early midlife crisis; Mike Leigh's "Secrets & Lies," a British film about a middle-aged woman who meets her long-lost daughter; and Scott Hicks' "Shine," an Australian biography of the pianist David Helfgott.

The year's top-grossing movies, "Independence Day" and "Twister," were nominated only for visual effects and sound recording.

Trailing "The English Patient" in the nominations were "Shine" and "Fargo," with seven nominations apiece. Hicks, Minghella, Coen and Leigh were nominated for best director, but Crowe was replaced in that category by Milos Forman ("The People vs. Larry Flynt"). All but Forman are first-time nominees; he previously won for "Amadeus" (1984) and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" (1975).

For best actress, the nominees include Brenda Blethyn, the mother in "Secrets & Lies"; Diane Keaton, who played Meryl Streep's estranged sister in "Marvin's Room"; Frances McDormand, the pregnant policewoman in "Fargo"; Kristin Scott Thomas, who plays Ralph Fiennes' married lover in "The English Patient"; and Emily Watson, the devout young wife in "Breaking the Waves." McDormand was previously nominated in the supporting category for "Mississippi Burning" (1988); Keaton won best actress for "Annie Hall" (1977).

In the running for best actor are Tom Cruise, who plays the title role in "Jerry Maguire"; Ralph Fiennes, who played the scarred mystery man in "The English Patient"; Woody Harrelson as Hustler publisher Larry Flynt in "The People vs. Larry Flynt"; Geoffrey Rush as the adult Helfgott in "Shine"; and Billy Bob Thornton for his role as a mildly retarded Southerner in "Sling Blade."

Cruise was previously nominated for "Born on the Fourth of July" (1988), while Fiennes was nominated for best supporting actor for "Schindler's List" (1993). Thornton earned another nomination this morning for writing "Sling Blade."

For best supporting actor, the finalists include Edward Norton, as the altar boy accused of murder in "Primal Fear"; Cuba Gooding Jr. as a football player who wants his agent to "show me the money" in "Jerry Maguire"; William H. Macy as the car dealer who has his wife kidnapped in "Fargo"; Armin Mueller-Stahl as the demanding father in "Shine"; and James Woods as the racist murderer of Medgar Evers in "Ghosts of Mississippi." All are first-time nominees except for Woods, who was nominated for best actor for "Salvador" (1986).

Joan Allen, nominated last year for her portrayal of Pat Nixon in "Nixon," earned her second supporting-actress nomination in a row for her performance as the tested wife in "The Crucible."

Also competing in this category are four first-time nominees: Lauren Bacall, who played Barbra Streisand's mother in "The Mirror Has Two Faces"; Juliette Binoche, the devoted nurse in "The English Patient"; Barbara Hershey as the devious Madame Merle in "The Portrait of a Lady"; and Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Blethyn's long-lost daughter in "Secrets & Lies."

The only major upsets were the omissions of Debbie Reynolds ("Mother") and Eddie Murphy ("The Nutty Professor"), which once more suggests that the Academy underestimates comedy performances. Also missing were rock stars Madonna ("Evita") and Courtney Love ("The People vs. Larry Flynt"), as well as Samuel L. Jackson ("A Time to Kill") and Renee Zellweger ("Jerry Maguire").

Kenneth Branagh's nomination for best adapted screenplay ("Hamlet") was also unexpected, as was the complete shut-out of the independent hit, "Big Night," which has picked up prizes from several critics' groups for its script and performances.

For best foreign-language film, the five finalists are Nana Djordjadze's "A Chef in Love" (Georgia), Jan Sverak's "Kolya" (the Czech Republic), Berit Otto Nesheim's "The Other Side of Sunday" (Norway), Sergei Bodrov's "Prisoner of the Mountains" (Russia) and Patrice Leconte's "Ridicule" (France). No big upsets here, although the omission of the "Rain Man"-like Cannes prize winner, "The Eighth Day" (Belgium), is a minor surprise.

Shut out of the best-director race, Cameron Crowe nevertheless earned his first Oscar nomination for writing "Jerry Maguire." Also in the running for best screenplay written directly for the screen were Ethan and Joel Coen for "Fargo," Mike Leigh for "Secrets & Lies,"Jan Sardi and Scott Hicks for "Shine" and John Sayles for "Lone Star" - the most popular effort to date from an independent writer-director who was expected to receive more recognition this time. He was previously nominated for writing "Passion Fish" (1992).

Arthur Miller's adaptation of his own early-1950s play, "The Crucible," puts him in competition with Branagh and Thornton for best screenplay adaptation (Thornton based his script on a short film that served as the basis for "Sling Blade"). Nominated for their adaptations of difficult-to-translate novels are Minghella for "The English Patient" and John Hodge for "Trainspotting."

For once, the year's most honored nonfiction film, Leon Gast's "When We Were Kings," actually received an academy nomination for best documentary. There will be no "Hoop Dreams" controversy this year, although the year's other most praised documentary, "Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills," was shut out.

In other categories, "The Nutty Professor" looks like a shoo-in for best makeup: one of the few categories in which "English Patient" didn't place (Fiennes' makeup was one of the least convincing aspects of the film). Two IMAX films, "Special Effects" and "Cosmic Voyage," are competing with "The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage," a film about the making of Sam Peckinpah's 1969 Western classic, for best documentary short subject.

"Special Effects," which deals in part with the creation of new visual effects for the "Star Wars" restoration, recently returned to the Pacific Science Center, where it opened last summer. "Wat's Pig," one of the nominees for best animated short subject, will be shown here beginning Friday as part of "Spike & Mike's 96 Festival of Animation."

Two honorary Oscars were announced earlier. Saul Zaentz, who produced "The English Patient" as well as "Amadeus" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," has been voted the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for "creative producers whose bodies of work reflect a consistently high quality of motion picture production."

Tony-winning choreographer Michael Kidd, who created the dances for "Seven Brides For Seven Brothers" and "The Band Wagon," will be given a special Oscar for "his services to the art of the dance in the art of the screen."

The Academy Awards will be presented at 6 p.m. March 24 in Los Angeles. ABC-TV will carry the telecast live.

Yesterday, the nonprofit Seattle International Film Festival announced that it will hold its annual Academy Awards benefit party at 5:30 p.m. March 24 at Planet Hollywood. Prices range from $75 to $125 per person. Information: 324-9996.

------------------------------------------ AND THE ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEES ARE . . . ------------------------------------------

Best picture:

"The English Patient."

"Fargo."

"Jerry Maguire."

"Secrets & Lies."

"Shine."

Best director:

Anthony Minghella, "The English Patient."

Joel Coen, "Fargo."

Milos Forman, "The People vs. Larry Flynt."

Cameron Crowe, "Jerry Maguire."

Mike Leigh, "Secrets & Lies."

Scott Hicks, "Shine."

Best actress:

Brenda Blethyn, "Secrets & Lies."

Diane Keaton, "Marvin's Room."

Frances McDormand, "Fargo."

Kristin Scott Thomas, "The English Patient."

Emily Watson, "Breaking the Waves."

Best actor:

Tom Cruise, "Jerry Maguire."

Ralph Fiennes, "The English Patient."

Woody Harrelson, "The People vs. Larry Flynt."

Geoffrey Rush, "Shine."

Billy Bob Thornton, "Sling Blade."

Best supporting actress:

Joan Allen, "The Crucible."

Lauren Bacall, "The Mirror Has Two Faces."

Juliette Binoche, "The English Patient."

Barbara Hershey, "The Portrait of a Lady."

Marianne Jean-Baptiste, "Secrets & Lies."

Best supporting actor:

Cuba Gooding Jr., "Jerry Maguire."

William H. Macy, "Fargo."

Armin Mueller-Stahl, "Shine."

Edward Norton, "Primal Fear."

James Woods, "Ghosts of Mississippi."

Foreign-language film:

"A Chef in Love," Georgia.

"Kolya," Czech Republic.

"The Other Side of Sunday," Norway.

"Prisoner of the Mountains," Russia.

"Ridicule," France.

Original screenplay:

Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, "Fargo."

Cameron Crowe, "Jerry Maguire."

John Sayles, "Lone Star."

Mike Leigh, "Secrets & Lies."

Jan Sardi and Scott Hicks, "Shine."

Screenplay adaptation:

Arthur Miller, "The Crucible."

Anthony Minghella, "The English Patient."

Kenneth Branagh, "Hamlet."

Billy Bob Thornton, "Sling Blade."

John Hodge, "Trainspotting."

Art direction:

"The Birdcage."

"The English Patient."

"Evita."

"Hamlet."

"William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet."

Cinematography:

"The English Patient."

"Evita."

"Fargo."

"Fly Away Home."

"Michael Collins."

Sound:

"The English Patient."

"Evita."

"Fly Away Home."

"Independence Day."

"The Rock."

"Twister."

Sound-effects editing:

"Daylight."

"Eraser."

"The Ghost and the Darkness."

Original music or comedy score:

"Emma," Rachel Portman.

"The First Wives Club," Marc Shaiman.

"The Hunchback of Notre Dame," Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz.

"James and the Giant Peach," Randy Newman.

"The Preacher's Wife," Hans Zimmer.

Original dramatic score:

"The English Patient," Gabriel Yared.

"Hamlet," Patrick Doyle.

"Michael Collins," Elliot Goldenthal.

"Shine," David Hirschfelder.

"Sleepers," John Williams.

Original song:

"Because You Loved Me" from "Up Close and Personal," Diane Warren.

"For the First Time" from "One Fine Day," James Newton Howard, Jud J. Friedman and Allan Dennis Rich.

"I Finally Found Someone" from "The Mirror Has Two Faces," Barbra Streisand, Marvin Hamlisch, Bryan Adams and Robert "Mutt" Lange.

"That Thing You Do!" from "That Thing You Do!," Adam Schlesinger.

"You Must Love Me" from "Evita," Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

Costume design:

"Angels and Insects."

"Emma."

"The English Patient."

"Hamlet."

"The Portrait of a Lady."

Documentary feature:

"The Line King: The Al Hirschfeld Story."

"Mandela."

"Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse."

"Tell The Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press."

"When We Were Kings."

Documentary short subject:

"Breathing Lessons: The Life and Work of Mark O'Brien."

"Cosmic Voyage."

"An Essay on Matisse."

"Special Effects."

"The Wild Bunch: An Album in Montage."

Film editing:

"The English Patient."

"Evita."

"Fargo."

"Jerry Maguire."

"Shine."

Makeup:

"Ghosts of Mississippi."

"The Nutty Professor."

"Star Trek: First Contact."

Animated short subject:

"Canhead."

"La Salla."

"Quest."

"Wat's Pig."

Live-action short film:

"De Tripas, Corazon."

"Dear Diary."

"Ernst & Lyset."

"Esposados."

"Wordless."

Visual effects:

"Dragonheart."

"Independence Day."

"Twister."