Oscar Nominations Announced

BEVERLY HILLS: Independent films gave the major studios a beating as the Oscar nominees were announced. Four of the five best picture nominees were made by smaller studios. Topping the list was the wartime romance "The English Patient," which reaped 12 Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best actor and best actress. Other best picture nominees include "Fargo," "Shine," "Secrets & Lies," and TriStar's "Jerry Maguire," the only picture from a major studio slated for the award. Despite the heavy PR that heralded the film's release, "Evita," a rework of Lord Andrew Lloyd Weber's stage hit, failed to make the grade for best picture. Madonna, who starred as the flashy Eva Peron, also came up short in her bid for a best actress nomination -- echoing criticism that her performance was nothing more than a feature-length rock video. "Evita," in fact, was nowhere to be found on the list, which featured seven nominations apiece for "Fargo" and "Shine" and five each for "Jerry Maguire" and "Secrets & Lies." Best actor nominees included Ralph Fiennes for "The English Patient," Tom Cruise for "Jerry Maguire," Woody Harrelson for "The People vs. Larry Flynt," Geoffrey Rush for "Shine," and Billy Bob Thornton for "Sling Blade." Best actress nominations ventured into slightly different territory with Kristin Scott Thomas for "The English Patient," Brenda Blethyn for "Secrets & Lies," Diane Keaton for "Marvin's Room," Frances McDormand for "Fargo," and Emily Watson for "Breaking the Waves." Other attention-getting movies were not ignored, however. "The Crucible" and "Portrait of a Lady" earned nominations for supporting actress, while Milos Forman received a nomination for his work as director of the controversial "The People vs. Larry Flynt." Billy Crystal will host the awards ceremony on March 24.