Brokeback leads Oscars with 8 nominations

Controversial gay cowboy movie "Brokeback Mountain" reined in a leading eight nominations at the 2006 Oscar nominations on Tuesday.

"Brokeback Mountain", about a pair of cowboys who fall in love, earned a leading eight Oscar nominations on Tuesday, including best picture, best director and best actor for star Heath Ledger.

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Race relations drama "Crash," and "Good Night, and Good Luck," actor/director George Clooney's look at newsman Edward R. Murrow's attack on McCarthyism in the 1950s, each had six nominations and landed in the category for best film.

"Memoirs of a Geisha," also had six Academy Award nominations, but failed to be ninated for best movie.

Other best film nominees included "Capote," about author Truman Capote reporting for his novel "In Cold Blood," with five nominations overall, and director Steven Spielberg's "Munich," about the aftermath of the killings of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics, which also had five nominations.

In the category for best actor, Ledger, who portrays a lovelorn cowboy in "Brokeback," was joined by Philip Seymour Hoffman as the lead character in "Capote," Terrence Howard as a pimp in "Hustle & Flow," Joaquin Phoenix for his role as singer Johnny Cash in romance "Walk the Line" and David Strathairn as Murrow in "Good Night."

Supporting actor nominations went to Clooney in "Syriana," Matt Dillon in "Crash," Paul Giamatti in "Cinderella Man," Jake Gyllenhaal in "Brokeback Mountain" and William Hurt for "A History of Violence."

Supporting actress nominees were Amy Adams in "Junebug," Catherine Keener in "Capote," Frances McDormand in "North Country," Rachel Weisz in "The Constant Gardener" and Michelle Williams for "Brokeback Mountain."

The Oscars, which are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, are world cinema's top prize. They will be handed out on March 5 in Los Angeles.