'Brokeback Mountain' leads Oscar field

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The cowboy love story "Brokeback Mountain" led the Academy Awards field Tuesday with eight nominations, among them best picture and honors for actor Heath Ledger and director Ang Lee.

Also nominated for best picture were the Truman Capote story "Capote"; the ensemble drama "Crash"; the Edward R. Murrow chronicle "Good Night, and Good Luck"; and the assassination thriller "Munich."

The Johnny Cash biography "Walk the Line," considered a likely best-picture nominee, was left out of that category, though Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon earned acting nominations.

Along with best-actor contender Ledger, and directing nominee Lee, "Brokeback Mountain" scored nominations for Michelle Williams as supporting actress, Jake Gyllenhaal as supporting actor and Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for their screenplay adaptation of Annie Proulx's short story.

The acting categories were a mix of familiar Oscar faces such as past winners Judi Dench and Charlize Theron, veterans like George Clooney, Witherspoon, Rachel Weisz, David Strathairn and Felicity Huffman gaining their first academy attention, and young performers such as Williams, Keira Knightley and Amy Adams as a big-hearted Southern waif in "Junebug.