The nominations were announced a few minutes ago for this year's Academy Awards ceremony to be held Sunday February 29th in Hollywood, and here's a complete list of all this year's potential winners.

Amongst the surprises were a few notable differences and a more varied palate from this year's Golden Globes list - films like "21 Grams", "In America", "Seabiscuit", "City of God", "House of Sand & Fog", "Girl with a Pearl Earring" and "The Last Samurai" did better overall. Three unexpected but welcome inclusions have happened such as young NZ actress Keisha Castle-Hughes up for Best Actress in "Whale Rider", one of the songs from Christopher Guest mockumentary "A Mighty Wind" for Best Song, "Finding Nemo" up for Best Original Screenplay,

As expected the 'Rings' ruled them all with 11 nominations but the competition will be tight with Russell Crowe starrer "Master & Commander" just one shy at 10 nods. Other frequent nominees include "Seabiscuit" (7), "Cold Mountain" (7), "Mystic River" (6), "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" (5), "Lost in Translation" (4), "City of God" (4), "Finding Nemo" (4) & "The Last Saumrai" (4). Here's the breakdown:

BEST PICTURE
"Lost in Translation" (Focus)
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" (New Line)
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World" (Fox)
"Mystic River" (WB/Roadshow)
"Seabiscuit" (Universal/DreamWorks)

BEST ACTOR
Ben Kingsley, "House of Sand and Fog"
Bill Murray, "Lost in Translation"
Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
Jude Law, "Cold Mountain"
Sean Penn, "Mystic River"

BEST ACTRESS
Keisha Castle-Hughes, "Whale Rider"
Diane Keaton, "Something's Gotta Give"
Samantha Morton, "In America"
Charlize Theron, "Monster"
Naomi Watts, "21 Grams"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alec Baldwin, "The Cooler"
Benicio Del Toro, "21 Grams "
Djimon Hounsou, "In America"
Tim Robbins, "Mystic River"
Ken Watanabe, "The Last Samurai"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Shohreh Aghdashloo, "House of Sand & Fog"
Patricia Clarkson, "Pieces of April"
Marcia Gay Hayden, "Mystic River"
Holly Hunter, "Thirteen"
Renee Zellweger, "Cold Mountain"

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"The Barbarian Invasions" (Canada)
"Evil" (Sweden)
"The Twilight Samurai" (Japan)
"Twin Sisters" (Netherands)
"Zelary (Czech Republic)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Brother Bear" (Disney)
"Finding Nemo" (Disney)
"The Triplets of Belleville" (Sony Classics)

BEST DIRECTOR
Fernando Meirelles, "City of God"
Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation"
Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
Clint Eastwood, "Mystic River"

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
"American Splendor"
"City of God"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Mystic River"
"Seabiscuit"

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
"The Barbarian Invasions"
"Dirty Pretty Things"
"Finding Nemo"
"In America"
"Lost in Translation"

BEST ART DIRECTION
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
"The Last Samurai"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master & Commander"
"Seabiscuit"

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
"City of God"
"Cold Mountain"
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Seabiscuit"

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
"Girl with a Pearl Earring"
"The Last Samurai"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Seabiscuit"

BEST EDITING
"City of God"
"Cold Mountain"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Seabiscuit"

BEST MAKE-UP
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"

BEST SOUND
"The Last Samurai"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
"Seabiscuit"

BEST SOUND EDITING
"Finding Nemo"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
"Balseros"
"Capturing the Friedmans"
"The Fog of War"
"My Architect"
"The Weather Underground"

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
"Asylum"
"Chernobyl Heart"
"Ferry Tales"

BEST SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
"Boundin'"
"Destino"
"Gone Nutty"
"Harvie Krumpet"
"Nibbles"

BEST SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
"Die Rote Jacke"
"Most"
"Squash"
"(A) Torzija "
"Two Soldiers"

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Danny Elfman, "Big Fish"
Gabriel Yared, "Cold Mountain"
Thomas Newman, "Finding Nemo"
James Horner, "House of Sand & Fog"
Howard Shore, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Into the West", "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" - Music & Lyrics by Howard Shore, Fran Walsh, Annie Lennox

"A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow", "A Mighty Wind" - Music & Lyrics by Michael McKean & Annette O'Toole

"The Triplets of Belleville", "The Triplets of Belleville" - Music by Benoit Charset, Lyrics by Sylvain Chomet

"Scarlet Tide", "Cold Mountain" - Music & Lyrics by Tbone Burnett & Elvis Costello

"You Will Be My One True Love", "Cold Mountain" - Music & Lyrics by Sting