Jan 30, 2006, 23:00 GMT
Los Angeles - Oscar season officially enters its final stretch Tuesday when the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announces the nominations for the prestigious movie prizes to be presented March 5.
Academy President Sid Ganis and Oscar-winning actress Mira Sorvino will announce the nominations at 5:30 a.m. (1330 GMT) to catch the local morning news shows and evening news programmes in Europe.
The clear favourite is 'Brokeback Mountain', a drama about the illicit love affair between two cowboys. The movie already has a clutch of prizes to its credit this season, including a Golden Globe for best movie and a Directors Guild honour for Ang Lee.
The movie could become the first gay-themed movie to win a best film Oscar, but faces challenges from the drama about race relations 'Crash', George Clooney's Edward R. Murrow profile 'Good Night, and Good Luck', the Truman Capote biopic 'Capote' and the Johnny and June Cash story 'Walk the Line'.
Other movies expected to be in the running are 'Munich', 'King Kong', 'The Constant Gardener' and 'A History of Violence'.
The nominees in each category are chosen by academy members of that category. But the best picture nominations and final winners categories are determined by vote of the entire membership.
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