>``The Lord of the Rings'' franchise, whose first installment, ``The Fellowship of the Ring,'' grabbed a leading 13 nominations last year, this time received just six. Other than best picture, the nominations for ``Two Towers'' all were in technical categories such as film editing and visual effects while director Peter Jackson, a nominee last year, was shut out this time.<

Ah, well...(sigh)

And Anthony Serkis's unigue voice-over for Gollum still deserves a special Oscar in my book.