AFTER OSCARS VIDEO STORES WINNERS IN ALL CATEGORIES.

Byline: Greg Hernandez Staff Writer

Academy Award excitement quickly bolstered the video industry after Sunday night's ceremonies in Hollywood. Led by Denzel Washington's ``Training Day'' and the musical ``Moulin Rouge,'' winning and nominated films have experienced a dramatic spike in sales and rentals.

The urban cop drama that won Washington the Oscar as best actor is No. 1 on the DVD sales chart of online retailer Amazon.com. It is also the top-selling and top-rented movie at Blockbuster, the world's largest video chain, and it is selling out at the chain.

```Training Day' has certainly gained steam this week, with Sunday and Monday sales exceedingly strong,'' said John Thrasher, Tower vice president for video purchasing. ``It's our biggest out-of-the-box seller in 2002, behind only 'The Fast and the Furious.' 'Moulin Rouge' has also continued to be a very brisk seller as well.''

Blockbuster and Tower both have major Oscar-related promotions this month. Tower has sale-priced this year's nominated films as well as Academy Award winners from previous years. Blockbuster has a sweepstakes, in-store displays and some special offers.

``Any time a movie receives exposure at the Oscars, it's going to increase the interest among our customers, particularly those who didn't get to see the movie in the theaters,'' said Blockbuster spokesman Blake Lugash.

``Moulin Rouge,'' which lost in the major categories, still received a great deal of attention on the Oscar telecast. It now ranks second in VHS orders on Amazon.com, behind only the massive prepaid orders for the yet-to-be-released ``Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.''

Amazon.com prepaid orders for Oscar winners have been robust since Sunday's ceremony. Best-song winner ``Monsters Inc.'' has jumped to No. 3, even though it will not be released on home video until Sept. 17. ``Monster's Ball,'' in which Halle Berry won her much-publicized Oscar for best actress, is already at No. 7 and will be released in DVD and VHS format June 11.

According to the Encino-based Video Software Dealers Association, best-picture nominee ``Gosford Park'' will hit the stores May 28. Also on tap but without release dates are best-picture winner ``A Beautiful Mind''; the multinominated ``The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings''; ``Iris,'' in which Jim Broadbent won an Oscar as the best supporting actor; and ``Black Hawk Down'' which won in some minor categories.

``In the next several weeks and months to come, Oscar-winning films will remain big rental titles as consumers want to be sure to see all of the award-winning movies from Hollywood this year,'' said Bo Andersen, president of the VSDA, the home video industry's international trade group.

According to the VSDA, rentals and sales of home video titles jumped by an average of 20 percent in the week after the announcement of the Academy Awards nominations in February.

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Photo:

(color) Chris Anaya, manager at the Tower Records and Video store in Woodland Hills, shows some of the ``Moulin Rouge'' DVDs expected to sell briskly.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer