MAKEUP YEAR ACADEMY TRIES TO SHOW FEMININE SIDE THIS TIME.

Byline: Phil Perrier Local View

JUDGING from this year's Academy Award nominees, you would think that all the male members of the Academy had been knocked unconscious and locked in a basement.

The contenders for Best Picture are ``A Beautiful Mind,'' ``Gosford Park,'' ``In the Bedroom,'' ``The Lord of the Rings'' and ``Moulin Rouge.'' Oprah Winfrey's book club could have made these choices. Not one movie about soldiers, gladiators or cowboys.

Perhaps this is a makeup year after decades of critics' bemoaning the lack of nominations for quality small films.

On with my predictions:

--Best Actor: Russell Crowe, last year's winner for ``Gladiator,'' puts on a stunning performance as a troubled math genius losing his grip on reality in ``A Beautiful Mind.'' Imagine ``Good Will Hunting'' meets ``Shine.'' Crowe will not win for two reasons: 1) He won last year; 2) his name is not Tom Hanks.

Sean Penn is a dark horse for his portrayal of a retarded man in ``I am Sam.'' Working against Penn, almost nobody saw ``Sam,'' and the whole mentally-challenged-hero genre is getting a little threadbare. (See ``Forrest Gump,'' ``Nell,'' ``Slingblade,'' ``The Green Mile.'')

Will Smith gets a look for his turn as ``Ali.'' Aside from the movie's tanking at the box office and earning mediocre reviews, Smith should like his chances. After all, the movie was hugely hyped and cost a lot of money, both things that matter to the Academy.

Whatever the outcome, at $20 million a picture, the Fresh Prince won't have to fight Danny Bonaduce any time soon.

Tom Wilkinson gets his first Oscar nomination - for his role as Sissy Spacek's husband in the family drama ``In the Bedroom.'' Nobody has ever heard of Wilkinson, and the phrase ``family drama'' may as well be ``Oscar death.'' This is one of those noble, no-chance-in-hell picks that the Academy can feel really good about.

Denzel Washington will win the Oscar for ``Training Day.'' Why? Because he's been overlooked a time or two, it's a weak field, and he's black and not named Spike Lee.

--Best Actress: The nominees are Halle Berry for ``Monster's Ball,'' Dame Judi Dench for ``Iris,'' Nicole Kidman for ``Moulin Rouge,'' Sissy Spacek for ``In the Bedroom'' and Renee Zellweger for ``Bridget Jones's Diary.''

Frankly, I haven't seen any of these movies, and with the possible exception of ``Monster's Ball,'' I probably never will.

Apparently, Judi Dench gets nominated every year by law because she's old, classy and English, and she's done Shakespeare - and she's a ``dame'' (whatever the hell that means). Forget seeing it. Has anyone even heard of ``Iris?''

Sissy Spacek and Renee Zellweger are both wonderful actresses, but their nominations have the smell of Oscar filler this year. No, this year is coming down to Halle Berry, who just keeps looking and acting better, or my pick, Nicole Kidman.

Kidman will win more for her 10-year portrayal of Tom Cruise's adoring wife than for anything she did in ``Moulin Rouge,'' but then, the Academy has always enjoyed playing God.

--Best Supporting Actor: Who cares?

--Best Supporting Actress: See Best Supporting Actor.

--Best Picture: ``Gosford Park'' is a murder mystery involving English people, thus qualifying it for Best Nap.

``In the Bedroom,'' chances of winning are ``In the Toilet.''

``Lord of the Rings,'' cute but no cigar. ``Moulin Rouge,'' when monkeys fly. ``A Beautiful Mind,'' winner.

Let's hope next year's nominees are films about issues that matter to us, like sex and violence.