The Civil War epic "Cold Mountain" was the hottest movie in Hollywood Thursday, when the nominees for the 61st annual Golden Globe Awards were announced.

The period piece scored a total of eight nominations, including one for best drama and one each for its stars Nicole Kidman (best dramatic actress) and Jude Law (best dramatic actor). Director Anthony Minghella also garnered nods for best director and best screenplay.

In the prestigious best-drama category, "Cold Mountain" faces off against "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," "Mystic River," "Seabiscuit" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," which earned a total of four nominations.

The third and final installment of the film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's novel trilogy, which opened nationwide on Wednesday, also earned nods for best director (Peter Jackson), best original score (Howard Shore), and best original song ("Into the West").

Each of the other "Lord of the Rings" chapters had been nominated for Golden Globes in years past, though Frodo and friends have yet to score a victory. Two years ago, the first installment, "The Fellowship of the Ring," was nominated in all the same categories as "The Return of the King" and failed to win any. Last year, "The Two Towers" nabbed nominations for best film drama and best director and came up empty.

The Sofia Coppola-directed "Lost in Translation," and "Mystic River," starring Sean Penn, Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon, tied for having the second-most nominations with five apiece.

Presented January 25 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globes are seen as an indicator of who'll score big at the Oscars in February.

Unlike the Oscars, the film industry's most prestigious recognition, the Golden Globes have split up motion-picture categories into comedy/musical and drama subsets. The awards also honor achievements in television.

The computer-animated "Finding Nemo" is up for best picture in the comedy/drama category, going up against Tim Burton's latest film, "Big Fish," the foreign soccer flick "Bend It Like Beckham," "Lost in Translation" and "Love Actually."

Jack Black earned a surprise nomination for best actor in a comedy or music for his role in "The School of Rock." One half of the self-proclaimed "greatest band on Earth" (a.k.a. Tenacious D) will go up against Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"), Bill Murray ("Lost in Translation"), Jack Nicholson ("Something's Gotta Give") and Billy Bob Thornton ("Bad Santa").

In the television categories, NBC's political saga "The West Wing" garnered the lion's share in the drama category with three nods, including best television series, best dramatic performance by an actress (Allison Janney) and best dramatic performance by an actor (Martin Sheen).

NBC's "Will & Grace" and HBO's "Sex and the City" are tied with the most nominations in the musical/comedy grouping. Both will be going head to head in the categories of best comedy series, best comedic performance by an actress, and best comedic performance by a supporting actress.

Notable categories and nominations for the 61st annual Golden Globes:

Best Motion Picture

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy

Best Director - Motion Picture

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture

Best Television Series - Drama

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Drama

Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy

For a complete list of nominations visit www.hfpa.org.