The third time proved to be the charm for Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings as The Return of the King, the third film in the J.R.R.R. trilogy which became the third film to win eleven Oscars, tying with Ben-Hur and Titanic as the all-time biggest winner.

Everything comes together in the conclusion of the epic tale which doesn’t quite stand on its own. Without the prior two films as reference, anyone coming to Return of the King, filmed at the same time as the first two, would have a difficult time trying to figure it all out. Nevertheless it is the best of the three and the best film of an otherwise underwhelming year at the movies.

In addition to its Best Picture win, Return of the King took home Oscars for Best Director; Adapted Screenplay; Editing; Art Direction; Costume Design; Visual Effects; Sound Mixing; Makeup; Score and Song (“Into the West”). None of the actors were nominated, although Elijah Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Ian McKellen, Sean Astin and Andy Serkis were all recipients of other awards and nominations. The film’s nineteen principal actors shared the ensemble award of the Screen Actors Guild.

Any film that wins or ties a record for the most nominations or awards in any given year has to be well-liked in its own right, but Return of the King’s victory at various precursors, as well as the Oscars, was made easier by the lack of strong competition.

Peter Weir’s spectacular Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, which takes place during the Napoleonic Wars, drew the second most nominations this year – ten. A throwback to the epics of the late 1950s and early 1960s, the film was marked by strong performances from Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany, neither of whom managed a nomination from the actors’ branch.

In addition to Best Picture, Master and Commander was cited for Best Director; Cinematography; Editing; Art Direction; Costume Design; Makeup; Visual Effects; Sound Effects and Sound Mixing. It won for Cinematography and Sound Effects, two categories Lord of the Rings was not nominated for.

Nominated for seven Oscars, the Depression era racehorse drama, Seabiscuit, directed by Gary Ross, failed to win in any of the categories it was nominated for. In addition to Best Picture, it was cited for Best Adapted Screenplay; Cinematography; Editing; Art Direction; Costume Design and Sound Mixing. It, too, failed to receive any acting nominations, although Chris Cooper was nominated for his supporting performance by the Screen Actors Guild and its cast, which also included Jeff Bridges, William H. Macy and Tobey McGuire, was nominated for SAG’s ensemble award.

Clint Eastwood’s downbeat Boston-set murder mystery, Mystic River garnered a respectable six nominations including Best Director; Actor (Sean Penn); Supporting Actor (Tim Robbins); Supporting Actress (Marcia Gay Harden) and Adapted Screenplay. Penn and Robbins won for their performances. They, along with Laura Linney, Kevin Bacon and Laurence Fishburne were nominated for SAG’s ensemble award.

Sophia Coppola’s exercise in ennui, Lost in Translation, won the former actress a Best Original Screenplay award as well as one of the few Best Director nominations given to a woman. The fifth film nominated for Best Picture this year, it also brought a Best Actor nod to Bill Murray, but failed to win a citation for leading lady Scarlett Johanssen, although both had been cited in various precursors.

Other films Oscar liked this year included In America; Pieces of April; Something’s Gotta Give; Monster; Whale Rider; 21 Grams; Cold Mountain; The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; House of Sand and Fog; Big Fish; American Splendor; Dirty Pretty Things; City of God; The Last Samurai; Finding Nemo and The Triplets of Belleville, but not The Station Agent.

Two films that I personally liked very much, In America and The Station Agent,did well with the precursors, both scoring nods for Best Ensemble from SAG, but both came up short of a Best Picture nod with the Academy. In fact, The Station Agent failed to score any Oscar nominations despite the brilliant writing and directing of Thomas McCarthy and the fine performances of Peter Dinklage (my pick as the year’s best actor as the lonely dwarf), Patricia Clarkson and Bobby Cannavale. Dinklage and Clarkson had received Best Actor and Actress nominations, respectively, from SAG, but Clarkson, who they also nominated in support for Pieces of April, received only recognition for that film from the Academy.

Jim Sheridan’s film of an Irish immigrant family struggling to adjust to life In America did receive three nominations, including one for Sheridan’s screenplay, co-written by his daughters, reflecting their own life experiences. Samantha Morton was nominated for her touching portrayal of the mother and Djimon Hounsou was nominated for his portrayal of an AIDS afflicted neighbor. Paddy Considine as the father and Emma and Sarah Bolger as the girls were not nominated.

Diane Keaton received her fourth career nomination for her very funny performance as an aging woman who wins over inveterate womanizer Jack Nicholson in Something’s Gotta Give. Although she won a Golden Globe for Best Actress-Comedy, she was no match for the Globe’s Best Actress-Drama, Charlize Thereon in grotesque makeup as a serial killer in Monster. Oscar just loves beautiful women who hide or disguise their natural beauty.

History was made by thirteen year-old Keisha Castle-Hughes, who took the world by storm to become the youngest nominee ever to be nominated for Best Actress for her performance in the quickly forgotten Whale Rider.

Naomi Watts received her first and to date, only, Oscar nomination for her portrayal of the grieving mother in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s 21 Grams, which also snagged a supporting actor nod for former winner Benicio Del Toro as a born-again ex-con.

Previously nominated twice for Best Actress, Renee Zellweger took home an Oscar as Best Supporting Actress for her feisty portrayal of a Civil War era farm woman in Anthony Minghella’s Cold Mountain. The film received six other nominations including one for Jude Law for Best Actor as a wounded soldier.

Johnny Depp was the most high profile nominee of the comic adventure The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl which received an additional four nominations.

Former Best Actor winner Ben Kingsley was back in the race for his portrayal of a proud Iranian immigrant in the well-acted, if overwrought, House of Sand and Fog. Shoreh Aghashloo as his tragic wife is even more impressive in the role that won her a Best Supporting Actress nomination. The film was also nominated for Best Score.

Best Score was the only nomination Tim Burton’s Big Fish received despite a lot of pre-nomination buzz, including a highly anticipated nomination for Albert Finney’s amazing supporting turn as a dying storyteller.

Also left out of the acting nominations were Paul Giamatti and Hope Davis for their well-regarded portrayals of comic book writer Harvey Pekar and his wife in American Splendor. The film was, however, nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay.

Stephen Frears’ absorbing study of the London underbelly in Dirty Pretty Things received its only nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Fernando Meirellis’ equally absorbing study of the underbelly of life in Rio de Janeiro fared better, securing nominations for Best Director; Adapted Screenplay; Cinematography and Editing.

Tom Cruise’s latest film, Edward Zwick’s The Last Samurai received four nominations, including one for Best Supporting Actor, Ken Watanabe.

The highly popular Finding Nemo won the Best Animated Feature award despite strong competition from the critically acclaimed French import, The Triplets of Belleville, which was also nominated for Best Song, “Belleville Rendez-Vous”.

All films discussed have been released on DVD in the U.S.

This week’s new DVD releases include the Blu-ray debuts of Pulp Fiction; The Lion King and Cinema Paradiso.