The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers has triumphed at the Online Film Critics Society Awards.

The second instalment of Tolkien's fantasy trilogy won best picture and best director for Peter Jackson.

The award winners are chosen by a 132-strong panel of international internet-based film critics.

Other movies nominated in the best film category included Adaptation, Far From Heaven, Bowling for Columbine and Minority Report.

Far From Heaven won seven awards including best actress for Julianne Moore, who plays a 1950s housewife whose world starts to collapse when she discovers her husband is having an affair with another man.

Julianne Moore stars in Far From Heaven

The film also won a best supporting actor award for Dennis Quaid, best original screenplay and best score.

British actor Daniel Day-Lewis was rewarded with a best actor accolade for his portrayal of Bill the Butcher in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York.

Ensemble award

And Samantha Morton added to British success by winning best supporting actress for her role in the sci-fi thriller Minority Report.

The best adapted screenplay was awarded to the Golden Globe nominated Adaptation.

Bowling for Columbine, Michael Moore's satirical take on gun culture in the US, won best documentary.

The cast of The Two Towers, which is currently riding high at the top of the UK and US box offices, won the best ensemble acting award.

It also achieved a number of technical awards including editing, sound and visual effects.

The best foreign film was won by the Mexican movie Y Tu Mama Tambien.

Director Alfonso Cuar�n is next to take on Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban, the third adaptation of the series of books about the young wizard.