First ever nominee: Catherine Zeta Jones

Lavish musical Chicago leads the nominations for the 75th Academy Awards with 13 nominations.

Martin Scorsese's epic Gangs of New York has 10 mentions on the shortlist, while Stephen Daldry's The Hours manages nine.

All three films are up for the coveted best film award.

Also up for best film are Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers and Roman Polanski's The Pianist.

OSCAR FAVOURITES Best film: Chicago - 8/13 Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis - 10/11 Best actress: Nicole Kidman - 11/8 Supporting actor: Chris Cooper - 4/9 Supporting actress: Catherine Zeta Jones - 13/8 Source: Coral Click here to have your say

Chicago star Renee Zellweger is up for best actress, leaving Welsh actress Catherine Zeta Jones to compete against her co-star Queen Latifah in the best supporting actress category.

All three were nominated for last month's Golden Globes, although only Zellweger won.

But Richard Gere, who picked up the best musical actor prize at the Globes, failed to secure his first ever Oscar nomination this time.

Fighting Zellweger for best actress are Nicole Kidman for The Hours, Diane Lane for Unfaithful, Salma Hayek for Frida and Julianne Moore for Far From Heaven.

Scorsese favourite

Kidman's nomination marks the second time she has been up for an Academy Award, after losing out to Halle Berry last year.

Record-breaker: Meryl Streep

Meryl Streep failed to win a mention for best actress, but she has a record 13th nomination for best supporting actress for her role in Adaptation.

Jack Nicholson's best actor nomination for About Schmidt is his 12th nomination - a record for any man at the Oscars.

If he wins at next month's ceremony he will have won four Oscars in four decades, having first won in 1976 for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

I get the difficult year, don't I? I don't get an easy year, I get four geniuses Sir Michael Caine Click here for nominees' reactions

Daniel Day-Lewis is current favourite to pick up the award, however, after coming out of a six-year retirement to star in Gangs of New York.

Nicolas Cage is also nominated for best actor, for Adaptation, as is Sir Michael Caine for The Quiet American and Adrien Brody for The Pianist.

Director Martin Scorsese is still looking for his first Academy Award after six nominations.

Many feel the academy's members will back Scorsese this time in recognition of his contribition to cinema.

He faces first-time film-maker Rob Marshall, nominated for Chicago, and The Hours' Stephen Daldry, who was also nominated for his first movie Billy Elliot in 2001.

TOP NOMINEES Chicago - 13 Gangs of New York - 10 The Hours - 9 The Pianist - 7 Frida - 6 Lord of The Rings - 6 Road to Perdition - 6 Click here for the full shortlist

Also nominated are Spanish director Pedro Almodovar for Talk To Her and Roman Polanski for The Pianist.

Polanski's film has seven nominations, and his mention is his first since 1981. He fled the US in 1978 after being convicted of having sex with an underage girl, and has not returned since.

Streep's record

Julianne Moore gets her second nomination this year in the best supporting actress category for The Hours. If she wins in both her categories, it will be the first time any actress has done this at the Academy Awards.

Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt

Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers has six nominations, mainly in technical categories. Last year, its predecessor The Fellowship of The Ring was nominated for best film and best director for Peter Jackson, but this year it is just on the best film list.

Frida is also up for six Oscars, as is Sam Mendes' Road To Perdition, whose nominations include a posthumous mention for late cinematographer Conrad L Hall, who died last month.

It marks the distinguished film-maker's 10th nomination over a 50-year career. He won in 1970 and 2000 for Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid and American Beauty.

Satirist Michael Moore lands his first Oscar nomination with Bowling for Columbine up for best documentary feature, while hip-hop star Eminem's Lose Yourself could win best original song after appearing in 8 Mile.

The awards ceremony itself will take place at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre on Sunday 23 March.