CHRIS HEWITT Best flicks get snubbed, and here's why

When Academy Award nominations are announced Tuesday, nothing is for sure. Except this: Many of last year's best movies will be ignored.
There are a variety of reasons great movies get the cold shoulder: The academy's complicated rules disqualify some of them. Many (shockers like "Land of the Dead," for instance) are outside the taste zone of the academy, whose members tend to be older, richer and more liberal than the average American. And some haven't developed the kind of buzz that leads a movie into Oscar's warm embrace.
In the latter category, the surprise is Steven Spielberg's "Munich." Before its release, the drama was considered the favorite. Critics loved it. But by Saturday, when nomination ballots were due, its momentum was gone. Spielberg's the-movie-speaks-for-itself failure to do interviews didn't help "Munich's" cause. And some of the qualities critics have most admired -- its subtlety, its refusal to simplify a complicated political situation in the Middle East -- seem to be working against it with Oscar voters, who like their politics obvious, populist and feel-good (think "Erin Brockovich"). The too-subtle-to-hug problem will also damage chances for "A History of Violence."
'Brokeback' fits
"Brokeback Mountain," on the other hand, fits right in with Oscar sentiments. Sure, it's sad, but the romance between male shepherds also gives Oscar voters like Rita Moreno or Brad Pitt a chance to pat themselves on the back for supporting human rights and for being OK with a theme -- homosexuality -- that is controversial in most places, but not Hollywood. We already know "Brokeback" isn't a finalist in a few categories -- makeup, sound editing -- so it's not going to rack up "Titanic" numbers, but it seems likely to nab around 10 nominations.
Noncontroversial controversy will also work in the favor of a couple of other titles: "Good Night, and Good Luck," which comes out in opposition of someone (Joseph McCarthy) virtually everyone in the world is opposed to, and "Crash," which boldly argues that racism is wrong.
Both will get at least six nominations and perhaps several more, depending on whether Oscar voters -- aided by the year's most relentless Oscar campaign -- can agree on which of the many supporting actors in "Crash" deserve nominations.
"Munich" is not the only movie whose Oscar hopes are fading. When critics went ape for "King Kong," its fortunes rose, but when audiences decided they liked "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" better, "King Kong" disappeared from the best-picture picture (as did best-actress contender Naomi Watts).
Before it hit theaters, it looked like "Memoirs of a Geisha" was the sort of period yawner that wins respectful reviews and Oscar nominations, regardless of quality. But it wasn't a fave of critics or moviegoers, so it'll have to settle for the pretty categories -- costumes, art direction, cinematography.
And what about "The New World," the lush period drama that has divided critics and been mostly ignored by audiences? Its iffy reception would seem to doom it at the Oscars, but director Terrence Malick somehow came up with seven nominations for his last movie, the even less warmly received "The Thin Red Line," so the thinking is that Oscar voters like him. Really, really like him.
Didn't make the cut
At least those movies are all eligible for Oscars. Plenty of good movies aren't. Eight of the 58 submissions for best foreign-language film ended up being disqualified. Reasons ranged from films that were not in the language of the country that submitted them (the entries from Italy and Singapore) to violations of the rule against showing entries on TV (the Netherlands won't have a foreign-film contender this year because of that rule).
The most unfortunate ineligible film is "Cache." Universally hailed as one of the best movies of 2005 in any language, "Cache" was submitted by Austria but disqualified because the dialogue is French (a language that, last time I checked, was still foreign).
Because fondness for "Cache" is so widespread -- and because the twisty drama has been so well publicized in New York and LA, where the vast majority of Oscar voters live and take Pilates -- it will be interesting to see if that support turns into nominations in other categories.
Best director and screenplay, for instance, are categories that often find room for foreign entries, which is what happened two years ago with the Brazilian "City of God."
XChris Hewitt writes for Knight Ridder Newspapers.