Almodovar's Competition

January 19, 2007

It's all about "Pan's Labrynth" (a critic's favorite but a terribly dull flick) versus "Volver" from Almodovar in the Best Foreign Language category.

And that's after this release regarding the academy's narrowing it down to 9 finalist. They'll narrow it down to five next week: For the first time, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences unveiled a short list of potential nominees from 61 qualifying films in the category.

The nine movies in the running: ''Days of Glory'' from Algeria, ''Water'' from Canada, ''After the Wedding'' from Denmark, ''Avenue Montaigne'' from France, ''The Lives of Others'' from Germany, ''Pan's Labyrinth'' from Mexico, ''Black Book'' from the Netherlands, ''Volver'' from Spain and ''Vitus'' from Switzerland.

From among the nine, a committee of voters in Los Angeles and New York will select the five Academy Award nominees.

Nominations will be announced Jan. 23. The awards will be presented Feb. 25.