Ang Lee leads the Oscar pack

Ang Lee (李安) seems poised to go where even Japanese film master Akira Kurosawa never went: The winner's circle for best director at the Academy Awards.

A win on Sunday for front-runner Lee, director of the cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain, would make him the first Asian filmmaker to earn the directing prize.

Lee has dominated at earlier awards shows, taking the directing prize at the Golden Globes and the Directors Guild of America, the recipient of the latter almost always going on to win the Oscar.

Though nominated for best director previously with his martial-arts epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Lee arrives at the Oscars as favorite with a distinctly un-Asian film.

Brokeback Mountain is a modern twist on the Western, casting Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal as sheep-herding pals whose summer fling turns into a passionate romance they conceal from their wives.

``I like the unknown place,'' Lee said backstage after his win at the Golden Globes. ``I think the American West, true west, not west in movies, it's very romantic. It's lighthearted. It's a place that I hardly know, and I like to explore that.''

Born in Taiwan, Lee first came to Hollywood's notice with the romantic charmers The Wedding Banquet and Eat Drink Man Woman, which earned back-to-back Oscar nominations for foreign-language film for 1993 and 1994.

Since then, Lee has been a chameleon, directing the Jane Austen costume romance Sense and Sensibility, a best-picture nominee, the stark US drama The Ice Storm, the Western Ride with the Devil and the comic-book adaptation Hulk.

At 51, Lee already has eclipsed the Oscar track record of A look at the other directing nominees: Steven Spielberg, Munich: The film was a daring choice for Spielberg, who incurred the wrath of Jewish groups that felt he humanized Arab terrorists in his dramatization of the Israeli pursuit of Palestinians linked to the massacre of Israelis at the 1972 Olympics.

George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck: Last year, Clooney graduated from superstar hunk who really wants to direct to serious filmmaker and actor.

Along with his directing honor, Clooney was nominated for co-writing the Good Night screenplay, and he earned a supporting-actor nomination for the oil-industry thriller Syriana.

Paul Haggis, Crash: Haggis was the one key member of the Million Dollar Baby quartet who did not win an Oscar last time. Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank and Morgan Freeman all won, but screenwriter Haggis came away empty-handed.

Oscar voters might remedy that this time by giving him the prize for the original screenplay of Crash, which he co-wrote. Haggis himself has said he expects Lee and Brokeback Mountain to triumph, but the seamless stitching he managed with so many characters and story lines in Crash makes him a serious longshot contender.

Bennett Miller, Capote: Miller looks to be along for the ride with his searing portrait of author Capote, which is expected to make its Oscar splash in the best-actor category, where Philip Seymour Hoffman is favored to win for the title role.

The 78th Annual Academy Awards nominees in brief

Leading actor

■ Philip Seymour Hoffman: Capote

■ Terrence Howard: Hustle and Flow

■ Heath Ledger: Brokeback Mountain

■ Joaquin Phoenix: Walk the Line

■ David Strathairn: Good Night, and Good Luck

Supporting actor

■ George Clooney: Syriana