By Christopher Wallenberg

As the Academy Award nominations attest, 2005 was a breakthrough year for LGBT-themed films.

Before the 2005 Academy Awards nominations were announced on Jan. 31, there was little suspense that it was going to be a breakthrough year for LGBT-themed films. Led by a little gay cowboy romance that you may have heard about, this year's Oscar nominations featured not one, but two LGBT-themed best picture/director nominees (Brokeback Mountain and Capote) as well as four (count 'em, four!) nominations for actors playing LGBT characters -- and that's not counting Capote's Catherine Keener, who earned a supporting actress nomination for portraying sexually-ambiguous author Harper Lee.

Hotties Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal earned best actor and best supporting actor nominations, respectively, for their performances in Brokeback, playing two cowboys who fall in love while herding sheep in 1960s Wyoming and carry on a secret love affair over the ensuing years. Philip Seymour Hoffman garnered a best actor nomination for his eponymous turn in Capote, about the famous gay writer and his relationship with the two murderers he profiled in his non-fiction masterwork, In Cold Blood. Desperate Housewife Felicity Huffman scored a best actress nod for her performance in Transamerica, as a pre-op trans-gendered male-to-female who discovers she has long-lost son. And out director Rob Marshall's sumptuous Memoirs of a Geisha pulled in six nominations in all, although mostly in the technical categories.

In total, these homo-friendly films nabbed a whopping 20 nominations, with Brokeback leading the field with eight. The queer love-fest underlined Academy voters' decision this year to honor a series of small, moving films that explore important social and political themes, reflecting the mood of a nation grappling with war, terrorism, social division and deep doubts about its future direction.

The three other best picture/director nominees also took aim at potent political issues. George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck (six nominations) depicts legendary newsman Edward R. Murrow's fight with Sen. Joseph McCarthy during the 1950s Red Scare, looking at the media's role as a watchdog of government. Set in present-day L.A., Paul Haggis' Crash (six nominations) is a dynamic, high-voltage exploration of racial tension in urban America, while Steven Spielberg's Munich (five nominations) offers an unflinching examination of the retribution taken by Israel against the terrorists who planned the 1972 Olympic massacre and how this tragic cycle of violence affects the human soul.

Several other politically minded films scored secondary nominations, including: The Constant Gardener, a thriller about the dangerous games played by big pharmaceutical companies in the AIDS-ravaged, developing nations of Africa (four nominations, including best supporting actress and best adapted screenplay); and Syriana, another political thriller that exposes the inextricable link between Big Oil and the U.S. government in the Middle East (two nominations: best supporting actor and best original screenplay)

However, most of the nominees denied there were ulterior motives behind the makings of their films. "We didn't make the film for any kind of political movement," said Brokeback's Heath Ledger. "We never expected to change people's minds. But if it does affect people's hearts, if perceptions can get altered, that's a good thing."

This year's breakthrough of LGBT-themed films in the Oscar race is a far cry from even a year ago when the prestige pic Kinsey, which dealt frankly with homosexuality and showcased hot man-on-man action, was dubbed an early Oscar favorite. Written and directed by out filmmaker Bill Condon (Gods and Monsters) and based on the life and work of famed sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, the film possessed all the hallmarks of an awards-season favorite, including sterling performances by Liam Neeson, Laura Linney and Peter Sarsgaard. Yet when it came time to hand out Oscar consideration, Kinsey was snubbed, with Linney earning the film's sole laurel (a nomination for best supporting actress).

Even in the best of years, films featuring LGBT characters or themes have rarely been in contention for the big prize of best picture, instead sufficing with writing or acting awards and nominations. Charlize Theron won a best actress Oscar in 2003 for portraying a lesbian woman in Monster. (She earned another nomination this year for North Country). Of course, her character in Monster was also a serial killer, so maybe Hollywood portrayals of gays and lesbians hadn't come that far since Basic Instinct. Also that same year, Johnny Depp snagged a nomination for ostensibly playing a gay pirate in the surprise blockbuster Pirates of the Caribbean.

The previous year, however, was rife with LGBT-themed films. Gay characters and storylines peppered such films as Far From Heaven, Y Tu Mama Tambien, The Hours, and Talk to Her. But even though these films received a bushel of acting, writing and technical nominations as well as much critical acclaim, a Best Picture nod eluded each.

Of course, the situation was much worse in 2001, when Ron Howard's best picture winner, A Beautiful Mind, was roundly criticized for skirting the bi-sexuality (and other issues) of its main character, real-life mathematician John Nash (played by Russell Crowe).

Despite Oscar's previous reluctance to more enthusiastically embrace LGBT-themed films, this year's homo love-fest by the Academy is nonetheless seen as a welcome development by the gay community, particularly when it comes to the portrayal of gay men.

Part of this year's success can be credited to, or perhaps is the payoff from, the avalanche of high-profile, queer-friendly films that came out of Hollywood last fall, including Neil Jordan's boy-in-drag flick Breakfast on Pluto starring Cillian Murphy (who was shut out for a best actor nomination); the AIDS and homosexuality-soaked screen adaptation of the Broadway musical Rent; the "Keep It Gay" antics of the Mel Brooks' musical comedy The Producers; Craig Lucas' adaptation of his critically hailed play The Dying Gaul, with Peter Sarsgaard and Campbell Scott getting down and dirty; and Val Kilmer's turn as a gay private investigator in the fizzy Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang.

Of course, it remains to be seen how the LGBT nominees will fare on awards night, March 5, in a ceremony hosted by Daily Show host Jon Stewart. But if the year's other awards are any indication, Philip Seymour Hoffman will likely bring home the trophy for best actor (he already won the Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild prizes) and Ang Lee and his gay cowpokes should gallop off into the night with a sack full of gold statuettes.

Yes, Brokeback is the clear frontrunner to take home the big kahuna, best picture, on Oscar night, although the overindulgent Crash could pull off an upset thanks to the powerful actor's wing of the Academy (that film nabbed the big prize at the SAG awards last month). But Brokeback has the momentum and has already snapped up the Golden Globe and numerous critics' association prizes for best picture and director. And contrary to some early skeptical prognostication, the film has done spectacular box office when you look at its per screen average and it's now likely to break the $100 million mark when all is said and done.

" I'm not certain that there's ever been a film that has a gay romance that's been embraced this way," said Brokeback co-screenwriter Diana Ossana. "But on the other hand the film is about a lot more than that. I've said this before, but it's sort of like saying Lonesome Dove is just a story about a cattle drive."

Remember, Academy voters usually like to have a theme to their big night. Four years ago, two African-American actors, Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, took home the top acting prizes on a historic night, with Berry becoming the first African-American to win the best actress trophy. Last year, the blockbuster final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy dominated the ceremony. This year's theme, in the immortal words of Mel Brooks, could very well be "Keep it sassy, keep it classy, keep it gay!"