Critics’ Choice nominees are ...

“About Schmidt” and “Adaptation” led nominations for the Critics’ Choice Awards of the Broadcast Film Critics Assn., announced Tuesday.

Each received four nominations, including best picture. The other nominees in that category were: “Catch Me If You Can,” “Chicago,” “Far From Heaven,” “Gangs of New York,” “The Hours,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” “The Pianist” and “Road to Perdition.”

Among those nominated for best actress was Julianne Moore, who is emerging as a front-runner in that category as the awards season gathers steam.

Moore, who stars in “Far From Heaven” and the yet-to-be released “The Hours,” also has earned best actress nods from the National Board of Review and L.A. Film Critics. Although New York critics favored Diane Lane for her turn in “Unfaithful,” Moore came in second in that group’s tally. Tom O’Neill, an author and veteran Oscar observer, noted that Lane likely benefited from an intense publicity campaign in the days leading up to the vote, including a Lincoln Center Film Society tribute and a party thrown by her friends at the Four Seasons hotel.

Joining Moore and Lane as broadcast critic nominees for best actress were Salma Hayek for “Frida” and Nicole Kidman for “The Hours.”

In the best actor category were Daniel Day-Lewis, who already has been singled out for “Gangs of New York,” which opens Friday; Jack Nicholson for “About Schmidt”; and Robin Williams for “One Hour Photo.”

“About Schmidt,” about a retired insurance actuary on a road trip to self-revelation, also earned broadcast critics nominations Tuesday for supporting actress (Kathy Bates) and writers (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor).

“Adaptation,” starring Nicolas Cage in dual roles as a neurotic screenwriter and his twin brother, earned broadcast organization nominations for supporting actress (Meryl Streep), supporting actor (Chris Cooper) and writer (Charlie Kaufman, whose nomination also recognized his screenplay for “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind.”) Nia Vardalos, star and writer of the year’s runaway indie hit, “My Big Fat Green Wedding,” rounded out the nominations for best writer.

In addition to Cooper, the other nominees for supporting actor were Alfred Molina for “Frida” and Paul Newman for “Road to Perdition.” Catherine Zeta-Jones was the remaining supporting-actress nominee for “Chicago.”

For best director, the nominees were Roman Polanski, “The Pianist”; Martin Scorsese, “Gangs of New York”; and Steven Spielberg for “Catch Me If You Can” and “Minority Report.”

Foreign language film nominees were “Monsoon Wedding,” “Talk to Her” and “Y Tu Mama Tambien.” Best documentary contenders were “Bowling for Columbine,” “The Kid Stays in the Picture” and “Standing in the Shadows of Motown.”

For animated feature, the broadcast group nominated “Ice Age,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” and “Spirited Away.”

In a variation on the animated theme, the group came up with a category for best digital acting performance; the nominees were Dobby in “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” Gollum in “The Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers” and Yoda: “Star Wars: Episode II Attack of the Clones.” (Although they weren’t mentioned in the nominations, the humans behind those characters were, respectively, Toby Jones, Andy Serkis and Frank Oz.)

The Critics Choice Awards will be announced Jan. 17 by the group, made up of television, radio and online reviewers.