And the best goof-up Oscar goes to ...

If the Oscar buzz gets you to see “Gangs of New York” this weekend, pay close attention to Leonardo DiCaprio’s looks. Not just for his granite jawline and penetrating eyes, mind you. More amazing is how his character’s face, disfigured early on by Bill the Butcher’s hot knife, miraculously -- and quite unintentionally -- clears before the final credits.

“Gangs” isn’t the only movie that suffers blunders in continuity.

This year’s best picture nominees have a few gaffes, as reported by moviegoers on the U.K. interactive fan site www.moviemistakes.com.

The site is a magnet for film buffs and perfectionists alike; you can roam through hundreds of descriptions of goofs that made it onto the screen, post your own and argue with other enthusiasts. You can even vote on the “best” mistakes of all time -- so far, “Star Wars” tops the list with this description: “When the storm troopers break into the control room, watch very carefully and you will be able to see a storm trooper nearly render himself unconscious by smacking his head off a door frame.”

The site is run by movie lover Jon Sandys, who states, “Because I can’t check everything [submitted by Web surfers], I’ve got to make it clear that I take no responsibility for anything posted here which is either incorrect, or previously copyrighted material.”

Best picture nominees “The Hours” and “The Pianist” had no mistakes listed on the site, but the rest of this year’s contenders do show up. Here are excerpts of the postings.

“Chicago”: In Billy Flint’s first number, he throws his hat off. Then when all the girls are around him, and he takes off his boxers, his hat is on again.

In the scene after Roxie has been found not guilty, the pressmen run outside to see the woman who shot her lawyer. Roxie looks out the window, where there are drops of rain running down the pane; however, in the shot outside the courthouse, it isn’t raining.

“Gangs of New York”: Near the end of the movie, the [Brooklyn] Bridge is shown. The year is 1863, and the ... bridge wasn’t constructed until 1870.

In the scene of Bill the Butcher lying in bed with the naked women, one woman has a noticeable tan line from a bikini -- a bit early for the bikini.

“The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”: Several of the peasant women in Rohan are wearing lip liner and natural coloured lipstick. The most noticeable is the woman who puts her children on the horse and tells them to ride to Edoras to sound the alarm. Where does a [peasant] woman fleeing her home get the time to do her makeup?

In several close-up shots of Sam, you can see the five o’clock shadow on his cheeks. Since Hobbits don’t grow beards, this makes no sense.

When Gandalf, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli enter the King of Rohan’s chamber, Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli start knocking down soldiers to protect Gandalf. When they have finished, there is a shot taken from behind, and one of the beaten soldiers is lying on the floor playing with his hair, curling it around his finger.

During the Helms Deep battle scene Aragorn is shouting commands to the archers. (Close-up shot of Aragorn while it’s still raining.) If you look to the left of Aragorn, there is an elf who is repeatedly getting hit in the head by the ends of the arrows on the back of the elf next to him/her.

When the men are retreating into the halls of Helms Deep, you can see an archer in the bottom right corner repeatedly shooting his bow without an arrow on the string.