“Brokeback” tops indie-dominated Golden Globes

By Bob Tourtellotte

BEVERLY HILLS, California (Reuters) – Gay cowboy romance
“Brokeback Mountain,” topped the Golden Globe nominations on
Tuesday with nominations in seven categories, including best
film drama, in a year dominated by independent and low-budget
movies.

For the first time, members of the Hollywood Foreign Press
Association, which give out the Globes, shunned major Hollywood
studio movies in its most widely watched category, best film
drama, including Steven Spielberg’s “Munich” and Peter
Jackson’s “King Kong.”

Joining “Brokeback” on the list for best film drama were
“Good Night, and Good Luck,” a stylish black-and-white movie
directed by George Clooney, Woody Allen’s story about British
class warfare “Match Point,” and two low-budget thrillers, “A
History of Violence” and “The Constant Gardener.”

“Brokeback” also won nominations for best director, Ang
Lee, best actor in a dramatic movie, Heath Ledger, best
supporting actress, Michelle Williams, best screenplay, score
and original song.

The movie, which has won several critics’ awards and is now
a front-runner for the Academy Awards, was followed by “Good
Night,” “Match Point,” and the film adaptation of the Broadway
musical “The Producers,” all with four nominations each.

“The Producers” made the list of nominees for best film
musical or comedy with Johnny Cash biopic “Walk the Line,”
“Mrs. Henderson Presents,” about a nude revue in a London
theater in World War II, “Pride & Prejudice,” based on the Jane
Austen novel, and independent hit “The Squid and The Whale.”

Of the movies, only “Producers” and “Walk the Line” could
truly be called big-budget, Hollywood films. Spielberg and
Jackson scored nominations for best director with “Munich” and
“King Kong,” respectively, but each film landed in only two
groups. Another major movie notable for its lack of nominations
was “Memoirs of a Geisha,” also in only two categories.

DISCERNING VOTERS

Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Philip Berk
called the absence of major studio films “a testament to the
award process” and said it showed the association’s roughly 90
members could be very discerning in their movie choices.

The Golden Globes, which will be given out on January 16,
are widely watched as a barometer for early Oscar contenders.
Many of the nominees will go on to be nominated for Oscars,
which are the U.S. film industry’s top awards given out by the
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Along with Ledger, best actor for a film drama nominees
included Philip Seymour Hoffman for his role as author Truman
Capote in “Capote,” Russell Crowe playing a boxer in
“Cinderella Man,” David Strathairn as newsman Edward R. Murrow
in “Good Night, and Good Luck” and Terrence Howard as a pimp in
“Hustle & Flow.”

Best actress nominees for a movie drama were Felicity
Huffman portraying a transgendered character in “Transamerica,”
Gwyneth Paltrow for “Proof,” Charlize Theron for “North
Country,” Ziyi Zhang in “Memoirs of a Geisha” and Maria Bello
in “A History of Violence.”

Six actors landed nominations for best actor in a movie
musical or comedy, including Joaquin Phoenix for “Walk the
Line,” Cillian Murphy in “Breakfast on Pluto,” Nathan Lane in
“The Producers,” Johnny Depp for “Charlie and the Chocolate
Factory,” Pierce Brosnan in “The Matador” and Jeff Daniels for
“The Squid and The Whale.”

Musical or comedy actress nominees were Judi Dench for
“Mrs. Henderson Presents,” Reese Witherspoon in “Walk the
Line,” Sarah Jessica Parker in “The Family Stone,” Laura Linney
for “The Squid and The Whale, and Keira Knightley in “Pride &
Prejudice.”

Foreign language film nominees included two Chinese
entries, “Kung Fu Hustle” and “Master of Crimson Armor,”
France’s “Merry Christmas,” South African movie “Tsotsi” and
the Palestinian film “Paradise Now.”

Finally, unlike the Oscars, Golden Globe awards are also
given in television categories. Best TV drama nominees were
“Commander in Chief,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Lost,” “Prison Break”
and “Rome.” Best musical or comedy nominees were “Curb Your
Enthusiasm,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Entourage,” “Everybody
Hates Chris,” “My Name is Earl” and “Weeds.”