'Mind,' 'Rouge' lead Golden Globe field

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Dec. 20 (UPI) -- "A Beautiful Mind" and "Moulin Rouge" had six nominations each Thursday when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominees for the 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards.

"A Beautiful Mind" -- based on the life of troubled math genius and Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash Jr. -- received nominations for best drama movie, best actor (Russell Crowe), supporting actress (Jennifer Connelly), director (Ron Howard) and screenplay. The other nominees for best drama movie are "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," "In the Bedroom," "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Mulholland Drive."

"The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring" and "Mulholland Drive" had four nominations each.

"Moulin Rouge" received nominations for best musical or comedy movie, best actress (Nicole Kidman), best actor (Ewan McGregor) and best director (Baz Luhrmann). The other nominees for best musical or comedy movie are "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Gosford Park," "Legally Blonde" and "Shrek."

"Gosford Park" -- an observation of class struggle set in an English country estate -- received five nominations including best musical or comedy movie, supporting actress nominations for Helen Mirren and Maggie Smith, and a directing nomination for Robert Altman.

Kidman and Billy Bob Thornton both received two acting nominations.

In addition to a nomination for best actress in a musical or comedy movie, "Moulin Rouge," Kidman was nominated for best actress in a drama movie for the creepy thriller, "The Others." Thornton was nominated for best actor in a drama movie for his role as a blackmailing barber in "The Man Who Wasn't There," and for best actor in a comedy movie for his turn as a bank robber in "Bandits."

In addition to Crowe and Thornton, the nominees for best actor in a drama movie are Will Smith for his performance as the legendary heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali in "Ali"; Kevin Spacey as a man trying to put his life back together after a personal tragedy in "The Shipping News" and Denzel Washington as a rogue cop in "Training Day."

Besides Kidman, the nominees for best actress in a movie are Halle Berry as a black woman who falls in love with the white Southern warden who executed her husband in "Monster's Ball," Judi Dench for her performance as author Iris Murdock in "Iris," Sissy Spacek as a mother coping with the tragic loss of her son in "In the Bedroom" and Tilda Swinton as a mother who goes to extreme lengths to shield her son from a murder charge in "The Deep End."

The other nominees for best actress in a musical or comedy movie are Thora Birch ("Ghost World"), Cate Blanchett ("Bandits"), Reese Witherspoon ("Legally Blonde") and Renée Zellweger ("Bridget Jones's Diary"). The other nominees for best actor in a musical or comedy movie are Hugh Jackman ("Kate & Leopold"), Gene Hackman ("The Royal Tenenbaums") and John Cameron Mitchell ("Hedwig and the Angry Inch").

The Golden Globe awards are often regarded as a harbinger of Oscar nominations, which will be announced in February.

In the TV categories, the nominees for best drama series are "24" (Fox), "Alias" (ABC), "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation" (CBS), "Six Feet Under" (HBO), "The Sopranos" (HBO) and "The West Wing" (NBC). The nominees for best comedy series are "Ally McBeal" (Fox), "Frasier" (NBC), "Friends" (NBC), "Sex and the City" (HBO) and "Will and Grace" (NBC).

The HPFA will present the Golden Globe awards in 13 movie and 11 TV categories on Jan. 20 in Beverly Hills, in ceremonies to be televised by NBC.