Hollywood gussies up for Globes

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Jan. 18 (UPI) -- "A Beautiful Mind" and "Moulin Rouge" lead the field with six nominations each as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gets ready to hand out the 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.

Oscars handicappers have grown accustomed to watching the Golden Globe Awards for harbingers of Academy Award nominations -- and Oscar gold -- even though the HFPA voting is conducted by a relatively small number of international journalists and the Academy Awards are voted by a relatively larger number of film professionals.

The Globes' status as an Oscar bellwether is further complicated by the fact the HFPA has two best picture winners -- one for best drama movie and one for best musical or comedy movie.

Going back to 1986, there have only been three years when a Golden Globe best picture winner failed to go on to win the Oscar for best picture.

In 1995, "Braveheart" took the top Oscar even though "Sense and Sensibility" was the Golden Globe for best drama and "Babe" was named best musical or comedy. In 1992, the HFPA named "Scent of a Woman" best drama and "The Player" best musical or comedy, but the Oscar went to "Unforgiven." In 1991, the HFPA voted "Bugsy" best drama and named "Beauty" and the Beast" best musical or comedy -- but the Academy gave its top prize to "The Silence of the Lambs."

The Academy has also displayed a tendency to favor drama winners over musical or comedy winners. Only twice in the past 15 years has a Golden Globe drama winner lost out to a musical or comedy winner.

In 1998, the HFPA gave its top drama prize to "Saving Private Ryan," while the Academy went with the Golden Globe-winning comedy, "Shakespeare in Love." In 1990, the Golden Globe for drama went to "Born on the Fourth of July," but Academy voters preferred "Driving Miss Daisy," that year's Golden Globe winner for best comedy.

No movie has established itself as a standout Oscar favorite this year. The Golden Globe Awards may help provide some clarity on the matter.

"A Beautiful Mind" -- based on the life of troubled math genius and Nobel laureate John Forbes Nash Jr. -- is nominated for best drama movie, best actor (Russell Crowe), supporting actress (Jennifer Connelly), director (Ron Howard) and screenplay. "Moulin Rouge" is nominated for best musical or comedy movie, best actress (Nicole Kidman), best actor (Ewan McGregor) and best director (Baz Luhrmann).

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

The other nominees for best drama movie are "In the Bedroom," "The Man Who Wasn't There" and "Mulholland Drive." The other nominees for best musical or comedy movie are "Bridget Jones's Diary," "Legally Blonde" and "Shrek."

Kidman and Billy Bob Thornton both up for two acting awards.

In addition to a nomination for best actress in a musical or comedy movie, "Moulin Rouge," Kidman is up 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."

Besides 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 drama movie are Halle Berry as a black woman who falls in love with the white Southern corrections officer who executed her husband in "Monster's Ball," Judi Dench for 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").

In the TV categories, the nominees for best drama series are "24" (Fox), "Alias" (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).

Security will be tight for the Golden Globe Awards, part of the post-Sept. 11 reality. To get into the Beverly Hilton Hotel for the event, everyone must pass through a metal detector.

Journalists and publicists -- who make up the bulk of the crowd who attend these things -- are being issued credentials that not only include their photographs, but also their fingerprints. According to some reports, a handful of journalists were denied credentials because they flunked background checks.

Parties following the presentation -- which customarily were exploited as opportunities to hop from one event to another and be seen and photographed -- will also be subjected to tighter security, with several major studio parties requiring special photo ID badges for admittance.

On the other hand, in contrast to last year's Emmy Awards -- which dispensed with glitz and glamour in deference to the tragedy of Sept. 11. -- the Golden Globes will renew their long-running fascination with fashion.

That is probably as it should be, since looking good was the main point of the exercise long before the award itself gained respectability in Hollywood.

The 59th Annual Golden Globe Awards will be presented Sunday in Beverly Hills, Calif., in ceremonies to be televised by NBC at 8:00 p.m. (EST).