Warm reception for 'Cold Mountain'
With eight Golden Globe nominations, the Civil War movie heads the field in the first big indication of Oscar contenders.
By Associated Press
Published December 19, 2003
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The Civil War epic Cold Mountain collected a leading eight Golden Globe nominations Thursday, including best drama, as Hollywood marked the start of its annual trophy-giving season.
Lost in Translation, starring Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, and Mystic River, the story of three adult friends linked by tragic crimes, received five nominations each.
Along with Cold Mountain and Mystic River, best movie drama contenders are the seafaring epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, the true horse-racing story Seabiscuit and the fantasy saga The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.
The Return of the King, the third film in a hugely successful trilogy, has four nominations, including Peter Jackson for best director.
Big Fish, director Tim Burton's offbeat story of a charismatic father and his repressed son, also got four nominations, including best musical or comedy. It is up against the year's highest-grossing movie, the computer-animated Finding Nemo, and three smaller films: Lost in Translation, about two disparate Americans who spend time together in Tokyo; Bend It Like Beckham, a British soccer coming-of-age story; and Love Actually, a British holiday romance anthology.
The Reagans, which CBS dropped after Reagan admirers complained that it dwelled on the negative, got made-for-TV movie acting nominations for James Brolin and Judy Davis, who played former President Reagan and first lady Nancy. The Showtime cable network aired the movie last month. The lead dramatic movie actor category includes Ben Kingsley, who plays a desperate Iranian immigrant in House of Sand and Fog.
"Everything's rushing this morning. It's so exciting for us and for the film," Kingsley told the Associated Press.
Also nominated are Russell Crowe for his hardscrabble sea captain in Master and Commander, Tom Cruise for The Last Samurai, Jude Law for Cold Mountain and Sean Penn for Mystic River.
Nicole Kidman's role as a prim Southerner in Cold Mountain earned her a nomination for lead dramatic actress in a movie. Johansson also was nominated in that category, for Girl With a Pearl Earring, about the relationship between painter Johannes Vermeer and the peasant girl who became the model for one of his most famous works. The other nominees: Uma Thurman for Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Charlize Theron for Monster, Evan Rachel Wood for Thirteen and Cate Blanchett for Veronica Guerin.
Johansson has two lead performance nominations; the other is in the comedy movie class for Lost in Translation.
Also nominated in the lead comedy film actress category are Diane Keaton for Something's Gotta Give and Helen Mirren for Calendar Girls, films about beauty and romance starring older women. Jamie Lee Curtis was recognized for playing a mom who switches bodies with her teenage daughter in the remake Freaky Friday, and Diane Lane received a bid for the romance Under the Tuscan Sun.
Jack Black was a surprise nominee for lead comedy or musical film actor for his role as a phony music teacher in School of Rock, and Johnny Depp was nominated for playing a wobbly buccaneer in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl. Other nominees in the category: Murray for Lost in Translation, Jack Nicholson for Something's Gotta Give and Billy Bob Thornton for Bad Santa.
Renee Zellweger as a tough mountain woman in Cold Mountain and Hope Davis as the wife of a dowdy comic book scribe in American Splendor are among the supporting movie actress nominees. The others are Patricia Clarkson in Pieces of April, Holly Hunter in Thirteen and Maria Bello in The Cooler.
In the supporting movie actor class, Albert Finney was nominated for playing a tall-tale teller in Big Fish, and Alec Baldwin was recognized for playing a casino boss in The Cooler. William H. Macy received a bid for playing a colorful but fictional horse race announcer in Seabiscuit. The other nominees: Ken Watanabe for playing a warrior in The Last Samurai, Tim Robbins an adult abuse victim in Mystic River and Peter Sarsgaard a skeptical editor in Shattered Glass.
Along with Jackson, the best movie director nominees are Sofia Coppola for Lost in Translation, Clint Eastwood for Mystic River, Anthony Minghella for Cold Mountain and Peter Weir for Master and Commander.
In the TV categories, best drama series nominations went to NBC's perennial award-grabber The West Wing, the real-time Fox thriller 24, FX's plastic surgery drama Nip/Tuck, CBS's CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and HBO's Six Feet Under.
A comedy series nomination went to the cult-favorite British sitcom The Office, about a brutally bad middle manager; it airs in the United States on BBC America. Other competitors are the fledgling Fox show Arrested Development and three critical favorites: USA's Monk, HBO's Sex and the City and NBC's Will & Grace.
The Globes, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, have a history of honoring future Oscar winners.
The Globes' live telecast is Jan. 25, two days before Oscar nominations are announced.
The main Oscar ceremony is Feb. 29, about four weeks earlier than usual.
Motion pictures:
Picture, Drama: "Cold Mountain"; "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"; "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"; "Mystic River"; "Seabiscuit."
Actress, Drama: Cate Blanchett, "Veronica Guerin"; Nicole Kidman, "Cold Mountain"; Scarlett Johansson, "Girl With a Pearl Earring"; Charlize Theron, "Monster"; Uma Thurman, "Kill Bill - Vol. 1"; Evan Rachel Wood, "thirteen."
Actor, Drama: Russell Crowe, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"; Tom Cruise, "The Last Samurai"; Ben Kingsley, "House of Sand and Fog"; Jude Law, "Cold Mountain"; Sean Penn, "Mystic River."
Foreign Language: "The Barbarian Invasions," Canada; "Goodbye, Lenin!" Germany; "Monsieur Ibrahim," France; "Osama," Afghanistan; "The Return," Russia.
Supporting Actress: Maria Bello, "The Cooler"; Patricia Clarkson, "Pieces of April"; Hope Davis, "American Splendor"; Holly Hunter, "thirteen"; Renee Zellweger, "Cold Mountain."
Supporting Actor: Alec Baldwin, "The Cooler"; Albert Finney, "Big Fish"; William H. Macy, "Seabiscuit"; Tim Robbins, "Mystic River"; Peter Sarsgaard, "Shattered Glass"; Ken Watanabe, "The Last Samurai."
Director: Sofia Coppola, "Lost in Translation"; Clint Eastwood, "Mystic River"; Peter Jackson, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"; Anthony Minghella, "Cold Mountain"; Peter Weir, "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World."
Television:
Drama Series: "24," Fox; "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," CBS; "Nip/Tuck," FX; "Six Feet Under," HBO; "The West Wing," NBC.
Actress, Drama: Frances Conroy, "Six Feet Under"; Jennifer Garner, "Alias"; Allison Janney, "The West Wing"; Joely Richardson, "Nip/Tuck"; Amber Tamblyn, "Joan of Arcadia."
Actor, Drama: Michael Chiklis, "The Shield"; Anthony LaPaglia, "Without a Trace"; William Petersen, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation"; Martin Sheen, "The West Wing"; Kiefer Sutherland, "24."
Musical or Comedy Series: "Arrested Development," Fox; "Monk," USA; "The Office," BBC America; "Sex and the City," HBO; "Will & Grace," NBC.
Actress, Musical or Comedy Series: Bonnie Hunt, "Life With Bonnie"; Reba McEntire, "Reba"; Debra Messing, "Will & Grace"; Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex and the City"; Bitty Schram, "Monk"; Alicia Silverstone, "Miss Match."
Actor, Musical or Comedy Series: Ricky Gervais, "The Office"; Matt LeBlanc, "Friends"; Bernie Mac, "The Bernie Mac Show"; Eric McCormack, "Will & Grace"; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk."
Entertainment headlines
Warm reception for 'Cold Mountain'
In the newsPalladium Theater director resigns
