Golden Globe Nominees Are Out

Shakespeare in Love and The Truman Show got six Golden Globe nominations apiece Thursday while Saving Private Ryan was close behind with five.

Bulworth, Elizabeth, Gods and Monsters and Little Voice got three nominations apiece.

Nominations for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association awards, seen as a bellwether for the Academy Awards, were announced Thursday morning. The awards will be given out Jan. 24 in a prime-time television special.

Shakespeare in Love, the story of the Bard as a struggling young playwright, was nominated for top musical or comedy film, best actress Gwyneth Paltrow, supporting actors Judi Dench and Geoffrey Rush, director John Madden and screenwriters Marc Norman and Tom Stoppard.

The Truman Show, about a man who unwittingly becomes the star of a 24-hour TV show, was nominated for dramatic film, star Jim Carrey for best actor, supporting actor Ed Harris, director Peter Weir, screenwriter Andrew Niccol and for its orginal score.

The gritty World War II film Saving Private Ryan was nominated for dramatic film, star Tom Hanks, director Steven Spielberg, screenwriter Robert Rodat and for the score by John Williams.

A notable snub: the year's other World War II movie, The Thin Red Line.

A critical favorite, the dark comedy Happiness, got just one nomination, a screenplay nod for Todd Solondz, who also directed the movie.

Films receiving two nominations were Central Station, The Horse Whisperer, The Mask of Zorro, The Mighty, Mulan, Patch Adams, Primary Colors, The Prince of Egypt, Still Crazy and There's Something About Mary.

Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes honor films in two categories, drama and musical or comedy.

Top dramatic movie nominees were Elizabeth, Gods and Monsters, The Horse Whisperer, Saving Private Ryan and The Truman Show.

Nominated for musical or comedy were Bulworth, The Mask of Zorro, Patch Adams, Shakespeare in Love, Still Crazy and There's Something About Mary.

In the television categories, drama nominees were ER, Felicity, Law & Order, The Practice and The X-Files. Musical or comedy series nominees: Ally McBeal, Dharma and Greg, Frasier, Just Shoot Me and Spin City.

Miniseries and made-for-TV movie nominations went to The Baby Dance, From the Earth to the Moon, Gia, Merlin and The Temptations.

NBC-TV had the most nominations with 20, followed by ABC with 12, HBO with nine and Fox with seven. CBS had one.

The Golden Globes, which are decided by the 92 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, traditionally serve as predictors for the Oscars and provide a majo promotional push for a movie.

Oscar nominations will be announced in February, and the awards will be presented March 21.

Studios have waged vigorous lobbying campaigns, lavishing Golden Globe voters with videotapes and promotional freebies, from gift baskets to more inventive giveaways. October Films sent voters tapes of Hilary and Jackie in a violin case.

"Actually, Jackie is a cellist, but we didn't think a cello case would fit in the UPS trucks," said Dennis Rice, president of worldwide marketing for October.

Hilary and Jackie got one Golden Globe nomination for actress Emily Watson.

For the fourth straight year, NBC will devote three live hours of prime time to the Golden Globe awards on Jan. 24.

The 1996 show ended a 14-year absence of major network exposure for the Globes ceremony, first triggered by accusations of corrupt voting practices by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The association worked hard to regain respectability and lure network attention once again.

Written By Michael Fleeman