‘The Hours,’ ‘Chicago’ Take Top Golden Globes
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – In one of the tightest races in recent years, “The Hours” won the Golden Globe award for best drama while musical “Chicago” swept two top acting categories and took the trophy for best musical or comedy.
Jack Nicholson won his sixth Golden Globe for best dramatic actor as a retired and lonely insurance actuary wondering whether his life was wasted in “About Schmidt,” and Nicole Kidman claimed her third Golden Globe for best actress playing suicidal British writer Virginia Woolfe as she sits down to pen her classic novel, “Mrs. Dalloway.”
To play the part, Kidman wore a prosthetic nose that gave even her most ardent fans a hard time recognizing the Australian-raised beauty.
Accepting his award onstage, a joking Nicholson took note of the difference in Kidman, who had just introduced him:
“Doesn’t Nicole look lovely with her own nose,” he said.
As for his own award, Nicholson said, “I don’t know whether to be happy or ashamed because I thought we made a comedy.”
Richard Gere, who plays a slick lawyer tap dancing around a jury to help Renee Zellweger’s character beat a murder rap, won the trophy for best actor in a musical or comedy and Zellweger took the honor for best actress in a musical or comedy.
“I don’t win anything. I never win,” said an apparently astonished Gere after taking the stage to accept his award. “And I didn’t even want to do this movie. That’s what I know.”
In television awards, cop show “The Shield” won the Golden Globe award for best drama, Beverly Hills satire “Curb Your Enthusiasm” was favorite comedy and “The Gathering Storm,” a drama of Winston Churchill’s wartime leadership, was named best TV movie or mini-series.
OSCAR RACE NARROWS
The movie categories, however, enjoy the spotlight at the Golden Globe Awards because they come at the start of a long awards-show season in Hollywood and are often a strong indicator of who will win Oscars, the film industry’s top honors handed out in March.
Their victories, therefore, catapulted “Hours” and “Chicago” to the top of the Oscar list.
Comedy “Adaptation” took two early Golden Globes for Meryl Streep as best supporting actress and her co-star Chris Cooper as best supporting actor, and legendary director Martin Scorsese was given his due with a best director trophy for his epic “Gangs of New York.”
Streep, who has won three Golden Globes and been nominated many times before, also appeared to be genuinely surprised at winning a best supporting actress Golden Globe.
“Oh my God, I have just been nominated 789 times,” she said on stage. “And I was getting settled over there for a long winter’s nap.”
Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s quirky drama “Talk to Her” was named best foreign language film.
TV’S “SHIELD” HAS BIG NIGHT
In television, cable TV shows nearly knocked the broadcast networks out of the show. “The Shield,” on FX, claimed the award for best drama and HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm” won the Golden Globe for best drama.
The wins immediately put “The Shield” on the list of shows to watch, because as much as the Golden Globes indicate Oscar choices for movies, they also serve as a strong promotional platform for relatively new shows.
The program’s star Michael Chiklis was named best actor in a drama, marking his second major victory after claiming an Emmy last September. Edie Falco, of HBO’s “The Sopranos” took the award for best actress in a TV drama, but whispered her acceptance speech because of a bad case of laryngitis.
“Friends” star Jennifer Aniston was named best actress in a TV comedy, and she took the stage walking with a cane due to a broken toe. Tony Shalhoub was named best actor in a TV comedy for his role as the frantic private detective in “Monk.”
Kim Cattrall was named best supporting actress in a TV series for her role as the sexpot in “Sex and the City.” She said, “You have no idea how many men I’ve had to sleep with to get this award.”
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