January 18, 2001

Golden Globes: Sleazy and proud of it

By ROGER ANDERSON Scripps Howard News Service

Exactly 20 years ago the Golden Globes - never taken terribly seriously by the Hollywood people upon whom the awards are bestowed - ruined its already tenuous credibility by giving Pia Zadora an award as the best new star of the year.

Giving Zadora the prize would have been unremarkable except that critics and audiences alike were almost unanimous in the belief that she was, if anything, one of the worst new stars of that or, in fact, any other year.

The waters were also muddied by the fact that Zadora's wealthy husband had paid to have members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - the group that gives the awards - flown to Las Vegas on a junket.

As a result, for many years the awards were held in the lowest possible esteem by the industry it sought to honor. Now the event is enjoying renewed luster, in part because of its shady past.

It seems some brilliant member of the foreign press group realized that the best way to go was to extol the awards for being gaudy and unsubstantial.

All you have to do is check out this year's TV promos for the telecast. The spots describe the do as an industry "party" and as Hollywood's "senior prom." Jack Nicholson is shown in a scene from a previous telecast behaving in a very, very silly manner. It's kind of like those faculty skits back in high school where the coach would dress up as a woman.

The subtext is clear: The Oscars take themselves too seriously. The Golden Globes are all about having a good time.

The foreign press group also likes to bandy about the idea that the films and performers that win Golden Globes are most likely to be honored at that stuffed-shirt Oscar ceremony later in the year. In reality there are only a handful of films decent enough to be nominated for awards, so that, on a purely statistical basis, the Globes are almost sure to predict some of the Oscars no matter what.

Below are this year's nominees for Golden Globes. The telecast begins at 8 p.m. EST Sunday on NBC. Al Pacino will be given the Cecil B. DeMille Award by Kevin Spacey; other celebs slated to hand out honors are Denzel Washington, Hilary Swank, James Gandolfini, Tom Cruise and Phil Collins.

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA:
BILLY ELLIOT
ERIN BROCKOVICH
GLADIATOR
SUNSHINE
TRAFFIC
WONDER BOYS

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA:
JOAN ALLEN, The Contender
BJORK, Dancer In The Dark
ELLEN BURSTYN, Requiem For A Dream
LAURA LINNEY, You Can Count On Me
JULIA ROBERTS, Erin Brockovich

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA:
JAVIER BARDEM , Before Night Falls
RUSSELL CROWE, Gladiator
MICHAEL DOUGLAS, Wonder Boys
TOM HANKS, Cast Away
GEOFFREY RUSH, Quills

BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY:
ALMOST FAMOUS
BEST IN SHOW
CHICKEN RUN (CLAYMATION)
CHOCOLAT
O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY:
JULIETTE BINOCHE, Chocolat
BRENDA BLETHYN, Saving Grace
SANDRA BULLOCK, Miss Congeniality
TRACEY ULLMAN, Small Time Crooks
RENEE ZELLWEGER, Nurse Betty

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY:
JIM CARREY, The Grinch
GEORGE CLOONEY, O Brother, Where Art Thou?
JOHN CUSACK, High Fidelity
ROBERT DE NIRO, Meet the Parents
MEL GIBSON, What Women Want

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
AMORES PERROS, Mexico
CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON, Taiwan
THE HUNDRED STEPS, Italy
MALENA, Italy
THE WIDOW OF SAINT PIERRE, France

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
JUDI DENCH, Chocolat
KATE HUDSON, Almost Famous
FRANCES McDORMAND, Almost Famous
JULIE WALTERS, Billy Elliot
CATHERINE ZETA-JONES, Traffic

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE:
JEFF BRIDGES, The Contender
WILLEM DAFOE, Shadow of the Vampire
BENICIO DEL TORO, Traffic
ALBERT FINNEY, Erin Brockovich
JOAQUIN PHOENIX, Gladiator

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE:
ANG LEE, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
RIDLEY SCOTT, Gladiator
STEVEN SODERBERGH, Erin Brockovich
STEVEN SODERBERGH, Traffic
ISTVAN SZABO, Sunshine

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE:
CAMERON CROWE, Almost Famous
STEPHEN GAGHAN, Traffic
STEVE KLOVES, Wonder Boys
KENNETH LONERGAN, You Can Count On Me
DOUG WRIGHT, Quills

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE:
TAN DUN, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
MAURICE JARRE, Sunshine
ENNIO MORRICONE, Malena
RACHEL PORTMAN, Chocolat
MARTY STUART, KRISTIN WILKINSON and LARRY PAXTON, All The Pretty Horses
HANS ZIMMER and LISA GERRARD, Gladiator

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE:
I'VE SEEN IT ALL, Dancer In The Dark
Music: Bjork
Lyrics: Lars Von Trier, Sjon Sigurdsson
MY FUNNY FRIEND AND ME, The Emperor's New Groove
Music: Sting and David Hartley
Lyrics: Sting
ONE IN A MILLION, Miss Congeniality
Music and Lyrics: Bosson
THINGS HAVE CHANGED, Wonder Boys
Music and Lyrics: Bob Dylan
WHEN YOU COME BACK TO ME AGAIN, Frequency
Music and Lyrics: Jenny Yates and Garth Brooks

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA:
CSI, CBS
ER, NBC
THE PRACTICE, ABC
THE SOPRANOS, HBO
THE WEST WING, NBC

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA:
JESSICA ALBA, Dark Angel
LORRAINE BRACCO, The Sopranos
AMY BRENNEMAN, Judging Amy
EDIE FALCO, The Sopranos
SARAH MICHELLE CELLAR, Buffy The Vampire Slayer
SELA WARD, Once and Again

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA:
ANDRE BRAUGHER, Gideon's Crossing
JAMES GANDOLFINI, The Sopranos
ROB LOWE, The West Wing
DYLAN McDERMOTT, The Practice
MARTIN SHEEN, The West Wing

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY:
ALLY McBEAL, Fox
FRASIER, NBC
MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE, Fox
SEX AND THE CITY, HBO
WILL & GRACE, NBC

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
IN A TELEVISION SERIES -MUSICAL OR COMEDY:
CALISTA FLOCKHART, Ally McBeal
JANE KACZMAREK, Malcolm In The Middle
DEBRA MESSING, Will & Grace
BETTE MIDLER, Bette
SARAH JESSICA PARKER, Sex and the City

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
IN A TELEVISION SERIES - MUSICAL OR COMEDY:
TED DANSON, Becker
KELSEY GRAMMER, Frasier
ERIC McCORMACK, Will & Grace
FRANKIE MUNIZ, Malcolm In The Middle
RAY ROMANO, Everybody Loves Raymond

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
DIRTY PICTURES, Showtime
FAIL SAFE, CBS
FOR LOVE OR COUNTRY: THE ARTURO SANDOVAL STORY, HBO
NUREMBERG, TNT
ON THE BEACH, Showtlme

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS
IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
JUDI DENCH, Last Of The Blond Bombshells
HOLLY HUNTER, Harlan County War
CHRISTINE LAHTI, An American Daughter
FRANCES O'CONNOR, Madame Bovary (Exxonmobil Masterpiece Theatre)
RACHEL WARD, On The Beach
ALFRE WOODARD, Holiday Heart

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR
IN A MINI-SERIES OR A MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
ALEC BALDWIN, Nuremberg
BRIAN COX, Nuremberg
BRIAN DENNEHY, Arthur Miller's Death Of A Salesman
ANDY GARCIA, For Love Or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story
JAMES WOODS, Dirty Pictures

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
KIM CATTRALL, Sex and the City
FAYE DUNAWAY, Running Mates
ALLISON JANNEY, The West Wing
MEGAN MULLALLY, Will & Grace
CYNTHIA NIXON, Sex and the City
VANESSA REDGRAVE, If These Walls Could Talk II

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
ROBERT DOWNEY JR., Ally McBeal
SEAN HAYES, Will & Grace
JOHN MAHONEY, Frasier
DAVID HYDE PIERCE, Frasier
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER, American Tragedy
BRADLEY WHITFORD, The West Wing

Roger Anderson is arts and entertainment editor at Scripps Howard News Service.

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