Brokeback Mountain, a film by Ang Lee about the forbidden love between two cowboys in 1960s Wyoming, emerged yesterday as the front-runner in the Golden Globe competition with seven nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, including nods for best dramatic movie, best director and best screenplay.
Heath Ledger's performance as the taciturn Ennis Del Mar earned him a nomination for best actor in a dramatic movie and Michelle Williams - who plays his wife - was nominated for best supporting actress. (Visit baltimoresun.com/goldenglobes to view photo galleries of the major nominees or to vote for your favorite movies and TV shows.)
Lee said he welcomed the recognition for the film, calling the praise "a wonderful turnaround" from early responses to Brokeback Mountain, which was dubbed in some parts "the gay cowboy movie."
"If we knew about what love is, we would have stopped telling love stories 2,000 years ago," the director said in explaining the movie's appeal. "We are still searching."
With two films in contention, actor-director George Clooney picked up a raft of nominations as well. Good Night, and Good Luck, a black-and-white movie that tells the story of CBS newsman Edward R. Murrow's battle with Sen. Joseph McCarthy, got four nominations, including best dramatic motion picture, best director for Clooney and best actor for David Strathairn, who played Murrow.
Syriana, a political thriller about the oil industry, earned two nominations - one for best score and one for Clooney for best supporting actor.
Clooney said he takes the honors as they come and does not look ahead to the Oscars. "I don't really know anything about that game. I'm new to it," said Clooney, who shared the Venice Film Festival's screenplay prize for Good Night, and Good Luck. "What I really do is look at each one of these awards as icing on the cake."
Meanwhile, ABC's Desperate Housewives continued to dominate the television comedy category, with stars Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria - who was shut out last year - garnering nominations for best actress in a musical or comedy series. The show also was nominated for best television comedy series.
"Everybody keeps saying finally, but it's only my second year," an elated Eva Longoria said of her first nomination. "It's not like I've been waiting 20 years. ... To be in the company of all of my cast-mates is such an honor and makes it a more joyous occasion."
