<i>Chicago</i> leads the pack in Golden Globe nominations (7262)

The musical Chicago--featuring the work of an openly gay director and screenwriter and several out executive producers--topped the list of Golden Globe nominees on Thursday with eight nominations overall, including best musical or comedy, as Hollywood took its first major step in the race toward the Oscars. The movie, based on the hit Broadway show of the same name, also scored nominations for its stars Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Richard Gere in the best actress and actor categories, respectively, for a musical or comedy.

Joining Chicago on the list of favorite musicals and comedies was the independent movie hit of the year My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the coming-of-age comedy About A Boy starring Hugh Grant, Nicholas Nickleby, and the critically acclaimed Adaptation, about a writer struggling to adapt a screenplay. Dagmar Dunlevy, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which sponsors the Golden Globes, gave last year's Moulin Rouge partial credit for Chicago's strong showing. "It really brought musicals back into the mainstream," she said.

Adaptation was the third most nominated film with six overall, including Nicolas Cage as best actor in a musical or comedy, Spike Jonze for best director, and Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman for best motion picture screenplay. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by out author Michael Cunningham, The Hours, which chronicles a day in the life of three women, including author Virginia Woolf, led the Golden Globe list of dramatic films with seven nominations, including best film and best actress in a drama for its stars Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep. Also nominated in the best dramatic film category were About Schmidt, which earned star Jack Nicholson a nomination for best dramatic actor, Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York, Holocaust drama The Pianist from director Roman Polanski, and the epic action picture The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. The Golden Globe awards will be given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on January 19 in a televised ceremony from Beverly Hills. Each year the awards give moviegoers an indication of which films will be nominated for Oscars, the U.S. film industry's top honors, named by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in March.

A big surprise was that the critical hit Far From Heaven, from out director Todd Haynes, failed to make it into the dramatic film category, although its star, Julianne Moore, was nominated for best actress in a drama. (Dennis Quaid also received a supporting actor nomination for the film, in which he plays a closeted husband.) Rounding out the nominees for best dramatic actress were Diane Lane in Unfaithful, about a woman's affair outside her marriage, and Salma Hayek in Frida, about the life of bisexual Mexican painter Frida Kahlo. In the category for best dramatic actor, Nicholson will face stiff competition from Daniel Day-Lewis for Gangs of New York, Michael Caine for The Quiet American, Adrien Brody for The Pianist, and Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can. About Schmidt and Gangs had five nominations apiece to cap the five most nominated movies at the awards.

Joining Zellweger and Zeta-Jones in the category for best actress in a musical or comedy were Goldie Hawn in The Banger Sisters, Nia Vardalos in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, and newcomer Maggie Gyllenhaal for Secretary. Among the other surprises was Kieran Culkin's nomination for best actor in a musical or comedy for Igby Goes Down. Joining him, Cage, and Gere in that grouping were Hugh Grant for About a Boy and Adam Sandler for Punch-Drunk Love.

Finally, adding to the list of best director nominees with Adaptation's Jonze were Stephen Daldry for The Hours, Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Rob Marshall for Chicago, Alexander Payne for About Schmidt, and Scorsese for Gangs. Out director Pedro Almodovar's Talk to Her is in the running for the foreign film category, although it will not be eligible to do so at the Academy Awards. However, with a Los Angeles Film Critics award for best director, the film may make a showing in other categories at the Oscars.

On the TV side, gay-inclusive favorites like Six Feet Under, Sex and the City, and Will & Grace all scored major nominations in various categories.

Here is a complete list of Golden Globe nominations:

FILM

Drama: About Schmidt, Gangs of New York, The Hours, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, The Pianist

Actress, Drama: Salma Hayek, Frida; Nicole Kidman, The Hours; Diane Lane, Unfaithful; Julianne Moore, Far From Heaven; Meryl Streep, The Hours

Actor, Drama: Adrien Brody, The Pianist; Michael Caine, The Quiet American; Daniel Day-Lewis, Gangs of New York; Leonardo DiCaprio, Catch Me If You Can; Jack Nicholson, About Schmidt

Musical or Comedy: About a Boy, Adaptation, Chicago, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Nicholas Nickleby

Actress, Musical or Comedy: Maggie Gyllenhaal, Secretary; Goldie Hawn, The Banger Sisters; Nia Vardalos, My Big Fat Greek Wedding; Renee Zellweger, Chicago; Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chicago

Actor, Musical or Comedy: Nicolas Cage, Adaptation; Kieran Culkin, Igby Goes Down; Richard Gere, Chicago; Hugh Grant, About a Boy; Adam Sandler, Punch-Drunk Love

Foreign-Language Film: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress, France; City of God, Brazil; El Crimen del Padre Amaro, Mexico; Hero, China; Nowhere in Africa, Germany; Talk to Her, Spain

Supporting Actress: Kathy Bates, About Schmidt; Cameron Diaz, Gangs of New York; Queen Latifah, Chicago; Susan Sarandon, Igby Goes Down; Meryl Streep, Adaptation

Supporting Actor: Chris Cooper, Adaptation; Ed Harris, The Hours; Paul Newman, Road to Perdition; Dennis Quaid, Far From Heaven; John C. Reilly, Chicago

Director: Stephen Daldry, The Hours; Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers; Spike Jonze, Adaptation; Rob Marshall, Chicago; Alexander Payne, About Schmidt; Martin Scorsese, Gangs of New York

Screenplay: Bill Condon, Chicago; David Hare, The Hours; Todd Haynes, Far From Heaven; Charlie Kaufman and Donald Kaufman, Adaptation; Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, About Schmidt

Original Score: Elmer Bernstein, Far From Heaven; Terence Blanchard, 25th Hour; Peter Gabriel, Rabbit-Proof Fence; Philip Glass, The Hours; Elliot Goldenthal, Frida

Original Song: "Die Another Day" (Die Another Day) by Madonna; "Father and Daughter" (The Wild Thornberrys Movie) by Paul Simon; "The Hands That Built America" (Gangs of New York) by U2; "Here I Am" (Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron) by Hans Zimmer, Bryan Adams, and Gretchen Peters; "Lose Yourself" (8 Mile) by Eminem

TELEVISION

Drama Series: 24, Fox; The Shield, FX; Six Feet Under, HBO; The Sopranos, HBO; The West Wing, NBC

Actress, Drama: Edie Falco, The Sopranos; Jennifer Garner, Alias; Rachel Griffiths, Six Feet Under; Marg Helgenberger, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; Allison Janney, The West Wing

Actor, Drama: Michael Chiklis, The Shield; James Gandolfini, The Sopranos; Peter Krause, Six Feet Under; Martin Sheen, The West Wing; Kiefer Sutherland, 24

Musical or Comedy Series: Curb Your Enthusiasm, HBO; Friends, NBC; Sex and the City, HBO; The Simpsons, Fox; Will & Grace, NBC

Actress, Musical or Comedy Series: Jennifer Aniston, Friends; Bonnie Hunt, Life With Bonnie; Jane Kaczmarek, Malcolm in the Middle; Debra Messing, Will & Grace; Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City

Actor, Musical or Comedy Series: Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm; Matt LeBlanc, Friends; Bernie Mac, The Bernie Mac Show; Eric McCormack, Will & Grace; Tony Shalhoub, Monk

Miniseries or TV Movie: The Gathering Storm, HBO; Live From Baghdad, HBO; Path to War, HBO; Shackleton, A&E Steven Spielberg Presents: Taken, Sci Fi

Actress, Miniseries or TV Movie: Helena Bonham Carter, Live From Baghdad; Shirley MacLaine, Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay; Helen Mirren, Door to Door; Vanessa Redgrave, The Gathering Storm; Uma Thurman, Hysterical Blindness

Actor, Miniseries or TV Movie: Albert Finney, The Gathering Storm; Michael Gambon, Path to War; Michael Keaton, Live From Baghdad; William H. Macy, Door to Door; Linus Roache, RFK

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or TV Movie: Kim Cattrall, Sex and the City; Megan Mullally, Will & Grace; Cynthia Nixon, Sex and the City; Parker Posey, Hell on Heels: The Battle of Mary Kay; Gena Rowlands, Hysterical Blindness

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or TV Movie: Alec Baldwin, Path to War; Jim Broadbent, The Gathering Storm; Bryan Cranston, Malcolm in the Middle; Sean Hayes, Will & Grace; Dennis Haysbert, 24; Michael Imperioli, The Sopranos; John Spencer, The West Wing; Donald Sutherland, Path to War; Bradley Whitford, The West Wing