Brokeback Mountain towers over Golden Globe
nominations

The acclaimed tragic gay romance Brokeback Mountain scaled to a higher peak than the competition at the Golden Globes, leading this year's pack with seven nominations, including Best Picture, Drama, and Best Director. Heath Ledger is up for Best Actor, Drama, while Michelle Williams is in the running for Best Supporting Actress. Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana's screenplay, adapted from the novella by Annie Proulx, and Gustavo Santaolalla's original score and original song "A Love That Will Never Grow Old" (with lyrics by Elton John's longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin) also received nominations.

Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose starring role as the legendary gay author in Capote has already been honored by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the National Board of Review, will compete with Ledger in the Best Actor, Drama, category. Felicity Huffman, also honored by the Board of Review , is up for Best Actress, Drama, for her role as a pre-op MTF in Transamerica ; Dolly Parton's original song "Travelin' Thru" from that film is also a contender. Out actor Nathan Lane is up for Best Actor, Musical or Comedy, for his role as a greedy Broadway impresario in The Producers , which is up for Best Picture, Musical or Comedy. Lane will compete against Cillian Murphy, nominated for his role as a drag queen in war-torn Ireland in Neil Jordan's Breakfast on Pluto . Gay playwright Tony Kushner is also a nominee this year, as the cowriter of Steven Spielberg's Munich .

On the TV side, out actress Cynthia Nixon was nominated for her performance as Eleanor Roosevelt in the HBO movie Warm Springs , and such gay-inclusive series and films as Weeds, Rome, Viva Blackpool , and Lackawanna Blues are in contention as well.

In a departure from past years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association eschewed major studio fare like Munich and Memoirs of a Geisha in the Best Picture, Drama, category, focusing instead on indies like Brokeback Mountain, A History of Violence , and Good Night, and Good Luck . The 2006 Golden Globes will be presented on January 16 in an event that will be telecast on NBC.

Here is a complete list of nominees for the 2006 Golden Globes:

Best Motion Picture, Drama: Brokeback Mountain; The Constant Gardener; Good Night, and Good Luck; A History of Violence; Match Point

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama: Maria Bello, A History of Violence ; Felicity Huffman, Transamerica ; Gwyneth Paltrow, Proof ; Charlize Theron, North Country ; Ziyi Zhang, Memoirs of a Geisha

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama: Russell Crowe, Cinderella Man ; Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote ; Terrence Howard, Hustle & Flow ; Heath Ledger, Brokeback Mountain ; David Strathairn, Good Night, and Good Luck

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Mrs. Henderson Presents, Pride & Prejudice, The Producers, The Squid and the Whale, Walk the Line

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Judi Dench, Mrs. Henderson Presents ; Keira Knightley, Pride & Prejudice ; Laura Linney, The Squid and the Whale ; Sarah Jessica Parker, The Family Stone ; Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy: Pierce Brosnan, The Matador ; Jeff Daniels, The Squid and the Whale ; Johnny Depp, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ; Nathan Lane, The Producers ; Cillian Murphy, Breakfast on Pluto ; Joaquin Phoenix, Walk the Line

Best Foreign Language Film: Kung Fu Hustle (China); Master of the Crimson Armor , a.k.a. The Promise (China); Joyeux Noel (France); Paradise Now (Palestine); Tsotsi (South Africa)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Scarlett Johansson, Match Point ; Shirley MacLaine, In Her Shoes ; Frances McDormand, North Country ; Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener ; Michelle Williams, Brokeback Mountain

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: George Clooney, Syriana ; Matt Dillon, Crash ; Will Ferrell, The Producers ; Paul Giamatti, Cinderella Man ; Bob Hoskins, Mrs. Henderson Presents

Best Director, Motion Picture: Woody Allen, Match Point ; George Clooney, Good Night, and Good Luck ; Peter Jackson, King Kong ; Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain ; Fernando Meirelles, The Constant Gardener ; Steven Spielberg, Munich

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture: Woody Allen, Match Point ; George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Good Night, and Good Luck ; Paul Haggis and Bobby Moresco, Crash ; Tony Kushner and Eric Roth, Munich ; Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana, Brokeback Mountain

Best Original Score, Motion Picture: Alexandre Desplat, Syriana ; James Newton Howard, King Kong ; Gustavo Santaolalla, Brokeback Mountain ; Harry Gregson, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe ; John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha

Best Original Song, Motion Picture: "A Love That Will Never Grow Old," Brokeback Mountain ; "Christmas in Love," Christmas in Love ; "There's Nothing Like a Show on Broadway," The Producers ; "Travelin' Thru," Transamerica ; "Wunderkind," The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Best Television Series, Drama: Commander in Chief, Grey's Anatomy, Lost, Prison Break, Rome

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama: Patricia Arquette, Medium ; Glenn Close, The Shield ; Geena Davis, Commander in Chief ; Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer ; Polly Walker, Rome

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama: Patrick Dempsey, Grey's Anatomy ; Matthew Fox, Lost ; Hugh Laurie, House ; Wentworth Miller, Prison Break ; Kiefer Sutherland, 24

Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Desperate Housewives, Entourage, Everybody Hates Chris, My Name Is Earl, Weeds

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy: Marcia Cross, Desperate Housewives ; Teri Hatcher, Desperate Housewives ; Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives ; Eva Longoria, Desperate Housewives ; Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Musical or Comedy: Zach Braff, Scrubs ; Steve Carell, The Office ; Larry David, Curb Your Enthusiasm ; Jason Lee, My Name Is Earl ; Charlie Sheen, Two and a Half Men

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Empire Falls, Into the West, Lackawanna Blues, Sleeper Cell, Viva Blackpool, Warm Springs

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Halle Berry, Their Eyes Were Watching God ; Kelly MacDonald, The Girl in the Cafe ; S. Epatha Merkerson, Lackawanna Blues ; Cynthia Nixon, Warm Springs ; Mira Sorvino, Human Trafficking

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Kenneth Branagh, Warm Springs ; Ed Harris, Empire Falls ; Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Elvis ; Bill Nighy, The Girl in the Cafe ; Donald Sutherland, Human Trafficking

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Candice Bergen, Boston Legal ; Camryn Manheim, Elvis ; Sandra Oh, Grey's Anatomy ; Elizabeth Perkins, Weeds ; Joanne Woodward, Empire Falls

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television: Naveen Andrews, Lost ; Paul Newman, Empire Falls ; Jeremy Piven, Entourage ; Randy Quaid, Elvis ; Donald Sutherland, Commander in Chief (Advocate.com)