Small Films Grab Share of Spotlight

Call it the year of David vs. Goliath.

The 56th Annual Golden Globe Awards nominations announced Thursday recognized both big-budget studio films and tiny independents, superstar actors and virtual unknowns. Miramax’s romantic “Shakespeare in Love” and Paramount Pictures’ edgy “The Truman Show” tied for most nominations, with six nods each. DreamWorks’ graphic World War II drama, “Saving Private Ryan,” garnered five nominations.

But three smaller, lesser-known films were not far behind. Gramercy Pictures’ period drama “Elizabeth,” Lions Gate’s portrait of a Hollywood movie director, “Gods and Monsters,” and Miramax’s music-filled “Little Voice” each received three nominations--tying with 20th Century Fox’s “Bulworth,” Warren Beatty’s political farce.

Stars of two of the year’s biggest box-office hits received nominations (Cameron Diaz for “There’s Something About Mary” and Jim Carrey for “The Truman Show”) but so did the little-known Jane Horrocks for “Little Voice.”

Winners of the Golden Globe Awards will be announced Jan. 24 in a live telecast airing on NBC. The awards, which are bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., are commonly seen as early indicators for the Academy Awards, which are presented in March. This year’s Oscar race is considered wide open.

John Madden, the director of “Shakespeare in Love,” gave credit for the film’s good fortune to “the man himself”--William Shakespeare--whose words and persona form the backbone of the film.

“There’s a sort of intoxication that the movie tries to convey, which is the transforming power of art and words and theater and in our case, I suppose, movies, that somehow touches people and transforms them. But in the end, the bottom line was Will,” said Madden, who received a best director nomination. His fellow nominees: Shekhar Kaphur (“Elizabeth”), Robert Redford (“The Horse Whisperer”), Steven Spielberg (“Saving Private Ryan”) and Peter Weir (“The Truman Show”).

In addition to “Shakespeare in Love,” there were five nominees for best picture-comedy: “Bulworth,” “The Mask of Zorro,” “Patch Adams,” “There’s Something About Mary” and the little-seen on-the-road comedy “Still Crazy.”

Five films will vie to win best picture-drama: “Elizabeth,” “Gods and Monsters,” “Saving Private Ryan,” “The Truman Show” and “The Horse Whisperer.”

In the category of best actor in a drama, Carrey will compete against Tom Hanks (“Saving Private Ryan”), Stephen Fry (“Wilde”), Ian McKellen (“Gods and Monsters”) and Nick Nolte (“Affliction”).

“It’s stunning. I’m still not sure I’m really awake,” said Carrey, who has transformed his persona from a Jerry Lewis of the ‘90s into a serious actor with his performance in “Truman.”

“It was great to be recognized,” he added, as “a comedian who can let down his guard long enough to show people what’s inside. I’m already the luckiest guy in the world for the fact that ‘The Truman Show’ came to me. But this is really a great kind of acceptance. I finally feel loved!”

In the Golden Globe’s TV categories, “ER,” “Felicity,” “Law & Order,” “The Practice” and “The X-Files” were nominated for best drama series, and “Ally McBeal,” “Dharma & Greg,” “Frasier,” “Just Shoot Me” and “Spin City” were nominated for best musical or comedy series. All together, NBC received 20 nominations, followed by ABC with 12 and HBO with nine. CBS received only one nomination.

Notably absent from nominations were Disney’s “Beloved,” the adaptation of Toni Morrison’s novel, which starred Oprah Winfrey, and Fox’s “Thin Red Line,” director Terrence Malick’s World War II movie, which marks his return to directing after an absence of 20 years. Fox Searchlight’s Irish comedy “Waking Ned Devine” was also overlooked, despite generally positive reviews. And in a year that was chockablock with high-profile animation projects, “Mulan,” “A Bug’s Life” and “The Prince of Egypt” got nominations only in music categories.

(Another film that is widely considered to be an Oscar contender, Roberto Benigni’s “Life Is Beautiful,” received no nominations because it did not qualify under the foreign press association’s rules. It was released in late 1997 in Italy, and the Golden Globe Awards are only given to films released in the current calendar year.)

Vying against behemoths in the comedy or musical category, “Still Crazy” is the story of a rock band that tries to reunite after two decades. The film, which cost $11 million, was shown in limited release to qualify for year-end awards but won’t go into wider release until Jan. 22.

Noted “Still Crazy” producer Amanda Marmot: “It’s hard being a small British film going up against huge studio movies with massive advertising budgets.”

The best actress-drama nominees were: Cate Blanchett (“Elizabeth”), Fernanda Montenegro (“Central Station”), Susan Sarandon (“Stepmom”), Meryl Streep (“One True Thing”) and Emily Watson (“Hilary and Jackie”).

Watson was asleep in her trailer on the Dublin set of “Angela’s Ashes” when she received a call informing her of her nomination for her portrayal of Jacqueline du Pre, a world-renowned musician. She learned to play the cello for the part.

In the best actor-musical or comedy category, there are five nominees: Antonio Banderas (“The Mask of Zorro”), Michael Caine (“Little Voice”), John Travolta (“Primary Colors”), Robin Williams (“Patch Adams”) and Beatty (“Bulworth”).

Beatty walked off with three Golden Globe nominations--best picture, actor and screenwriter--in “Bulworth,” a politically themed film dealing with race and economic disparity that received generally excellent reviews but performed poorly at the box office.

“The picture was released so long ago that I’m elated it is noticed at this point,” said Beatty, who is currently filming “Town & Country.”

Beatty said he felt vindicated because the film, while not commercial, addressed larger societal themes that movies should address.

“If you are interested in commercial success, you don’t make a political movie, or a movie about race or disparity of wealth or, for that matter, a man who is a manic depressive who gets shot in the end,” the actor said. “But if you are making a movie for other reasons that incorporate all of those factors, you feel fortunate to have been able to get it made.”

Best actress-musical or comedy nominees are: Diaz (“There’s Something About Mary”), Horrocks (“Little Voice”), Gwyneth Paltrow (“Shakespeare in Love”), Meg Ryan (“You’ve Got Mail”) and Christina Ricci (“The Opposite of Sex”).

Ricci, the big-eyed 18-year-old who portrayed a thoroughly unpleasant but unfailingly amusing teenager in trouble, was glad that so many independent films had gotten nods this year and said she hoped it would send a message to the major studios.

“The more that the big studios can make films that are dark or controversial in any way, the better,” she said, speaking from London, where she is shooting Tim Burton’s “Sleepy Hollow.” For herself, she said, the nomination is “a really big thing. One of the greatest attractions of being an actress is award shows. It’s the first thing you see that you think is a real part of the industry, as an outsider, as a kid. I’ve always wanted to go.”

If any film can be called the underdog of this year’s awards, it is “Gods and Monsters,” a portrait of gay Hollywood horror movie director James Whale, played with moving subtlety by McKellen. It cost less than $4 million to produce.

“I look down the list of [films] in our category and probably the next closest is five times our budget and the other films were astronomically higher than our budget,” said producer Paul Colichman, co-president of Regent Entertainment.

Reached in London, McKellen said, “I’m delighted on my own account, of course, but I’m glad it has been nominated in such distinguished company. The movie has had wonderful reviews. . . . Perhaps now it is catching on with the public.” Composer Randy Newman, nominated for best original score for “A Bug’s Life,” noted that it was an odd day to focus too much on Hollywood, what with impeachment hearings looming and the country stepping up military action against Iraq. Nevertheless, said Newman, it was nice to be noticed.

“As I get older, I realize that when good things happen to you, you shouldn’t just brush them off. So all this award stuff, which is essentially sort of meaningless, is very nice,” he said. Where was he when he got the news? “I was at home [in Pacific Palisades], waiting for the bombs to hit Baghdad.”

Times staff writer Susan King contributed to this story.

Here is the list of Golden Globe Awards nominees:

* Best Motion Picture, Drama--”Elizabeth,” Gramercy Pictures; “Gods and Monsters,” Lions Gate; “The Horse Whisperer,” Touchstone Pictures; “Saving Private Ryan,” DreamWorks/Paramount; “The Truman Show,” Paramount.

* Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama--Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth”; Fernanda Montenegro, “Central Station”; Susan Sarandon, “Stepmom”; Meryl Streep, “One True Thing”; Emily Watson, “Hilary and Jackie.”

* Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama--Jim Carrey, “The Truman Show”; Stephen Fry, “Wilde”; Tom Hanks, “Saving Private Ryan”; Ian McKellen, “Gods and Monsters”; Nick Nolte, “Affliction.”

* Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy--”Bulworth,” 20th Century Fox; “The Mask of Zorro,” TriStar Pictures; “Patch Adams,” Universal; “Shakespeare in Love,” Miramax Films; “Still Crazy,” Columbia Pictures; “There’s Something About Mary,” 20th Century Fox.

* Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy--Cameron Diaz, “There Something About Mary”; Jane Horrocks, “Little Voice”; Gwyneth Paltrow, “Shakespeare in Love”; Christina Ricci, “The Opposite of Sex”; Meg Ryan, “You’ve Got Mail.”

* Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy--Antonio Banderas, “The Mask of Zorro”; Warren Beatty, “Bulworth”; Michael Caine, “Little Voice”; John Travolta, “Primary Colors”; Robin Williams, “Patch Adams.”

* Best Foreign-Language Film--”The Celebration,” October Films, France; “Central Station,” Sony Pictures Classics, Brazil; “Hombres Armados,” Sony Pictures Classics, USA (Spanish language); “The Polish Bride,” Motel Films/Ijswater Films, the Netherlands; “Tango,” Sony Pictures Classics, Argentina.

* Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture--Kathy Bates, “Primary Colors”; Brenda Blethyn, “Little Voice”; Judi Dench, “Shakespeare in Love”; Lynn Redgrave, “Gods and Monsters”; Sharon Stone, “The Mighty.”

* Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture--Robert Duvall, “A Civil Action”; Ed Harris, “The Truman Show”; Bill Murray, “Rushmore”; Geoffrey Rush, “Shakespeare in Love”; Donald Sutherland, “Without Limits”; Billy Bob Thornton, “A Simple Plan.”

* Best Director, Motion Picture--Shekhar Kaphur, “Elizabeth”; John Madden, “Shakespeare in Love”; Robert Redford, “The Horse Whisperer”; Steven Spielberg, “Saving Private Ryan”; Peter Weir, “The Truman Show.”

* Best Screenplay, Motion Picture--Warren Beatty/Jeremy Pikser, “Bulworth”; Andrew Niccol, “The Truman Show”; Marc Norman/Tom Stoppard, “Shakespeare in Love”; Robert Rodat, “Saving Private Ryan”; Todd Solondz, “Happiness.”

* Best Original Score--Burkhard Dallwitz/Philip Glass, “The Truman Show”; Jerry Goldsmith, “Mulan”; Randy Newman, “A Bug’s Life”; Stephen Schwartz/Hans Zimmer, “The Prince of Egypt”; John Williams, “Saving Private Ryan.”

* Best Original Song, Motion Picture--”The Flame Still Burns,” music and lyrics by Mick Jones, Marti Frederiksen and Chris Difford, for “Still Crazy”; “The Mighty,” music by Sting and lyrics by Sting and Trevor Jones, for “The Mighty”; “The Prayer,” music and lyrics by David Foster and Carole Bayer Sager, for “Quest for Camelot: The Magic Sword”; “Reflection,” music by Matthew Wilder and lyrics by David Zippel, for “Mulan”; “Uninvited,” music and lyrics by Alanis Morissette, for “City of Angels”; “When You Believe,” music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz, for “The Prince of Egypt.”

* Best Television Drama Series--”ER,” Constant c Productions/Amblin TV/Warner Bros. TV, NBC; “Felicity,” Imagine TV/Touchstone TV, WB; “Law & Order,” Wolf Films/Studios USA, NBC; “The Practice,” 20th Century Fox TV/David E. Kelley Productions, ABC; “The X-Files,” 20th Century Fox TV/Ten Thirteen Productions, Fox.

* Best Actress in a Television Drama Series--Gillian Anderson, “The X-Files”; Kim Delaney, “NYPD Blue”; Roma Downey, “Touched by an Angel”; Julianna Margulies, “ER”; Keri Russell, “Felicity.”

* Best Actor in a Television Drama Series--David Duchovny, “The X-Files”; Anthony Edwards, “ER”; Lance Henriksen, “Millennium”; Dylan McDermott, “The Practice”; Jimmy Smits, “NYPD Blue.”

* Best Television Series, Musical or Comedy--”Ally McBeal,” David E. Kelley/20th Century Fox TV, Fox; “Dharma and Greg,” Chuck Lorre/4to6Foot/20th Century Fox TV, ABC; “Frasier,” Grub Street Productions/Paramount TV, NBC; “Just Shoot Me,” Brillstein-Grey Entertainment, NBC; “Spin City,” UBU Productions/Lottery Hill Entertainment/DreamWorks TV, ABC.

* Best Actress in a Television Musical or Comedy Series--Christina Applegate, “Jesse”; Jenna Elfman, “Dharma and Greg”; Calista Flockhart, “Ally McBeal”; Laura San Giacomo, “Just Shoot Me”; Sarah Jessica Parker, “Sex and the City.”

* Best Actor in a Television Musical or Comedy Series--Michael J. Fox, “Spin City”; Thomas Gibson, “Dharma and Greg”; Kelsey Grammer, “Frasier”; John Lithgow, “3rd Rock From the Sun”; George Segal, “Just Shoot Me.”

* Best Television Miniseries or Motion Picture--”The Baby Dance,” Showtime/Egg Pictures/Pacific Motion Pictures, Showtime; “From the Earth to the Moon,” HBO/Imagine Entertainment/Clavius Base, HBO; “Gia,” Marvin Worth/Citadel Entertainment/Kahn Powers Pictures, HBO; “Merlin,” Hallmark Entertainment, NBC; “The Temptations,” de Passe Entertainment, NBC.

* Best Actress in a Television Miniseries or Motion Picture--Stockard Channing, “The Baby Dance”; Laura Dern, “The Baby Dance”; Angelina Jolie, “Gia”; Ann-Margret, “Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story”; Miranda Richardson, “Merlin.”

* Best Actor in a Television Miniseries or Motion Picture--Peter Fonda, “The Tempest”; Sam Neill, “Merlin”; Bill Paxton, “A Bright Shining Lie”; Christopher Reeve, “Rear Window”; Patrick Stewart, “Moby Dick”; Stanley Tucci, “Winchell.”

* Best Supporting Actress in a Television Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture--Helena Bonham Carter, “Merlin”; Faye Dunaway, “Gia”; Jane Krakowski, “Ally McBeal”; Wendie Malick, “Just Shoot Me”; Camryn Manheim, “The Practice”; Susan Sullivan, “Dharma and Greg.”

* Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture--Don Cheadle, “The Rat Pack”; Joe Mantegna, “The Rat Pack”; Gregory Peck, “Moby Dick”; David Spade, “Just Shoot Me”; Noah Wyle, “ER.”