The drama "A Beautiful Mind" and the musical "Moulin Rouge" are among the top film contenders for a prize this year as the awards season gets underway in Hollywood. Both films have earned six nominations for Golden Globe awards, which were announced Thursday in Los Angeles. The Golden Globes are early indicators of possible winners at next year's Oscars.
Among the six Golden Globe nominations for "A Beautiful Mind" was one for star Russell Crowe as best dramatic actor.
Other actors nominated for their dramatic performances include Will Smith for "Ali," a film about the boxing legend, Muhammad Ali.
The movie recounts the fighter's struggle as he was barred from the ring for refusing to serve in the U.S. army during the Vietnam War. He declared himself a conscientious objector.
The actor Billy Bob Thornton received two acting nominations, one for the drama "The Man Who Wasn't There" and another for the comedy "Bandits."
"Moulin Rouge" earned six Golden Globe nominations, including one for actress Nicole Kidman and another for co-star Ewan McGregor.
Nicole Kidman was also nominated as best actress in a drama category for her starring role in the ghost story "The Others."
Additional leading films this year include the dramas "Gosford Park" and "Mulholland Drive" and the fantasy "The Lord of the Rings," the first film in a trilogy based on the series of stories by the writer J. R. R. Tolkien.
At the early morning announcement of Golden Globe nominees, actor Hugh Jackman read the list of directors. "The nominees for best director in a motion picture: Robert Altman, 'Gosford Park'; Ron Howard, 'A Beautiful Mind'; Peter Jackson, 'The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring'; Baz Luhrman, 'Moulin Rouge'; David Lynch, 'Mulholland Drive'; Steven Spielberg, 'AI, Artificial Intelligence', " he said.
The Golden Globe awards are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Winners will be announced at a gala presentation in Los Angeles January 20. Association president Dagmar Dunlevy told VOA that unlike other award shows, which toned down their celebrations in the wake of the recent terror attacks, the Golden Globes will have all their usual glitter.
"Are you kidding? I insist on full on glamour, I insist on ball gowns and women dripping in jewels and beauty, and I want men in tuxes and tails and I want goody bags that you need to carry out with a tow truck," she said. "No, it's just the whole idea, in all seriousness, is that I was asked if it should be toned down with more of a business nature, but then to me that's sort of like giving up."
The Golden Globe official says that toning down the award show would be letting the terrorists win and she doesn't want to do that.
The Golden Globes are considered indicators of possible winners of the more prestigious Academy Awards or Oscars, and so they are closely watched in Hollywood. Oscar nominees will be announced in February.