USA: "Babel, "Borat," Dicaprio and Eastwood all score big with multiple Golden Globe nods. Helen Mirren reacts to receiving three nominations

Babel," a movie that explores cultural gaps among people around the world, earned seven nominations for Golden Globe awards on Thursday (December 14), more than any other film, including one for best film drama. Joining "Babel" for top movie drama were crime thriller "The Departed," which earned six nominations, British royals movie "The Queen," adultery film "Little Children" and surprise choice "Bobby," which looks at events on the day former U.S. presidential candidate Robert Kennedy was assassinated. Highly touted "Dreamgirls," which scored five nominations overall, was nominated for best movie musical or comedy, along with road movie "Little Miss Sunshine," summer hit "The Devil Wears Prada," recent smash "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America For Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" and another surprise choice, "Thank You for Smoking." The Golden Globe awards are given out annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and are a key indicator of which movies will compete for the Academy Awards, the film industry's top honors. "Bobby," which is backed by brothers Harvey and Bob Weinstein's The Weinstein Co., had received only mixed reviews and was considered out of the Oscar race by many pundits. Likewise, the anti-tobacco satire "Thank You For Smoking" also lacked recognition in many recent critics' awards and had not been picked by industry watchers to compete for Golden Globes. Nominees for best actor in a film drama were topped by Leonardo DiCaprio for two movies, "Blood Diamond" and "The Departed." He is joined by Peter O'Toole for "Venus," Will Smith in "The Pursuit of Happyness" and Forest Whitaker for "The Last King of Scotland." Sacha Baron Cohen, who stars as the politically incorrect Kazakhstan TV reporter "Borat," earned a nomination for best actor in a movie musical or comedy alongside Johnny Depp for smash hit, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest." The nominees for best actress in a film drama were Penelope Cruz for Spanish film "Volver," Maggie Gyllenhaal for "Sherrybaby," and three British actresses, Kate Winslet in "Little Children," Helen Mirren for "The Queen" and Judi Dench in "Notes on a Scandal. Finally, two U.S. films were nominated in the best foreign language film category led by controversial director Mel Gibson's "Apocalypto," which is told in an ancient Mayan language, and Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima," which is spoken in Japanese. The other three films in the foreign language group are Mexican fantasy "Pan's Labyrinth," director Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" and Germany's "The Lives of Others." Golden Globe winners will be named in a ceremony in Beverly Hills on Jan. 15. The Oscars are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, and those winners will be named on Feb. 25. Reuters visited Helen Mirren near Farnham, Surrey, England where she is filming her current movie "Inkheart", and she expressed her surprise and delight at receiving three nominations. "Well to be nominated for three Golden Globes is the most extraordinary thing. It was announced on the set - I'm making a film here - and my Director said "Quiet Quiet every one quiet!. Listen up! Listen up!" and we thought "Ooh sorry we're talking on the set he's going to tell us what to do." and he said "I'd like to announce that Helen Mirren has just been nominated for three Golden Globes.

ITN Source | December 21, 2006

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