Gay-themed film gets 7 nominations

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The cowboys-in-love drama "Brokeback Mountain" received a leading seven Golden Globes nominations, yet the critical favorite has an uphill trail for the Academy Awards, where a gay-themed film has never won top honors.

Along with best dramatic picture, Globe nominations Tuesday for "Brokeback Mountain" included lead actor Heath Ledger, supporting actress Michelle Williams and director Ang Lee.

Also nominated for dramatic picture were the murder thriller "The Constant Gardener," the Edward R. Murrow tale "Good Night, and Good Luck," the mobster story "A History of Violence" and "Match Point," a drama about infidelity.

Chosen as 2005's best film by critics groups in New York, Los Angeles and Boston, "Brokeback Mountain" stars Ledger as a husband and father carrying on a secret affair with an old sheepherding companion (Jake Gyllenhaal).

Lee, who won the best-director Golden Globe for "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," said he does not worry the gay subject matter will turn off audiences or Oscar voters. But he said he does hesitate to call it a movie about gay cowboys because "it sounds a little funny to me in its connotation, like we're doing 'Blazing Saddles.'

"That's what's bothering me, because it's a serious love story," Lee said. "Given the Western macho aura ... the more difficult, the more love is hindered, the more grand the love is."

Joining Lee as Globe directing nominees were Woody Allen for "Match Point," George Clooney for "Good Night, and Good Luck," Peter Jackson for "King Kong," Fernando Meirelles for "The Constant Gardener" and Steven Spielberg for "Munich." Clooney also earned a supporting-actor nomination for the oil-industry thriller "Syriana."

Felicity Huffman received two nominations — best dramatic actress in a film for her role as a man preparing for sex-change surgery in "Transamerica" and best actress in a TV musical or comedy for "Desperate Housewives."

Her "Desperate Housewives" co-stars Marcia Cross, Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria also were nominated, and the ABC show earned a best TV comedy bid.

Despite the acclaim and an impressive debut last weekend, when the film took in $550,000 in just five theaters, "Brokeback Mountain" may prove more off-putting to Oscar voters than to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the Golden Globe organizers who have traditionally been more receptive to gay themes.