Terror and comedy inspire Golden Globe nominations

Among the top nominees on Tuesday was 'The Producers', a remake of the Mel Brooks comedy.

By NATHAN BURSTEIN
producers 88 298 (photo credit: AP)
producers 88 298
(photo credit: AP)
Rushed through production to meet deadlines for awards season eligibility, Steven Spielberg's highly anticipated Munich was nominated Tuesday for two Golden Globes. The Schindler's List and War of the Worlds director received his tenth Golden Globe nomination for directing the film, which depicts the 1972 Olympic Village massacre of Israeli athletes and Israel's subsequent campaign to eliminate the Palestinian terrorists behind the attack. Tony Kushner and Eric Roth received a Golden Globe nomination for the film's screenplay, but the much buzzed-about film and its cast were passed over for further nominations. Among the top nominees at Tuesday's early morning press conference was The Producers, a remake of the 1968 Mel Brooks comedy about a scheming producer hoping to fail with his latest project, a Nazi-penned musical entitled Springtime for Hitler. The remake, which follows the massive success of a Producers adaptation on Broadway, was nominated in the "Best Musical or Comedy" category and for a new song written for the film. Nathan Lane, who played producer Max Bialystock in the Broadway production and in the new film, was nominated for best actor in a comedy or musical, while Will Ferrell received a best supporting actor nod for his work as Franz Liebkind, the satirical film's ex-Nazi playwright. A movie about Palestinian terrorists, Paradise Now, will compete for the best foreign film prize. The movie portrays the journey of two suicide bombers from Nablus to Tel Aviv and will represent Palestine alongside films from France, South Africa and China. Hit HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm was nominated for best television musical or comedy and earned a best actor nomination for show creator and star Larry David. The series has touched repeatedly on David's Jewish background this season, kicking off with an episode in which the protagonist gets into trouble for scalping tickets to High Holiday services at his Los Angeles synagogue. Racking up the most nominations at Tuesday morning's press conference was Brokeback Mountain, which tells the story of a secret romance in Wyoming and has become widely known simply as "the gay cowboy movie." Nominated for best dramatic film, score and screenplay, Brokeback Mountain also picked up nominations for director Ang Lee and recently married actors Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association will name this year's Golden Globe winners in a televised ceremony January 16 in Los Angeles.