Fridae

Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain - which needs no introduction - won the most Golden Globe awards with best drama, best director, best screenplay and best original song. Felicity Huffman won best actress in a drama for playing a man considering a sex change in Transamerica while Philip Seymour Hoffman took best actor in a drama for playing gay writer Truman Capote in Capote.

Nominated for seven awards, Brokeback Mountain's Heath Ledger missed out on best actor in a drama to Hoffman.

Felicity Huffman, who is better known for playing Lynette in Desperate Housewives, took best dramatic actress for her role in Transamerica as a pre-operative male transsexual on a road trip with a bisexual prostitute who doesn't know he's in fact her son.

At the awards, she also offered, "I would like to salute the men and women who brave ostracism, alienation and a life lived on the margins to become who they really are."

The awards were handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) which comprises about 90 Los Angeles-based journalists working for non-American publications. Founded 60 years, the HFPA represents some 55 countries with a combined readership of more than 250 million. Nominations for the Academy Awards are cast by more than 6,500 actors, directors, producers and others who work in the movie industry.

Winning a Golden Globe typically translates into potential box-office gains and can signal Oscar potential. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which awards the Oscars, will present its nominations Jan. 31 and winners on March 5.

The last time a gay-themed film earned top honours was in 1994 when Tom Hanks won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award as best actor for his portrayal as a gay man with AIDS in Philadelphia. The film is regarded to be more of a courtroom drama than a gay romance as little intimacy was shown between Tom Hanks and Antonio Banderas who played his partner.

The other movie that made a splash taking three awards on Monday was Walk The Line, about the life of country-music star Johnny Cash. It took best musical or comedy, and best actor and actress in a musical or comedy for Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon.

Desperate Housewives received the Golden Globe for best television comedy. The show's four co-stars, including Huffman and Teri Hatcher, missed out on the prize for best actress in a TV series, comedy, losing to Mary-Louise Parker, star of Showtime's Weeds.

Anthony Hopkins received the Cecile B. DeMille Award for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.

Winners of the 63rd Golden Globe Awards (movie categories only):

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Brokeback Mountain

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Felicity Huffman (Transamerica)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Capote)

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Walk the Line

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Reese Witherspoon (Walk the Line)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the Line)

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Rachel Weisz (The Constant Gardener)

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
George Clooney (Syriana)

Best Foreign Language Film
Paradise Now (Palestine)

Best Director - Motion Picture
Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain)

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
(Brokeback Mountain)

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Memoirs of a Geisha - composed by John Williams

Best Original Song - Motion Picture
"A Love That Will Never Grow Old" (Brokeback Mountain)

For the full list of winners, please visit http://www.hfpa.org/news/id/26