'Beauty,' Cruise tame Globes By Erin Podolsky Daily Arts Writer The 2000 awards season is officially off and running with the presentation of the 57th annual Golden Globe Awards last night in Los Angeles. Lacking the host and shtick, length and (some would say) street cred of the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes must be content with the knowledge that they have been and forever will be little more than a precursor to the big show otherwise known as the Oscars. The first award of the night was presented by Ben Affleck and Charlize Theron, who with little fanfare announced the nominees for the best supporting actress award. Angelina Jolie walked away with the statuette for her performance as a sociopathic wild child in "Girl, Interrupted." Her acceptance was a little more exciting in that she brought her brother up on stage with her to "show him the view." Affleck, suffering from terminally bad hair, and Theron, suffering from what looked like a nasty case of terminal boredom, then announced the winner of the best supporting actor award. Tom Cruise, nominated for his work as sex seminar guru Frank TJ Mackey in "Magnolia," won his second Golden Globe in a row after his win for "Jerry Maguire" in 1996. Claiming to be jet-lagged but by far the most composed winner of the night, he devoted most of his acceptance speech to Paul Thomas Anderson, telling the story of how the impresario writer/director wrote the role just for him after meeting him on the set of Stanley Kubrick's "Eyes Wide Shut." The Globes' patchwork of TV and film awards began with the shift from the movie world to the idiot box as the award for best lead actress in a comedy was presented. HBO's growing stable of critically acclaimed - and publicly acclaimed - shows racked up its first win of what turned out to be a very successful night in Sarah Jessica Parker's lead role on "Sex and the City." "I'm not a winner," Parker announced in confusion, sounding like someone who had snacked on a few too many helium-filled balloons. Brandishing her award, she exclaimed, "I don't know what people do with these things, this is amazing." Parker also had the dubious distinction of being the first of at least three winners who mistakenly read the teleprompter's request to "please wrap up" their speeches. "The Sopranos" stars Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco and James Gandolfini, two of whom went on to win awards (Falco for best TV drama actress, Gandolfini for best TV drama actor), arrived on-stage to present the award for best actor in a TV comedy. Michael J. Fox, who just this past week announced that he would be leaving "Spin City" to devote his energy to his family and triumphing over Parkinson's disease, took home the Globe gold. He received a standing ovation, the first of many throughout the night, and remarked, "I'll be in touch." Hugh Grant appeared next to introduce the first best picture nominee clip, for "American Beauty," which was nominated for numerous awards. The film, long considered a front-runner for the Oscars, walked off with a trifecta of high-end awards. first-time scribe Alan Ball received the best screenplay award, rookie director Sam Mendes picked up the award for best director (bestowed by Steven Spielberg, his boss at Dreamworks) and the film also received the award for best film drama. Other film winners included Hilary Swank for her performance as the martyred Brandon Teena in "Boys Don't Cry" and Denzel Washington for the title role in "The Hurricane." In a major upset over somewhat more serious contenders such as "Being John Malkovich," "Toy Story 2" won for best film comedy. Jack Lemmon, a double nominee in the best television movie actor category, covered the spread with his victory for "Inherit the Wind." "Well, in the spirit of Ving Rhames, I'm going to give this to Jack Lemmon," he quipped, referring to an old incident in which Rhames gave his award to Lemmon. "Inherit the Wind" lost out to HBO's "RKO 281" for best television movie, while Halle Berry won for her portrayal of the title character in "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge," also an HBO telefilm. HBO virtually swept the night with additional victories in the supporting TV actress category (Nancy Marchand of "The Sopranos"), plus a powerhouse victory in both the TV comedy and drama sectors with "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos," respectively. The remaining film acting awards went to Janet McTeer of "Tumbleweeds" for best comedy actress and Jim Carrey for his comedic performance as Andy Kaufman in "Man on the Moon." Ennio Morricone's score for "The Legend of 1900" beat out "American Beauty." "You'll Be in my Heart," from "Tarzan," was named best song. The Roberto Benigni moment of the evening occurred when Pedro Almodovar's "All About my Mother" won for best foreign film. He burbled endlessly and acknowledged Antonio Banderas as his best actor in the 1980s. At the end of the evening, HBO emerged the clear winner while "American Beauty" continued its march toward March and the Academy Awards. Although lacking in the sheer amusement that comes from the strong writing that characterizes the Oscars, the 2000 Golden Globes nearly made up for it in cheesy acceptance speeches and spontaneous wig-outs by the likes of Carrey (not to mention near-spill-outs threatened by Courtney Love's garbage bag-esque attire). There are two short months to go before the real prestige is bestowed, and appetites have been properly whet for stars, bars and fancy cars. (Falco for best TV drama actress, Gandolfini for best TV drama actor), arrived on-stage to present the award for best actor in a TV comedy. Michael J. Fox, who this past week announced that he would be leaving "Spin City" to devote his energy to his family and triumphing over Parkinson's disease, took home the Globe gold. He received a standing ovation, the first of many throughout the night. Hugh Grant appeared next to introduce the first best picture nominee clip, for "American Beauty," which was nominated for numerous awards. The film, long considered a front-runner for the Oscars, walked off with a trifecta of high-end awards. First-time scribe Alan Ball received the best screenplay award, rookie director Sam Mendes picked up the award for best director (bestowed by Steven Spielberg) and the film also received the award for best film drama. Other film winners included Hilary Swank for her performance in "Boys Don't Cry" and Denzel Washington for the title role in "The Hurricane." In a major upset over more serious contenders, "Toy Story 2" won for best film comedy. Jack Lemmon, a double nominee in the best TV movie actor category, covered the spread with his victory for "Inherit the Wind." "Inherit the Wind" lost out to "RKO 281" for best television movie, while Halle Berry won for her portrayal of the title character in "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge." HBO virtually swept the night with additional victories in the supporting TV actress category (Nancy Marchand of "The Sopranos"), plus a powerhouse victory in both the TV comedy and drama sectors with "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos." The remaining film acting awards went to Janet McTeer of "Tumbleweeds" for best comedy actress and Jim Carrey for his comedic performance as Andy Kaufman in "Man on the Moon." The Roberto Benigni moment of the evening occurred when Pedro Almodovar's "All About my Mother" won for foreign film. He burbled with endless enthusiasm and broken English. At the end of the evening, HBO emerged the clear winner while "American Beauty" continued its march toward the Academy Awards. Although lacking in the sheer amusement de facto honor that characterizes the Oscars, the 2000 Golden Globes nearly made up for it with spontaneous wig-outs by the likes of Carrey (not to mention Courtney Love's garbage bag-esque attire). There are two short months to go before the real prestige is bestowed, and appetites have been properly whet for stars, bars and fancy cars. Golden Globe Winners Best Drama: 'American Beauty' Best Comedy: 'Toy Story 2' Best Actress (Drama): Hilary Swank, 'Boys Don't Cry' Best Actor (Drama): Denzel Washington, 'The Hurricane' Best Actress (Comedy): Janet McTeer, 'Tumbleweeds' Best Actor (Comedy): Jim Carrey, 'Man on the Moon' Best Supporting Actress: Angelina Jolie, 'Girl, Interrupted' Best Supporting Actor: Tom Cruise, 'Magnolia' Best Director: Sam Mendes, 'American Beauty' Best Screenplay: Alan Ball, 'American Beauty' Best Original Score: 'The Legend of 1900' Best Original Song: "You'll Be in my Heart," 'Tarzan' Best Foreign Language Film: 'All About my Mother' Best TV Drama: 'The Sopranos' Best TV Comedy: 'Sex and the City' Best Actress (TV Drama): Edie Falco, 'The Sopranos' Best Actor (TV Drama): James Gandolfini, 'The Sopranos' Best Actress (TV Comedy): Sarah Jessica Parker Best Actor (TV Comedy): Michael J. Fox Best TV movie: 'RKO 281' Best Actress in a TV movie: Halle Berry Best Actor in a TV movie: Jack Lemmon Best Actress in a Supporting TV role: Nancy Marchand Best Actor in a Supporting TV role: Peter Fonda Originally on page 5A in the 1-24-2000 issue of the Daily.