‘Men’ Reaches Out for a Few Good Globes : Awards: Film garners five Golden Globe nominations in key categories; ‘Aladdin’ also gets five with four of those for its song score.

The military courtroom drama “A Few Good Men,” starring Tom Cruise and Jack Nicholson, led in nominations for the 50th annual Golden Globe Awards, announced Tuesday. The Rob Reiner-directed film received nods in five key categories: best dramatic motion picture, actor, supporting actor, director and screenwriter.

Walt Disney Pictures’ animated feature “Aladdin” also received five nominations, including the best motion picture comedy or musical category. The other four citations were for its critically praised song score.

Receiving four nominations apiece were the Merchant/Ivory production of the romantic “Howards End” from Sony Pictures Classics, the satirical “The Player” distributed by Fine Line Features, Universal Pictures’ “Scent of a Woman,” and “Unforgiven,” the Warner Bros. Western directed by and starring Clint Eastwood.

British actress Miranda Richardson and Al Pacino were nominated twice in separate categories, but Tim Robbins has the unprecedented distinction of competing against himself for best actor in “Bob Roberts” and “The Player.”

Among television programs honored with the nominations made by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., three shows led with four nominations each: CBS’ offbeat series “Northern Exposure,” ABC’s sitcom “Roseanne,” and HBO’s drama “Stalin.” But overall, it was NBC that dominated the TV categories with 24 nominations--more than twice that of second-place CBS, which had 11.

As the first of the major movie awards, the Golden Globes are regarded by many in Hollywood as a time-tested signpost for the film industry’s highest awards--the Oscars--to be given in March by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Golden Globe dinner awards ceremony (scheduled this year for Jan. 23, and to be televised live by the Turner Broadcasting System) has become a star-studded gala, mainly because the film industry increasingly views it as a springboard to winning an Oscar. Any serious contender usually attends.

The Globes were not always so “seriously” regarded. As recently as the early ‘80s, the ceremony was widely dismissed or ridiculed as the whim of a small group of Los Angeles-based journalists who write about the entertainment industry for publications abroad.

But much of that image is long gone, partially due to changes within the sponsoring organization. Hollywood’s studios and publicity agencies also caught on that the Golden Globe nominations, timed as they were in the midst of the holiday movie-going season, could be useful in advertising and also could add to a film’s luster as Hollywood prepares to make its Oscar nominations in February.

So it was with some anticipation on Tuesday that Hollywood, largely on a holiday hiatus this week, checked in at least long enough to find out what the 87 voting members of the foreign press revealed at a Beverly Hill press conference.

“We were naturally thrilled,” said Martin Shafer, a partner in Castle Rock Entertainment, the company that produced “A Few Good Men” in conjunction with Columbia Pictures. “The Globes seems to be, at least in the last few years, the best precursor for the Oscars.” Noting that “A Few Good Men” has been largely ignored as the nation’s film reviewers have selected their favorite films of 1992, Shafer said the Globe nominations “seem to resemble more of what the Academy Award voters will consider.”

Although the Globes have had a good track record when it comes to the Oscars, last year’s most-nominated film in the Globe competition, “Bugsy,” did not pick up any of the top Oscars. As much as award watchers look to see which films are nominated, omissions are also of interest. The high-profile “Hoffa” and “Malcolm X” weren’t nominated although their stars, Jack Nicholson and Denzel Washington, received best actor nominations. The year’s two biggest grossing films, “Batman Returns” and “Lethal Weapon 3,” also didn’t score. And actor Jack Lemmon, whose “Glengarry Glen Ross” performance has been highly praised, also did not receive a nomination.

Robert Redford was nominated for best director for “A River Runs Through It,” but his film was not a best picture nominee.

Golden Globes for best feature films are given in two categories: for drama and for comedy or musical. Likewise, there are Globes given in the actor and actress categories for both types of performance genres.

Joining “A Few Good Men,” “Howards End” and “Unforgiven” for the drama prize are director Neal Jordan’s suspenseful “The Crying Game,” distributed by Miramax Films, and “Scent of a Woman.”

In addition to “Aladdin,” the comedy or musical nominees are “Enchanted April” from Miramax, “Honeymoon in Vegas” from Columbia, “The Player” from Fine Line Features, and “Sister Act” from Disney’s Touchstone division.

Among directors, Redford and Reiner were joined by Robert Altman for “The Player,” Eastwood for “Unforgiven” and James Ivory for “Howards End.”

In the screenplay category, all five nominees are for films selected in best picture categories: Bo Goldman for “Scent of a Woman,” Ruth Prawer Jhabvala for “Howards End,” Aaron Sorkin for “A Few Good Men,” Michael Tolkin for “The Player” and David Webb Peoples for “Unforgiven.”

“Howards End” star Emma Thompson, who has been named best actress by the Los Angeles and New York critics, was among best dramatic actress nominees, while Robert Downey Jr.’s much-lauded performance as silent screen star Charlie Chaplin won him a nod among the best dramatic actors.

Among other highlights: Miranda Richardson was twice nominated, for a leading role in “Enchanted April” and for supporting actress in director Louis Malle’s “Damage”; Pacino also was nominated twice, as best actor in “Scent of a Woman” and for his supporting role in “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Gene Hackman, who played the genial but sadistic sheriff in “Unforgiven,” has been voted prizes by the Los Angeles and New York critics and is a supporting actor nominee in the Globes.

The Golden Globes for television are less closely followed by the industry since the Emmy Awards come at the end of summer.

Last year’s Globe dramatic series winner, “Northern Exposure,” was again nominated in that category, joined by “Beverly Hills, 90210,” “Homefront,” “I’ll Fly Away,” and “Sisters.” “Northern Exposure” won the Emmy earlier this year.

The 1991 winner for best comedy series, “Brooklyn Bridge,” was again nominated this year, joining “Cheers,” “Evening Shade” “Murphy Brown” and “Roseanne.” The low-rated “Brooklyn Bridge” was recently pulled from the CBS schedule.

The competition for miniseries or movie made-for-TV included the Emmy winner for this category, “Miss Rose White.” The Hallmark Hall of Fame/Lorimar Television project featured Kyra Sedgwick in the title role, Maureen Stapleton and Amanda Plummer. Sedgwick received a Globe nomination for best actress, and Plummer, who won the Emmy, is a Globe nominee for best supporting actress.

Times staff writer Susan King contributed to this report.

A complete list of the Golden Globe nominations:

Films

MOTION PICTURE--Drama: “The Crying Game,” Miramax Films; “A Few Good Men,” Columbia Pictures; “Howards End,” Sony Pictures Classics; “Scent of a Woman,” Universal Pictures; “Unforgiven,” Warner Bros.

MOTION PICTURE--Musical or Comedy: “Aladdin,” Buena Vista Pictures Distribution Inc.; “Enchanted April,” Miramax; “Honeymoon in Vegas,” Columbia; “The Player,” Fine Line Feature; “Sister Act,” Buena Vista.

ACTRESS--Drama: Mary McDonnell, “Passion Fish”; Michelle Pfeiffer, “Love Field”; Susan Sarandon, “Lorenzo’s Oil”; Sharon Stone, “Basic Instinct”; Emma Thompson, “Howards End.”

ACTOR--Drama: Tom Cruise, “A Few Good Men”; Robert Downey Jr., “Chaplin”; Jack Nicholson, “Hoffa”; Al Pacino, “Scent of a Woman”; Denzel Washington, “Malcolm X.”

ACTRESS--Musical or Comedy: Geena Davis, “A League of their Own”; Whoopi Goldberg, “Sister Act”; Shirley MacLaine, “Used People”; Miranda Richardson, “Enchanted April”; Meryl Streep, “Death Becomes Her.”

ACTOR--Musical or Comedy: Nicolas Cage, “Honeymoon in Vegas”; Billy Crystal, “Mr. Saturday Night”; Marcello Mastroianni, “Used People”; Tim Robbins, “Bob Roberts”; Tim Robbins, “The Player.”

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE: “Close to Eden,” Russia; “Indochine,” France; “Like Water for Chocolate,” Mexico; “Tous le Matins du Monde,” France.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Geraldine Chaplin, “Chaplin”; Judy Davis, “Husbands and Wives”; Joan Plowright, “Enchanted April”; Miranda Richardson, “Damage”; Alfre Woodard, “Passion Fish.”

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Gene Hackman, “Unforgiven”; Jack Nicholson, “A Few Good Men”; Chris O’Donnell, “Scent of a Woman”; Al Pacino, “Glengarry Glen Ross”; David Paymer, “Mr. Saturday Night.”

DIRECTOR: Robert Altman, “The Player”; Clint Eastwood, “Unforgiven”; James Ivory, “Howards End”; Robert Redford, “A River Runs Through It”; Rob Reiner, “A Few Good Men.”

SCREENPLAY: Bo Goldman, “Scent of a Woman”; Ruth Prawer Jhabvala, “Howards End”; Aaron Sorkin, “A Few Good Men”; Michael Tolkin, “The Player”; David Webb Peoples, “Unforgiven.”

ORIGINAL SCORE: Vangelis, “1492: Conquest of Paradise”; Alan Menken, “Aladdin”; Jerry Goldsmith, “Basic Instinct”; John Barry, “Chaplin”; Trevor Jones and Randy Edelman, “The Last of the Mohicans.”

ORIGINAL SONG: “Beautiful Maria of My Soul,” “The Mambo Kings,” music Robert Kraft, lyrics Arne Glimcher; “Friend Like Me,” “Aladdin,” music Alan Menken, lyrics Howard Ashman; “This Used to Be My Playground,” “A League of Their Own,” music and lyrics Madonna and Shep Pettibone; “A Whole New World,” “Aladdin,” music Alan Menken, lyrics Tim Rice.

Television

SERIES--Drama: “Beverly Hills, 90210,” Fox; “Homefront,” ABC; “I’ll Fly Away,” NBC; “Northern Exposure,” CBS; “Sisters,” NBC.

ACTRESS--Drama series: Mariel Hemingway, “Civil Wars”; Angela Lansbury, “Murder, She Wrote”; Marlee Matlin, “Reasonable Doubts”; Regina Taylor, “I’ll Fly Away”; Janine Turner, “Northern Exposure.”

ACTOR--Drama series: Scott Bakula, “Quantum Leap”; Mark Harmon, “Reasonable Doubts”; Rob Morrow, “Northern Exposure”; Jason Priestley, “Beverly Hills, 90210”; Sam Waterston, “I’ll Fly Away.”

SERIES--Musical or comedy series: “Brooklyn Bridge,” CBS; “Cheers,” NBC; “Evening Shade,” CBS; “Murphy Brown,” CBS; “Roseanne,” ABC.

ACTRESS--Musical or comedy series: Kirstie Alley, “Cheers”; Roseanne Arnold, “Roseanne”; Candice Bergen, “Murphy Brown”; Helen Hunt, “Mad About You”; Katey Sagal, “Married . . . With Children.”

ACTOR-- Musical or comedy series: Tim Allen, “Home Improvement”; Ted Danson, “Cheers”; John Goodman, “Roseanne”; Craig T. Nelson, “Coach”; Ed O’Neill, “Married . . . With Children”; Burt Reynolds, “Evening Shade”; Will Smith, “Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”

MINISERIES or MOTION PICTURE: “Citizen Cohn,” HBO; “Danielle Steel’s Jewels,” NBC; “Miss Rose White,” NBC; “Sinatra Part I & II” CBS; “Stalin,” HBO.

ACTRESS--Miniseries or motion picture: Drew Barrymore, “Gun Crazy”; Laura Dern, “Afterburn”; Katharine Hepburn, “The Man Upstairs”; Jessica Lange, “O, Pioneers!”; Kyra Sedgwick, “Miss Rose White.”

ACTOR--Miniseries or motion picture: Anthony Andrews, “Danielle Steel’s Jewels”; Phillip Casnoff, “Sinatra Parts I & II”; Robert Duvall, “Stalin”; Jon Voight, “The Last of His Tribe”; James Woods, “Citizen Cohn.”

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Olympia Dukakis, “Sinatra”; Laurie Metcalf, “Roseanne”; Park Overall, “Empty Nest”; Joan Plowright, “Stalin”; Amanda Plummer, “Miss Rose White”; Gena Rowlands, “Crazy in Love.”

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Jason Alexander, “Seinfeld”; John Corbett, “Northern Exposure”; Hume Cronyn, “Broadway Bound”; Earl Holliman, “Delta”; Maximilian Schell, “Stalin”; Dean Stockwell, “Quantum Leap.”