Critics make it a 'Beautiful' night for Crowe

Russell Crowe's won another award from the influencial Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA).

America's largest critics group's admiration for the Kiwi actor continued unabated yesterday, as they picked A Beautiful Mind as the Best Picture of 2001 and named Crowe Best Actor for the third straight year.

The BFCA, comprising 160 broadcast and online critics, handed out their Critics Choice awards at a gala event in Beverly Hills.

All up, director Ron Howard's biopic of schizophrenic mathematician John Forbes Nash Jr. picked up four trophies at the awards, including Best Supporting Actress for Jennifer Connelly and a shared Best Director award, as Howard tied with Baz Lurhmann for the eyeball-popping musical Moulin Rouge.

Crowe's previous Best Actor nods from this Association were for Gladiator last year and The Insider in 1999.

He was in a lighthearted mood yesterday, reserving special praise for "Ron Howard, whose command of the medium is beyond question, whose attention to detail and willingness to collaborate and whose intellect are all pristine examples of a director in his prime," he said.

Best Actress honours, meanwhile, went to Sissy Spacek for her heart-wrenching role as an emotionally devastated mother in In the Bedroom. Having already received honours from critics groups in New York and Los Angeles (not to mention scoring a Golden Globe nomination), this win will only cement Spacek's status as Oscar frontrunner.

Other big Critics Choice winners: Ben Kingsley was named Best Supporting Actor for Sexy Beast and the cast of Robert Altman's Gosford Park was named Best Ensemble.

Best Screenplay went to Christopher Nolan for his backwards thriller Memento, and 7-year-old actress Dakota Fanning needed a little boost to reach the microphone while accepting her award for Best Young Actor/Actress for I Am Sam.

Also on hand Friday was Muhammad Ali, who received the BFCA's special Freedom Award. Ali and Will Smith took some time to goof on each other as the Ali star handed the Champ his trophy.

"Why am I here?" Ali asked jokingly.

"You're here 'cause some people thought you were as pretty as me," Smith responded. Ali then rolled his eyes and replied, "But people can see."

New Zealand director Peter Jackson may be smashing box office records all over the place with Lord of the Rings, but the fantasy adventure barely rated a mention on Critics Choice night - being awarded, almost as an afterthought, Best Composer (Howard Shore).

Here's a list of winners from the seventh annual Critics' Choice Awards:

* Best Picture: A Beautiful Mind

* Best Actor: Russell Crowe, A Beautiful Mind

* Best Actress: Sissy Spacek, In the Bedroom

* Best Supporting Actor: Ben Kingsley, Sexy Beast

* Best Supporting Actress: Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind

* Best Director: (tie) Ron Howard, A Beautiful Mind, and Baz Luhrmann, Moulin Rouge

* Best Acting Ensemble: Gosford Park

* Best Screenplay: Christopher Nolan, Memento

* Best Young Actor/Actress: Dakota Fanning, I Am Sam

* Best Animated Feature: Shrek

* Best Family Film (live action): Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

* Best Picture Made for Television: Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows

* Best Actor in a Picture Made for Television: James Franco, James Dean

* Best Actress in a Picture Made for Television: Judy Davis, Life with Judy Garland: Me and My Shadows

* Best Foreign-Language Film: Amélie

* Best Song: (tie) Enya, "May It Be," The Lord of the Rings, and Paul McCartney, "Vanilla Sky," Vanilla Sky

* Best Composer: Howard Shore, The Lord of the Rings