Gladiator Lauded

Gladiator laid low all competition last night (19 December) when the swords and sandals epic scooped the honours at the Broadcast Critics Choice Awards. The film landed five gongs in all including a second award for best actor for Russel Crowe who wowed the critics last year as troubled turncoat Jeffrey Wigand in The Insider. Gladiator is also in the runnings for a sixth award for best film of 2000, which will not be announced until January. The competition for this award consists of many of the contenders competing for Oscar gold including Traffic, Almost Famous, Quills, Cast Away, Erin Brockovich, Billy Elliot, Wonder Boys and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Whether the Critics Choice sweep will prove prophetic of how Ridley Scott