‘L.A. Confidential’ Wows N.Y. Critics

“L.A. Confidential,” the glittering film noir set in sin-soaked Southern California, was voted the best film of 1997 by the New York Film Critics Circle on Thursday.

That film, the group’s big winner, was also cited for Curtis Hanson’s direction and for its screenplay, adapted by Hanson and Brian Helgeland from James Ellroy’s labyrinthine cult novel.

Set in the early 1950s, “L.A. Confidential” was not the group’s only nostalgic choice. The acting awards honored three major comebacks, with Peter Fonda voted best actor for his role as a flinty, taciturn beekeeper trying to hold his family together in “Ulee’s Gold”; Julie Christie named as best actress for her performance as a rueful, lonely wife in the forthcoming “Afterglow,” and Burt Reynolds named best supporting actor for his deadpan performance as a porn film auteur in “Boogie Nights.” The group’s best supporting actress was Joan Cusack, for her role as a spurned bride-to-be in “In and Out.”

Errol Morris’ “Fast, Cheap and Out of Control” was voted the year’s best nonfiction film by the group’s 30 voting members.

The group will present its 63d annual awards on Jan. 4.

Garth sets another record

Country music sensation Garth Brooks sold another 609,000 copies of “Sevens” during the week ended Dec. 7, according to SoundScan figures provided by Brooks’ label, Capitol Nashville.

“Sevens” enjoyed the year’s best first-week sales (897,000) and has been scanned more than 1.5 million times since its Nov. 25 release, a record for sales through two weeks, according to SoundScan. The previous record holder was Pearl Jam, whose “Vitalogy” sold 1.46 million copies in its first two weeks in 1994.

$32 million to Di fund

Elton John gave a $32 million check Wednesday to the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fund. The payment was the first installment from sales of “Candle in the Wind,” the hit song he reworked in her honor.

Diana’s sister, Lady Sarah McCorquodale, a trustee of the fund, accepted the check. She said it more than doubled the size of the fund, which was created after Diana’s death in a Paris car crash on Aug. 31 to assist her favorite charities.

The song has become the world’s biggest-selling single recording, with more than 35 million copies purchased.