LOS ANGELES – Spanish actress Penelope Cruz and her countryman, director Pedro Almodovar, came up short at the 67th edition of the Golden Globes here.

Cruz, who had been nominated as best supporting actress for her role in the musical comedy “Nine,” was again left without a Golden Globe, losing out to Mo’nique, who won for her performance in “Precious.”

This was the third time Cruz has been nominated for these awards – the two other occasions were for “Volver” (To Return) in 2006 and “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” in 2008.

Her rivals in the category of best supporting actress were Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick (both for “Up in the Air”), Julianne Moore (“A Single Man”) and Mo’nique.

At the 2007 ceremony the prize went to Britain’s Helen Mirren for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in the 2006 movie “The Queen.”

Last year luck was not with Cruz either, nor with co-star Javier Bardem, who almost made it for their hit film “Vicky Cristina Barcelona.”

Cruz, however, was the first Spanish actress to win an Oscar thanks to that Woody Allen film, in which she played an immoderate, infatuated woman who finds she cannot live without her ex-husband (Bardem), whom she divorced after a failed attempt to murder him.

In “Nine,” Cruz plays Carla, the mistress of Guido, the movie’s main character, played by Daniel Day-Lewis.

The film, directed by the American Rob Marshall – winner of six Oscars for “Chicago” – is an adaptation of the Broadway musical, which was in turn inspired by the legendary 1963 film “8 1/2” by Italy’s Federico Fellini.

The plot concerns the profound identity crisis that seizes Guido Contini as he gets ready to make his last film.

Ever surrounded by women, Contini seeks inspiration in his legitimate wife (Marion Cotillard), his mistress (Cruz), his confidante (Judi Dench), his mother (Sofia Loren) and the prostitute who in his childhood introduced him to the world of sex (Stacey Ferguson).

The German film “The White Ribbon” took the Golden Globe for best foreign film, beating out, among others, Almodovar’s “Los Abrazos Rotos” (“Broken Embraces”), which starred Cruz, and the Chilean film “La Nana” (The Maid).

“Los Abrazos Rotos” was the sixth time an Almodovar film was nominated for the Golden Globes, after “Mujeres al Borde de un Ataque de Nervios” (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) in 1988, “Tacones Lejanos” (High Heels) in 1991, “Todo sobre mi Madre” (All about my Mother) in 1999, “Hable con Ella” (Talk to Her) in 2002, and “Volver” in 2006.

In 2000, “Todo sobre mi Madre” took the prize and three years later Almodovar had a repeat success with “Hable con Ella”.

“La Nana” was the first Chilean movie to be nominated for this award. EFE