|
 In the coveted best drama category, "12 Years a Slave" will
compete against Somali piracy nail-biter "Captain Phillips,"
space thriller "Gravity," adoption drama "Philomena," and
race-car rivalry "Rush."
"American Hustle" was nominated for best comedy or musical,
alongside computer-age love story "Her," folk singer tale
"Inside Llewyn Davis," heartland ode "Nebraska" and the story of
a crooked banker, "The Wolf of Wall Street."
Best acting nominations favored acclaimed actors with long
careers, like 79-year-old Judi Dench for her role as an Irish
mother looking for the son she was forced to give up in
"Philomena" and Robert Redford, 77, the sole cast member as a
sailor fighting for his life in "All Is Lost."
The Golden Globe nominations voted by members of the Hollywood
Foreign Press Association (HFPA) are a leading indicator for the
awards season and underscored the strong year for film, with
many critically acclaimed movies and performances jostling for
prominence. That highly competitive field is making for an
unpredictable run-up to the Oscars.
"It is the most schizophrenic awards season I have ever seen,"
said Tom O'Neil, of awards handicapping site GoldDerby.com. He
notes that while "12 Years a Slave" is a frontrunner, it has yet
to win any Hollywood or top critics' group awards.
"Nebraska" won five Golden Globe nominations overall, including
best actor in a comedy or musical for veteran actor Bruce Dern
and best director for Alexander Payne.
"Captain Phillips" and "Gravity" each secured four nominations,
including best actor and actress nods for their lead characters,
Oscar winners Tom Hanks as the ship captain under siege and
Sandra Bullock as a stranded astronaut.
The Golden Globes will be handed out on January 12 in Beverly
Hills, just a few days before the nominations for Academy
Awards, the highest honors in Hollywood. While the HFPA can make
some unconventional choices, last year's Golden Globe for best
drama went to Iran hostage thriller "Argo," which went on to win
the Oscar for best picture.
RACE FOR OSCARS HEATS UP
And while "12 Years a Slave" and "American Hustle" compete in
separate categories for Globes, they are likely to go
head-to-head in the Oscars race for best picture.
"12 Years a Slave" by director Steve McQueen, a real-life story
about the free black man Solomon Northup sold into slavery in
Louisiana, has been a top contender for awards since winning at
the Toronto International Film Festival. On Wednesday, the
depiction of brutal pre-Civil War American slavery won the most
nominations for acting awards from the Screen Actors Guild, with
four nods.
"I am delighted for my cast and crew who worked so hard on this
film to shine a light on a forgotten American hero, Solomon
Northup," said McQueen after learning of the Golden Globe nods.
[to top of second column] |
 British actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, who plays Northup,
was nominated for best actor in a drama, while Michael Fassbender as
the evil plantation owner and Hollywood newcomer Lupita Nyong'o as
the slave girl he desires received best supporting nods.
In "American Hustle," director David O. Russell reunites some of his
favorite actors from previous films "The Fighter" and "Silver
Linings Playbook," like Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper
and Jennifer Lawrence, for a romp through heady 1970s New York, with
con-men and an FBI sting operation gone awry.
All four of his returning actors received Globe
nominations, with Bale up for best actor in a comedy or musical for
his portrayal of a complex con-artist with a bad comb-over.
"GRAVITY" WEIGHS IN
"Gravity" might prove a formidable challenge to the two
frontrunners. It has performed well at the box office, hauling in
$250 million in the United States and Canada, and shows a high rate
of repeat viewings, making the film from Mexican director Alfonso
Cuaron a notable contender, O'Neil said.
Oscar-winning director Martin Scorsese's "The Wolf of Wall Street,"
an adaptation of a fraudulent banker's memoir, got some much-needed
awards attention from the HFPA after a late start to its promotion,
including a best actor nomination for Leonardo DiCaprio.
The Golden Globe nominations also gave a boost to
the new biopic "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom," which premiered
shortly before the death of Nelson Mandela. Idris Elba was nominated
best actor in a drama for his role as the South African
anti-apartheid leader.
But another film from The Weinstein Company, civil rights drama "Lee
Daniels' The Butler," which earned three SAG acting nods, received
no Golden Globe nominations.
"Rush," the story of rival Formula One drivers in the 1970s from
director Ron Howard, got legs from the Globe nominations after a
strong performance globally, but a lackluster box office in the
United States.
"It's a real thrill, especially in such a year
considered this rich with really interesting, effective movies,"
Howard said.
The French lesbian love story and Cannes film festival winner "Blue
is the Warmest Color" was predictably nominated for best
foreign-language film. It will compete against "The Great Beauty"
from Italy, Denmark's "The Hunt," Iran's "The Past" and the animated
Japanese film "The Wind Rises."
In television, Golden Globe nominations highlighted some new and
edgy shows, like the history of sexual study in "Masters of Sex" and
the Netflix political thriller "House of Cards," both nominated for
best drama. Old favorites like the advertising industry drama "Mad
Men" were excluded.
(Additional reporting by Patricia Reaney
in New York; editing by Vicki Allen)
[© 2013 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
