Golden Globes 2015: "Birdman" leads with 7 nominations
Nominations for the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards were unveiled Thursday morning, and "Birdman" leads with bids in seven categories.
The film, about a Hollywood star trying to mount a serious drama on Broadway, is among those nominated for best motion picture, comedy or musical, as well as for actor Michael Keaton, supporting actors Emma Stone and Edward Norton and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
Richard Linklater's coming-of-age saga "Boyhood" and World War II code-breaker tale "The Imitation Game" trailed with five nods apiece. Those two films lead a best drama category that also includes true crime drama "Foxcatcher," civil rights drama "Selma" and the Stephen Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything."
"Birdman" will compete in the comedy category alongside Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," the Disney musical "Into the Woods," the independent British film "Pride" and Bill Murray's St. Vincent.
"Boyhood," thus far the critical darling and the perceived front-runner of Hollywood's awards season, added nominations for Linklater's direction and script, and supporting actors Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette.
"The Imitation Game," starring Benedict Cumberbatch as mathematician Alan Turing, also went over well with the HFPA. In addition to its best picture nod, the Weinstein Co. release nominated Cumberbatch for best actor, Keira Knightley for best supporting actress, Graham Moore for best screenplay and Alexandre Desplat for best score.
The other nominees for best actor in a drama were Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher"), David Oyelowo ("Selma"), Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything") and Jake Gyllenhaal ("Nightcrawler").
In the best actress, comedy or musical, category, the young Quvenzhane Wallis ("Annie") joined a battery of veteran performers in Julianne Moore ("Maps to the Stars"), Helen Mirren ("The Hundred-Foot Journey"), Amy Adams ("Big Eyes") and Emily Blunt ("Into the Woods").
On the dramatic side, the best actress category was notable for two stars in notably less adorned performances: Reese Witherspoon in the hiking drama "Wild" and Jennifer Aniston for "Cake." Also nominated were Moore (her second, for "Still Alice"), Felicity Jones ("The Theory of Everything") and Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl").
One of the surprise winners of the day was "Grand Budapest Hotel." Along with a best picture nod in comedy, it earned nominations for Ralph Fiennes as best actor, and Wes Anderson for screenplay and director.
Fiennes and Keaton were joined in best actor, comedy or musical, by Bill Murray ("St. Vincent") and in a few less expected choices, Joaquin Phoenix for "Inherent Vice" and Christoph Waltz for "Big Eyes."
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association's way of dividing the movie world in half allows some extra love for funnier films often edged out by their more serious brethren. The drama-comedy separation isn't always clean (the black-and-white yuckfest "Nebraska" somehow squeaked into comedy last year), but the Globes' embrace of comedy (along with hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler) has often made for a livelier mix.
In the TV categories, the best drama series nominations went to "The Affair," ''Downton Abbey," ''Game of Thrones," ''The Good Wife" and "House of Cards." The nominees for best TV comedy series are: "Girls," ''Jane the Virgin," ''Orange is the New Black," ''Silicon Valley," and "Transparent."
The nominations were announced live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California." Kate Beckinsale, Jeremy Piven, Paula Patton and Peter Krause were on hand to read the nominees in the top categories.
For the third time in a row, the Globes telecast will be hosted by Fey and Poehler. The show will air live from the Beverly Hilton on Sunday, Jan. 11. Last year's awards drew 20.9 million viewers, marking it the most-watched Globes since 2004.
The Hollywood Foreign Press, a collection of about 85 largely freelance journalists, is known for their occasionally curious picks and their penchant for finding reason to honor big-name celebrities. So some curveballs will likely be tossed Thursday, though their influence on the larger Oscar race will be less certain.
Thus far, Linklater's long-in-the-making "Boyhood" has emerged as the awards season favorite, taking top honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. But support is also strong for "Birdman" (which topped the Gotham Independent Awards), "Selma," "The Imitation Game" and "The Theory of Everything."
On Wednesday, the Screen Actors Guild -- a strong predictor of the Academy Awards since its memberships overlap a lot -- nominated the ensemble casts of "Birdman," ''Boyhood," ''The Imitation Game," ''The Theory of Everything" and "Grand Budapest Hotel" for the top prize at its 21st annual SAG Awards.
Last year, the Globes chose the eventual Academy Awards best-picture winner, "12 Years a Slave," as its best drama. Best comedy or musical went to "American Hustle."