BEVERLY HILLS, (Reuters) – Film drama “Up in the Air” soared away with six Golden Globe nominations yesterday, more than any film, while Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep surprised Hollywood watchers with two nominations each for the major awards show.
“Up in the Air,” starring George Clooney as a corporate hatchet man forced to consider his own direction at mid-life, earned nominations for Clooney as best actor, Jason Reitman for best director and screenplay with co-writer Sheldon Turner, and for both Anna Kendrick and Vera Farmiga as supporting actress.
Close behind was “Nine,” about the life and loves of an Italian film director, with five nominations, including best musical or comedy. Its stars, Daniel Day-Lewis and Marion Cotillard, received nods for actor and actress in a musical or comedy, respectively. Penelope Cruz landed in the supporting actress group, and “Nine” received one nod for best song.
But Bullock and Streep had industry watchers buzzing at the widely-watched awards shows.
Bullock scored nominations for best dramatic actress for football film “The Blind Side” and actress in a musical or comedy with relationship movie “The Proposal.” Streep will compete against herself in the category for best actress in a musical or comedy with two movies, “Julie & Julia” and “It’s Complicated.”
Philip Berk, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association which gives out the Golden Globes, said the nominees epitomize “a fantastic year” for movies both at the box office and in terms of quality.
The Golden Globes will be given out on January 17. The annual awards are seen as a key indicator of which movies will compete for the world’s top film honors, the Oscars, in March.
Science-fiction adventure “Avatar” earned four nominations, including best drama, best director for James Cameron and original song and movie score. Quentin Tarantino’s World War Two fantasy, “Inglourious Basterds” also earned four nods: drama, director, screenplay for Tarantino and supporting actor for Christoph Waltz.
Rounding out the best film drama nominees were Iraq war movie “The Hurt Locker” and urban drama “Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire,” which each earned three nominations.
“Precious” landed newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in the category for best actress and Mo’Nique in the supporting actress group, while “Hurt Locker” brought a best director nomination to Kathryn Bigelow and a screenplay nod for Mark Boal.
Joining “Nine” in the race for best movie musical or comedy were culinary movie “Julie & Julia,” box office sensation “The Hangover” and indie hit “(500) Days of Summer,” which claimed a best actor in a comedy nod for its star, Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Joining Clooney among nominees for best dramatic actor were Jeff Bridges playing a down-and-out country singer in “Crazy Heart,” Colin Firth as a man considering suicide in “A Single Man,” Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela in “Invictus” and Tobey Maguire for “Brothers.”
In the group for best actor in a comedy or musical, Gordon-Levitt and Day-Lewis will face competition from Matt Damon in “The Informant!,” Robert Downey Jr. for “Sherlock Holmes,” and Michael Stuhlberg for “A Serious Man.”
Along with Bullock and Sidibe, best dramatic actress nods went to Helen Mirren for “The Last Station,” Emily Blunt in “The Young Victoria” and Carey Mulligan with “An Education.”
Rounding out the list of nominees for best actress in a musical or comedy was Julia Roberts in “Duplicity.”
Finally, foreign language film nominees were Italian movie “Baaria,” Spanish director Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces,” Chilean movie “The Maid,” French movie “A Prophet” and German movie “The White Ribbon.”
The Golden Globe Awards, produced by Dick Clark Productions, will air live in the United States on television network NBC and play in various countries around the world.
