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Your support makes all the difference.First blood in the star-studded battle that will eventually end at February's Oscars has been struck by the British film industry, after a home-grown costume drama called The King's Speech topped the shortlist for next month's Golden Globe awards, with nominations in seven categories.
The independent movie, a portrayal of King George VI's efforts to cure his stammer, won nods for all three of its major stars, Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. It is now the firm favourite to walk off with the night's most prestigious award, for Best Drama.
Yesterday's shortlist, unveiled before dawn in Los Angeles by actors including Mrs Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, was short on surprises and suggests that, as widely expected, the coming Hollywood awards season will revolve firmly around a battle between The King's Speech and a major studio rival, The Social Network, David Fincher's take on the creation of Facebook.
The latter film, a biopic of Mark Zuckerberg which has already made $190m at the box office, got six nominations, including one for its star, Jesse Eisenberg, as Best Actor in a Drama. Co-star Andrew Garfield, the young Brit who was this year cast as Spiderman, was also nominated, for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama.
Yesterday's other big winner was The Fighter, a gritty portrayal of the life of the professional boxer "Irish" Micky Ward starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. It served notice that it will be a major player in the coming weeks and months, with six nods, most of them in acting categories. The Golden Globes is Hollywood's second most prestigious awards show. Victory in the event, which will be hosted again this year by the British comedian Ricky Gervais, is traditionally supposed to be a vital precursor to success at the Oscars.
By that logic, other films to watch out for are Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, a drama set in the world of ballet which won four nominations, including one for its star, Natalie Portman, and The Kids are All Right, a portrayal of a lesbian couple's family crisis, which got nods for its co-stars, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore.
Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, about the hiker Aaron Ralston, who in 2003 cut off his own arm to escape from beneath a fallen boulder, was nominated three times and is a lively outsider.
The Globes differ from Oscars in separating Drama from Comedy. They also honour the stars of television. In that realm, this year's shortlist was dominated by old favourites such as Glee, 30 Rock, Mad Men, Dexter and Modern Family. The most successful newcomer to the TV categories was Martin Scorcese's Prohibition-era mini-series Boardwalk Empire, with three nominations, including one for Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald and one for the show's star, Steve Buscemi.
Despite their status the Golden Globes – voted on by 80-odd occasional journalists who make up the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – have recently been an unreliable indicator of Oscar success. In the past six years, the movie selected as Best Drama went on to scoop the Academy Award for Best Picture just once: Slumdog Millionaire in 2009.
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Golden Globes nominations in full
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network
Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – Drama
Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network
Colin Firth - The King's Speech
James Franco - 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter
Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – Drama
Halle Berry - Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman - Black Swan
Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine
Best motion picture – Comedy or musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist
Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – Comedy or musical
Johnny Depp - Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp - The Tourist
Paul Giamatti - Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal - Love And Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey - Casino Jack
Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – Comedy or musical
Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway - Love and Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie - The Tourist
Julianne Moore - The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone - Easy A
Best animated feature film
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3
Best foreign language film
Biutiful (Mexico/Spain)
The Concert (France)
The Edge (Russia)
I Am Love (Lo Sono L'amore) (Italy)
In A Better World (Denmark)
Best Director – Motion Picture
Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan
David Fincher - The Social Network
Tom Hooper - The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan - Inception
David O Russell - The Fighter
Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture
Christian Bale - The Fighter
Michael Douglas - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield - The Social Network
Jeremy Renner - The Town
Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech
Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture
Amy Adams - The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech
Mila Kunis - Black Swan
Melissa Leo - The Fighter
Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom
Best screenplay – Motion picture
Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy - 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg - The Kids Are All Right
Christopher Nolan - Inception
David Seidler - The King's Speech
Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network
Best original score – Motion picture
Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech
Danny Elfman - Alice In Wonderland
Ar Rahman - 127 Hours
Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross - The Social Network
Hans Zimmer - Inception
Best original song – Motion picture
"Bound To You" - Burlesque (Music by: Samuel Dixon. Lyrics by: Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler)
"Coming Home" - Country Strong (Music and lyrics by: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges)
"I See The Light" - Tangled (Music by: Alan Menken. Lyrics by: Glenn Slater)
"There's A Place For Us" - Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (Music and lyrics by: Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey)
"You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" - Burlesque (Music and lyrics by: Diane Warren)
Best television series – Drama
Boardwalk Empire (HBO)
Dexter (Showtime)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Mad Men (AMC)
The Walking Dead (AMC)
Best performance by an actor in a television series – Drama
Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad
Michael C Hall - Dexter
Jon Hamm - Mad Men
Hugh Laurie - House
Best performance by an actress in a television series – Drama
Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men
Piper Perabo - Covert Affairs
Katey Sagal - Sons Of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer
Best television series – Comedy or musical
30 Rock (NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
The Big C (Showtime)
Glee (Fox)
Modern Family (ABC)
Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
Best performance by an actress in a television series – Comedy or musical
Toni Collette - United States Of Tara
Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Laura Linney - The Big C
Lea Michele - Glee
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