Heaping seven nominations on both the con-artist melodrama “American Hustle” and the grimly historical “12 Years a Slave,” the Golden Globes nominations set up a showdown of contrasts: comedy and drama, light and dark, white and black.
The two films were validated as Academy Awards front-runners in the Globes nominations announced Thursday in Beverly Hills, Calif., by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, refining what had been a scattered awards season in a year many consider encouragingly plentiful of worthy movies.
“I feel this film is pivotal and just good for the world,” said Lupita Nyong’o, who was nominated for best supporting actress. The other nominations for “12 Years a Slave” include best picture, drama; best actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor; best director for Steve McQueen; and best supporting actor for Michael Fassbender.
“American Hustle” received nominations for best picture, comedy; David O. Russell for best director; Christian Bale for best actor, comedy; Amy Adams for best actress, comedy; and Jennifer Lawrence, last year’s Oscar darling, for best supporting actress.
The distinction drawn by the Globes between drama and comedy-musical won’t be there for Oscar voters, who’ll have to weigh the differences of “12 Years a Slave” and “American Hustle” — that classic dichotomy of hard-to-watch and easy-on-the-eyes — against each other.
The field can’t be said to have narrowed too much, though. The innovative, 3-D space odyssey “Gravity,” which received four nominations Thursday including best dramatic film and best actress for Sandra Bullock, will surely be more of a heavyweight at the Academy Awards, which honor technical-achievement categories that the Globes don’t.
The 1960s Greenwich Village folk tale “Inside Llewyn Davis” (three nods) and the soulful, futuristic romance “Her” (three nominations) have each won best film from other groups. Support is also strong for Alexander Payne’s father-son road trip “Nebraska” (five nominations), the Somali pirate thriller “Captain Phillips” (four nods) and Martin Scorsese’s wild high-finance party “The Wolf of Wall Street” (two nominations). All five were nominated for best picture.
Some of the categories
Movie, drama: “12 Years a Slave,” “Captain Phillips,” “Gravity,” “Philomena,” “Rush”
Movie, musical or comedy: D “American Hustle,” “Her,” “Inside Llewyn Davis,” “Nebraska,” “The Wolf of Wall Street”
Actress, movie, drama: Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”; Sandra Bullock, “Gravity”; Judi Dench, “Philomena”; Emma Thompson, “Saving Mr. Banks”; Kate Winslet, “Labor Day”
Actor, movie, drama: C Chiwetel Ejiofor, “12 Years a Slave”; Idris Elba, “Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom”; Tom Hanks, “Captain Phillips”; Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”; Robert Redford, “All Is Lost”
TV series, drama: “Breaking Bad,” “Downton Abbey,” “The Good Wife,” “House of Cards,” “Masters of Sex”
TV Series, comedy: “The Big Bang Theory,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Girls,” “Modern Family,” “Parks and Recreation”
