第69届金球奖提名揭晓《艺术家》领跑

The nominations for the 2012 Golden Globes have been revealed, with French silent film The Artist leading with six nominations, and two George Clooney films up against each other for best drama.

This year's Golden Globe nominations reveal something of a love affair between Hollywood and France.

Martin Scorsese's Hugo and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris are both largely set in a romanticised version of the French capital.

Hugo - with three nominations in all - is in the running for best drama picture. Midnight in Paris - with four nods - is up for best picture in the musical or comedy category.

But this isn't a case of unrequited passion. In the same category is French silent film The Artist - a love letter to Hollywood's silent era.

Michel Hazanavicius's film is unusual in that it is a 21st Century movie which looks like it was made in 1927. He even shot it in Hollywood - in black and white.

French actor Jean Dujardin plays a silent screen actor who sees his career crumble with the advent of "talkies". Meanwhile, Peppy Miller (Berenice Bejo) is a pretty young extra who sees her star ascend in the era of sound.

Both Dujardin and Bejo are up for acting Globes, with Hazanavicius up for best director.

There is another French connection worth mentioning: Steven Spielberg's War Horse is set in both a picture-postcard England and the muddy, war-ravaged trenches of France during World War I.

The film - released in the UK next year - is up for best drama picture against nuanced family tale The Descendants, civil rights story The Help, Scorsese's Hugo, political thriller The Ides of March and baseball-oriented Moneyball.

But despite the recognition for War Horse as a film, Spielberg has been omitted from the best director shortlist.

George Clooney, on the other hand, is definitely in. He's nominated for political thriller The Ides of March - both as director and co-writer.

His co-star in the film, Ryan Gosling, gets a nod for best actor (drama), only to find himself up against Clooney, who is nominated for his role in The Descendants.