娱乐英语新闻:Nominations for Golden Globe Awards announced

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) kicked off the movie awards season in earnest on Tuesday, announcing nominations for the 67th Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills of Los Angeles.

    HFPA President Philip Berk delivered opening remarks before turning the podium over to actors John Krasinski and Diane Kruger and singer Justin Timberlake who delivered the announcements, which included the nominations in 25 categories for the 67th Golden Globe Awards.

    The mini-series Grey Gardens and Georgia O'Keefe took early leads with multiple nominations and "Mad Men" picked up nominations for its stars, John Hamm and January Jones, and for best dramatic series.

Actor and singer Justin Timberlake announces nominees at the Golden Globe Award nominations news conference in Beverly Hills, California December 15, 2009.

Krasinski is a past recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Award for his work in the ensemble television series "The Office." Kruger recently starred in "Inglorious Basterds" and was a star of the "National Treasure" movies.

    Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes have two categories for best picture -- one for musicals and comedies, the other for dramas.

    There are 105 dramas and 68 comedies or musicals eligible for the Golden Globes, along with 15 animated feature films and a record 69 foreign language films.

    Leading contenders for best drama include the Iraq War drama "The Hurt Locker" and "Precious: Based On The Novel 'Push' By Sapphire"; the World War II revenge fantasy "Inglourious Basterds" and the true story of South Africa's post-apartheid rugby team "Invictus."

    Musical and comedy contenders include "Up in the Air," which stars George Clooney as a frequent-flying corporate downsizer; the star-studded "Nine"; and "Julie & Julia," the fact-based tale of a New York City blogger (Amy Adams) who attempts to cook all of Julia Child's (Meryl Streep) recipes from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking."

Actors John Krasinski, Diane Kruger and Justin Timberlake (L-R) attend the Golden Globe Award nominations news conference in Beverly Hills, California December 15, 2009

    Best actor contenders in drama include Morgan Freeman ("Invictus") and Jeremy Renner ("The Hurt Locker"), with Clooney and Daniel Day-Lewis("Nine") among the musical and comedy contenders.

    Best actress drama contenders include Helen Mirren ("The Last Station") and Carey Mulligan ("An Education") with Marion Cotillard ("Nine") and Streep among the musical and comedy contenders.

    The Golden Globe Awards are often promoted as an early indicator of who will win on Oscar night, but 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire" is the only Golden Globe best picture winner that has gone on to win the best picture Academy Award in the past five years.

    Since the Golden Globes adopted the split drama/music format in1963, 67.4 percent of the films that ended up with best picture Academy Awards had first received a Golden Globe.

    The drama winner has gone on to win best picture 25 of 46 times-- 54.3 percent -- while the musical or comedy winner has won six times at the Oscars, including each of the first three years.

    The Golden Globe Awards will be presented on Jan. 17.