'Birdman' leads 72nd Golden Globe film nominations

Los Angeles: American black comedy film "Birdman", starring Michael Keaton, has bagged a maximum of seven nominations for the 72nd Golden Globe awards, with "Boyhood" and "Imitation Game" coming close on the heels with five nominations each, it was announced here Thursday. India lost its chance this year by missing out in the foreign film category.

Two Indian films "Fandry" and "Liar's Dice" were among the 53 foreign films considered for the foreign film category, but they lost out in the race for the awards, winners of which will be announced Jan 11, 2015.

The final nominations list, which is spread across 25 categories -- 14 for movies and 11 for TV -- was announced at a hotel here by actors Kate Beckinsale, Paula Patton, Peter Krause and Jeremy Piven.

"Birdman", stands to win prizes in for the best motion picture - comedy or musical, best performance by an actor in a motion picture - comedy or musical (Keaton), best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture (Emma Stone), best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture (Edward Norton), best director - motion picture (Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu), best screenplay - motion picture and best original score - motion picture (Antonio Sanchez).

The contenders for the best motion picture - drama Golden Globe 2015 include "Boyhood", "Foxcatcher", "The Imitation Game", "Selma" and "The Theory of Everything".

For the best director - motion picture gong, Wes Anderson ("The Grand Budapest Hotel"), Ava Duvernay ("Selma"), David Fincher ("Gone Girl"), Richard Linklater ("Boyhood") and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Birdman"), are in the race.

In the best motion picture - comedy or musical slot, "Birdman" has competitors "The Grand Budapest Hotel", "Into The Woods", "Pride" and "St. Vincent".

Those competing for the best performance by an actress in a motion picture - drama trophy are Jennifer Aniston ("Cake"), Felicity Jones ("The Theory Of Everything"), Julianne Moore ("Still Alice"), Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl") and Reese Witherspoon ("Wild"), while Amy Adams ("Big Eyes"), Emily Blunt ("Into The Woods"), Helen Mirren ("The Hundred-foot Journey"), Julianne Moore ("Maps To The Stars"), Quvenzhané Wallis ("Annie") are vying for the best performance by an actress in a motion picture - comedy or musical title.

Actresses who are in contention for the best performance in a supporting role in a motion picture are Patricia Arquette ("Boyhood"), Jessica Chastain ("A Most Violent Year"), Keira Knightley ("The Imitation Game"), Meryl Streep ("Into The Woods") and Emma Stone ("Birdman").

Actors Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher"), Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game"), Jake Gyllenhaal: ("Nightcrawler"), David Oyelowo ("Selma") and Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory Of Everything") are pitted against each other for the best performance by an actor in a motion picture - drama category.

In competition for the best performance by an actor in a motion picture - comedy or musical accolades are Ralph Fiennes ("The Grand Budapest Hotel"), Bill Murray ("St. Vincent"), Joaquin Phoenix ("Inherent Vice"), Christoph Waltz ("Big Eyes") and Michael Keaton ("Birdman").

The best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture could go to anyone out of Robert Duvall ("The Judge"), Ethan Hawke ("Boyhood"), Edward Norton ("Birdman"), Mark Ruffalo ("Foxcatcher") and J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash").

For the best screenplay - motion picture trophy, the contenders include Wes Anderson ("The Grand Budapest Hotel"), Gillian Flynn ("Gone Girl"), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Birdman"), Richard Linklater ("Boyhood") and Graham Moore ("The Imitation Game").

Music plays an important part of a movie, and the best original score - motion picture award will see Alexandre Desplat ("The Imitation Game"), Johann Johannsson ("The Theory Of Everything"), Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross ("Gone Girl"), Antonio Sanchez ("Birdman") and Hans Zimmer ("Interstellar") fight neck-to-neck with each other.

Contenders for the best original song - motion picture are "Big Eyes" ("Big Eyes", music and lyrics by Lana Del Rey); "Glory" ("Selma", music and lyrics by John Legend, Common); "Mercy Is" ("Noah", music and lyrics by Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye); "Opportunity" ("Annie", music and lyrics by Greg Kurstin, Sia Furler, Will Gluck) and "Yellow Flicker Beat" ("The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1", music and lyrics by Lorde).

The best animated feature film category will see entertainers like "Big Hero 6", "The Book Of Life", "The Boxtrolls", "How To Train Your Dragon 2" and "The Lego Movie" contest for the honours, and the foreign language film section has "Force Majeure Turist" (Sweden), "Gett: The Trial Of Viviane" (Israel), "Ida" (Poland/Denmark), "Leviathan" (Russia) and "Tangerines Mandariinid" (Estonia) caught in a fight.