Lesbian romance 'Carol' tops Golden Globes nominations

"Carol," a lesbian romance set in 1950s New York and starring Cate Blanchett, topped nominations for the Golden Globes on Thursday, as Hollywood's awards season revs into high gear ahead of the all-important Oscars.

The film -- starring Blanchett as a housewife who falls for a store clerk played by Rooney Mara -- earned five nominations, including for best motion picture drama and for its two star actresses.

Financial crisis film "The Big Short," revenge thriller "The Revenant" and biopic "Steve Jobs" followed close behind with four nominations each for the Globes, which will be handed out in Beverly Hills on January 10.

Apart from "Carol", the other best motion picture drama nominees are "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Revenant," harrowing kidnap tale "Room" and "Spotlight," which recounts the Boston Globe's investigation into sex abuse in the Catholic Church.

In the race for best comedy or musical film are "The Big Short," David O. Russell dramedy "Joy," space blockbuster "The Martian," zany caper "Spy" and Amy Schumer's breakout film "Trainwreck."

Timothy Gray, awards editor at industry magazine Variety, said the nominations reflected the cross-section of films in the running for this year's prizes.

"There is a wide range here when you've got 'Carol,' which is this 1952 romance, or a film like 'Brooklyn,' and then you've got 'Mad Max' and 'The Martian' which are big spectacles," he told AFP. "That's a good mix in there."

"The Golden Globes are encompassing a lot of what's going on in film."

The Globes nominations were announced a day after the Screen Actors Guild award contenders. "Trumbo" topped that list with three nods, including best ensemble cast and best lead actor for Bryan Cranston.

Tinseltown's awards season culminates with the Oscars on February 28.

In the category for best actress in a drama, apart from Blanchett and Mara, Brie Larson was nominated for her portrayal of a mother held captive with her young son in "Room," and Alicia Vikander earned a nod for her role alongside Eddie Redmayne in "The Danish Girl," a film about transgender pioneer Lili Elbe.

Also nominated in that category was Saoirse Ronan for "Brooklyn," a 1950s tale about immigration.

For best actor in a drama, the nominees are Cranston, Redmayne, Leonardo DiCaprio for "The Revenant," Michael Fassbender for "Steve Jobs" and Will Smith for "Concussion," a story about a pathologist who diagnosed degenerative brain disease in American football players.

The nominations veered from the predictions of industry experts, who had bet on "Spotlight" and "The Revenant" getting the most nods.

Critics are predicting that DiCaprio will finally take home his first Oscar for his role in the latter, an American biographical epic set in the 1800s and inspired by legendary frontiersman Hugh Glass.

In the best foreign movie category, four European films and one from Latin America made the cut -- "The Brand New Testament" (Belgium/France/Luxembourg), "The Club" (Chile), "The Fencer (Finland/Germany/Estonia), "Mustang" (France) and "Son of Saul" (Hungary).

Netflix leads TV nominations

On the television front, no single series stood out from the pack, with six earning three Globes nominations each -- "American Crime," "Fargo," "Mr. Robot," "Outlander," "Transparent," and "Wolf Hall."

Streaming pioneer Netflix led the overall television nominations with eight nods, including two each for drug cartel drama "Narcos" and "Orange is the New Black," a comedy set in a women's prison.

Among the acting highlights, Vikander, Lily Tomlin, Mark Rylance and Idris Elba each earned two nominations.

Netflix also made a breakthrough at the SAG nominations Wednesday earning 10 nods and overtaking HBO for the first time in a top awards context.

"When Netflix started not so long ago, it was a company that delivered DVDs via the post office," Robert Thompson, professor of television and popular culture at Syracuse University, told AFP.

"Today they are turning out to be one of the most exciting places on television."

Although more high-profile than the SAGs, the Golden Globes are seen as less of an indicator of Oscars glory, as a relatively small group of non-US journalists -- the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) -- chooses the winners, rather than the industry itself.

The HFPA is made up of some 90 entertainment editors and writers from 55 countries who report on the industry year-round.

The January 10 ceremony will be hosted by British comedian Ricky Gervais and will honor actor Denzel Washington for his contribution to cinema.