By John Corrado

The nominations for the 71st annual Golden Globes were just announced, with 12 Years a Slave and American Hustle leading the charge across the two Best Picture lineups, which provide a solid overview of the year’s finest achievements.

The five films in the running for Best Picture – Drama are 12 Years a Slave (7 nominations), Captain Phillips (4), Gravity (4), Philomena (3) and Rush (2).  The line up for Best Picture – Comedy or Musical includes American Hustle (7 nominations), Her (3), Inside Llewyn Davis (3), Nebraska (5), The Wolf of Wall Street (2).  The Best Director nominees are Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity), Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Alexander Payne (Nebraska) and David O. Russell (American Hustle).

Looking at these Best Picture lineups as a whole, I’m glad to see all of these films included.  It’s a nice surprise that Rush received such recognition, including a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Daniel Brühl, as the racing drama really is among the best of the year and keeps getting forgotten across other parts of the conversation.  I think at this point it’s clear that 12 years a Slave, American Hustle and Gravity are going to be the heavyweights throughout awards season, and I really can’t argue with that.  Also watch out for Her, which already has quite a strong presence with many of the precursor awards.

I think two of the biggest omissions here are Lee Daniels’ The Butler, which surprisingly received no recognition from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and the wonderful Saving Mr. Banks for Drama.  I’m also surprised that Monsters University wasn’t nominated for Best Animated, especially in such a small field.  But the fact that I’m happy with most of these nominations and there are still some ones that I think should have been included, really is a testament to the numerous great movies that we have gotten over the last few months.  I think every ballot and list of nominees is going to look slightly different this year, and that might just be what we need to keep things exciting.

The winners will be announced on January 12th in the new year, at a ceremony hosted by last year’s hilarious duo of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.  Please see below for the complete list of nominees in all fourteen of the film categories.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

12 Years a Slave

Captain Phillips

Gravity

Philomena

Rush

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

American Hustle

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

Alexander Payne – Nebraska

David O. Russell – American Hustle

Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama

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

Best Actor – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical

Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis

Joaquin Phoenix – Her

Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

Kate Winslet – Labor Day

Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Julie Delpy – Before Midnight

Greta Gerwig – Francis Ha

Julia-Louis Dreyfus – Enough Said

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips

Daniel Brühl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture

Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Nebraska

Best Screenplay

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle 

Her

Nebraska

Philomena

Best Original Score

All is Lost – Alex Ebert

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Alex Heffes

12 Years a Slave – Hans Zimmer

The Book Thief – John Williams

Gravity – Steven Price

Best Original Song

“Atlas” – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 

“Let It Go” – Frozen

“Ordinary Love” – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

“Please Mr. Kennedy” – Inside Llewyn Davis

“Sweeter Than Fiction” – One Chance

Best Foreign Language Film

Blue is the Warmest Color

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

The Wind Rises

Best Animated Feature Film 

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Frozen