Golden Globe Award voters soared with “Birdman” — this year’s movie nomination leader with seven — and continued to keep broadcast TV shows at arm’s length.
The nominations for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s 72nd annual Golden Globes announced Thursday revealed few surprises — except for a complete snub of Golden Globe darling Angelina Jolie and her POW drama, “Unbroken.”
That paved the way for “Birdman,” the quirky backstage comedy featuring Michael Keaton as an aging actor, to emerge as a leading candidate when Oscar nominations are announced early next year.
“The Imitation Game,” about British codebreakers, and “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater’s one-of-a-kind film captured over 10 years of a child’s life, finished with five nominations each, including the top prize, best motion picture drama.
“It’s a personal film,” Linklater told the News. “But at the end of the road, over 450 people worked on this over 10 years. It’s kind of cool for all of them.”
The other best drama nominees are “Selma,” “Foxcatcher” and “The Theory of Everything.”
“Birdman” is a frontrunner in the other top category, best musical or comedy film. It will compete with “Into the Woods,” “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “St. Vincent” and “Pride” when Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host the casual, boozy awards show on Jan. 11.
Linklater and “Birdman” director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu face David Fincher (“Gone Girl“), Ava DuVernay (“Selma”) and Wes Anderson (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”) as top movie helmsman.
That means no Angelina Jolie — repeat, no Angelina Jolie — for the star’s second directorial feature.
The drama acting awards honored Julianne Moore (“Still Alice“), Felicity Jones (“The Theory of Everything”), Rosamund Pike (“Gone Girl”), Jennifer Aniston (“Cake”) and Reese Witherspoon (“Wild“) among women, and Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”), Benedict Cumberbatch (“The Imitation Game”), David Oyelowo (“Selma”), Steve Carell (“Foxcatcher”) and Jake Gyllenhaal (“Nightcrawler“) on the male side.
NEUMAIER: Golden Globes snub three very American movies
Oyelowo, who plays Martin Luther King Jr. in the Oprah Winfrey-produced civil rights epic, was surprised to get a nomination in such a strong field.
“I didn’t take anything for granted,” he said, adding he was pleased that DuVernay got a nomination, making her the first black woman to be in a position to win.
“I was just so excited to hear Ava’s name that I have a pretty bad dent in my knee from jumping so high and bashing my knee on the coffee table,” said Oyelowo. “She is a realization of Dr. King’s dream.”
Given the strength of “Birdman” with the foreign reporters, it’s no surprise that Keaton leads the pack in best musical or comedy actor, though he faces competition from Joaquin Phoenix (“Inherent Vice“), Bill Murray (“St. Vincent”), Ralph Fiennes (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”) and Christoph Waltz (“Big Eyes”).
Amy Adams is a favorite to win the women’s division of the musical or comedy acting award, thanks to her performance as a snubbed artist in “Big Eyes.” Other nominees include Emily Blunt (“Into the Woods”), Julianne Moore (“Maps to the Stars”), Helen Mirren (“The Hundred-Foot Journey“) and Quvenzhane Wallis (“Annie”).
HINCKLEY: Golden Globes snub great ahead-of-the-curve TV shows
Kids will cheer the five nominations for best animated film: “The Lego Movie”, “Big Hero 6,” “How to Train Your Dragon Part 2,” “The Boxtrolls” and “The Book of Life.”
On the TV side, Globe voters continued to ride the momentum of cable and online productions. Indeed, only two broadcast shows — “Jane the Virgin” from the CW and “The Good Wife” on CBS — were nominated in the two best series categories.
Newcomer Gina Rodriguez’ show will seek the best comedy series award against “Silicon Valley,” “Orange Is the New Black,” “Girls,” and “Transparent,” while Julianna Margulies’ legal drama will fight it out for best drama against “Game of Thrones,” “House of Cards,” “Downton Abbey” and “The Affair.”
Acting nominations also reflected the strength of cable and online programming.
Best actor nominations in drama included Kevin Spacey (“House of Cards“), James Spader (“The Blacklist”), Clive Owen (“The Knick“), Dominic West (“The Affair”) and Liev Schreiber (“Ray Donovan”), while best drama actress nods went to Viola Davis (“How to Get Away With Murder“), Robin Wright (“House of Cards”), Ruth Wilson (“The Affair“), Margulies and Claire Danes (“Homeland“).
And the best comic actor nominations included Jeffrey Tambor (“Transparent”), Ricky Gervais (“Derek”), Louis C.K. (“Louie“), Don Cheadle (“House of Lies”) and William H. Macy (“Shameless”), while the comic actress nominations were Lena Dunham (“Girls”), Taylor Schilling (“Orange Is the New Black”), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (“Veep”), Edie Falco (“Nurse Jackie”) and Rodriguez.
Dunham learned of her nomination only when her dog walker woke her up Thursday morning, prompting her to check her phone.
“Embarrassingly enough, that’s what woke me up to check my messages,” the HBO star told the News . “So I just peeked at my phone, and there were some really nice congratulations messages. I poked my boyfriend. He was wearing ear plugs, but he appeared happy.”
The best mini series category was dominated by cable: “True Detective” leads the fight against “Fargo,” “The Normal Heart,” “Olive Kitteridge” and “The Missing.”
ON A MOBILE DEVICE? CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO.
