BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. - The British monarchy tale "The King's Speech" led Golden Globe contenders Tuesday with seven nominations, including best drama and acting honors for Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush.
Other best-drama nominees were the psychosexual dance thriller "Black Swan," the boxing saga "The Fighter," the sci-fi blockbuster "Inception" and the Facebook chronicle "The Social Network."
Nominees in the Globes' other best-picture category, for musical or comedy, are the Lewis Carroll fantasy "Alice in Wonderland," the song-and-dance extravaganza "Burlesque," the lesbian-family tale "The Kids Are All Right," the action tale "Red" and the romantic thriller "The Tourist."
"The Social Network" and "The Fighter" tied for second with six nominations each. Among nominations for "The Social Network" were Jesse Eisenberg as best dramatic actor, Andrew Garfield as supporting actor and David Fincher as director.
"The Fighter" earned four acting nominations, best actor for Mark Wahlberg and supporting honors for Christian Bale, Amy Adams and Melissa Leo. Its nominations also included a directing slot for David O. Russell.
"We were hopeful for a couple, but to get this number was unexpected, exciting, and when it comes to the actors, so well deserved on their front," said "The Fighter" producer Ryan Kavanaugh. "Everyone brought their A-game."
Johnny Depp earned two nominations, as best musical or comedy actor for "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Tourist."
Along with Eisenberg, Firth and Wahlberg, best dramatic actor contenders are James Franco for the survival story "127 Hours" and Ryan Gosling for the marital tale "Blue Valentine."
Nominees for best dramatic actress are Halle Berry for the multiple-personality drama "Frankie and Alice," Nicole Kidman for the grieving-parent tale "Rabbit Hole," Jennifer Lawrence for the Ozarks crime yarn "Winter's Bone," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and Michelle Williams for "Blue Valentine."
Along with Fincher and Russell, directing nominees are Darren Aronofsky for "Black Swan," Tom Hooper for "The King's Speech" and Christopher Nolan for "Inception."
Nolan's sci-fi hit also earned nominations for screenplay and musical score, but its cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, was snubbed for acting slots.
Joel and Ethan Coen's Western "True Grit," starring Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, was shut out completely.
Joining Depp in the musical or comedy actor race are Paul Giamatti in the curmudgeon chronicle "Barney's Version," Jake Gyllenhaal in the romance "Love and Other Drugs" and Kevin Spacey in the Jack Abramoff saga "Casino Jack."
Depp's "The Tourist" co-star Angelina Jolie is among musical or comedy actress nominees. Also competing are Annette Bening and Julianne Moore as a lesbian couple in "The Kids Are All Right," Anne Hathaway in "Love and Other Drugs" and Emma Stone in the high school romp "Easy A."
The animation category is filled with blockbusters, led by "Toy Story 3," ''How to Train Your Dragon" and "Despicable Me." The current hit "Tangled" also made the cut, along with the upcoming French tale "The Illusionist."
"When we were making 'Toy Story 3,' I first and foremost did not have any awards thoughts in my mind at all while we were making it, especially because we had a '3' in the title," said "Toy Story 3" direcor Lee Unkrich. "Sequels typically aren't included at awards time."
"Glee" leads TV contenders with five nominations, including comedy series and acting honors for Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer and Matthew Morrison.
Other TV comedy series picks were "30 Rock," ''The Big Bang Theory," ''The Big C," ''Modern Family" and "Nurse Jackie." Drama series nominees were "Boardwalk Empire," ''Dexter," ''The Good Wife," ''Mad Men" and "The Walking Dead."
Hollywood's second-highest film honors, the Globes traditionally were a solid weather vane for predicting which film might triumph at the Academy Awards. But the Globes have provided murky forecasts in recent times. In the last six years, only a single recipient of one of the Globe best-film prizes has gone on to win best picture at the Oscars - 2008's "Slumdog Millionaire."
That came after a stretch of eight-straight years when a Globe winner in either the dramatic or musical-comedy category went on to claim the best-picture Oscar.
Like the Globes, the Oscars will feature 10 best-picture nominees, but in a single category, after academy overseers doubled the number of contenders so a broader range of films could compete.
With two acclaimed dramas - "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network" - considered front-runners this time, there are prospects of another divergent year between the Globes and the Oscars, whose nominations come out Jan. 25, nine days after the Globes are presented.
"The Social Network" already has snagged two key prizes as both Los Angeles and New York film critics groups picked it as the year's best movie. The National Board of Review, a group of film historians, educators and students, also picked "The Social Network" as best of the year.
The Globes and Oscars typically line up better on acting winners. Last year, "Avatar" won best drama at the Globes and "The Hurt Locker" took best picture at the Oscars. But all four Oscar acting recipients - Sandra Bullock for "The Blind Side," Jeff Bridges for "Crazy Heart," Mo'Nique for "Precious" and Christoph Waltz for "Inglourious Basterds" - also won prizes at the Globes first.
Clear favorites have emerged this season for best actor (Firth in "The King's Speech") and supporting actor (Bale in "The Fighter").
Bening for "The Kids Are All Right" and Portman for "Black Swan" could wind up in a two-woman race for best actress at the Oscars, while the supporting-actress category is up for grabs among prospects that include Adams and Leo for "The Fighter," Bonham Carter for "The King's Speech" and 14-year-old newcomer Hailee Steinfeld for "True Grit."
No matter how the two awards shows line up on winners, the stars generally can count on a good time at the Globes, a more laid-back, dinner-and-drinks affair than the stately Oscars.
The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 85 critics and reporters for overseas outlets.
Robert De Niro, an eight-time Globe nominee who won a best-actor prize there for "Raging Bull," will receive the group's Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement.
Ricky Gervais is returning as host of the Globes ceremony, which will air live Jan. 16 on NBC.
Nominees for the 68th annual Golden Globe Awards, announced Tuesday in Beverly Hills, Calif.:
MOTION PICTURES
- Picture, Drama: "Black Swan," ''The Fighter," ''Inception," ''The King's Speech," ''The Social Network."
- Picture, Musical or Comedy: "Alice in Wonderland," ''Burlesque," ''The Kids Are All Right," ''Red," ''The Tourist."
- Actor, Drama: Jesse Eisenberg, "The Social Network"; Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"; James Franco, "127 Hours"; Ryan Gosling, "Blue Valentine"; Mark Wahlberg, "The Fighter."
- Actress, Drama: Halle Berry, "Frankie and Alice"; Nicole Kidman, "Rabbit Hole"; Jennifer Lawrence, "Winter's Bone"; Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"; Michelle Williams, "Blue Valentine."
- Director: Darren Aronofsky, "Black Swan"; David Fincher, "The Social Network"; Tom Hooper, "The King's Speech"; Christopher Nolan, "Inception"; David O. Russell, "The Fighter."
- Actor, Musical or Comedy: Johnny Depp, "Alice in Wonderland"; Johnny Depp, "The Tourist"; Paul Giamatti, "Barney's Version"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Love and Other Drugs"; Kevin Spacey, "Casino Jack."
- Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "The Kids Are All Right"; Julianne Moore, "The Kids Are All Right"; Anne Hathaway, "Love and Other Drugs"; Angelina Jolie, "The Tourist"; Emma Stone, "Easy A."
- Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, "The Fighter"; Michael Douglas, "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps"; Andrew Garfield, "The Social Network"; Jeremy Renner, "The Town"; Geoffrey Rush, "The King's Speech."
- Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"; Helena Bonham Carter, "The King's Speech"; Mila Kunis, "Black Swan"; Amy Adams, "The Fighter"; Jacki Weaver, "Animal Kingdom."
- Foreign Language: "Biutiful," ''The Concert," ''The Edge," ''I Am Love," ''In a Better World."
- Animated Film: "Toy Story 3," ''The Illusionist," ''How to Train Your Dragon," ''Despicable Me," ''Tangled."
- Screenplay: Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy, "127 Hours"; Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg, "The Kids Are All Right"; Christopher Nolan, "Inception"; David Seidler, "The King's Speech"; Aaron Sorkin, "The Social Network."
- Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, "The King's Speech"; Danny Elfman, "Alice in Wonderland"; A.R. Rahman, "127 Hours"; Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, "The Social Network"; Hans Zimmer, "Inception."
- Original Song: "Bound to You" (written by Samuel Dixon, Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler), "Burlesque"; "Coming Home" (written by Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges), "Country Strong"; "I See the Light," (written by Alan Menken, Glenn Slater), "Tangled"; "There's a Place for Us" (written by Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey), "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader"; "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," (written by Diane Warren), "Burlesque."
TELEVISION
- Series, Drama: "Boardwalk Empire," HBO; "Dexter," Showtime; "The Good Wife," CBS; "Mad Men," AMC; "The Walking Dead," AMC.
- Actor, Drama: Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"; Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"; Hugh Laurie, "House."
- Actress, Drama: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Elisabeth Moss, "Mad Men"; Piper Perabo, "Covert Affairs"; Katey Sagal, "Sons of Anarchy"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer."
- Series, Musical or Comedy: "30 Rock," NBC; "The Big Bang Theory," CBS; "The Big C," Showtime; "Glee," Fox; "Modern Family," ABC; "Nurse Jackie," Showtime.
- Actress, Musical or Comedy: Toni Collette, "The United States of Tara"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Tina Fey, "30 Rock"; Laura Linney, "The Big C"; Lea Michele, "Glee."
- Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Steve Carell, "The Office"; Thomas Jane, "Hung"; Matthew Morrison, "Glee"; Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory."
- Miniseries or Movie: "Carlos," Sundance Channel; "The Pacific," HBO; "Pillars of the Earth," Starz; "Temple Grandin," HBO; "You Don't Know Jack," HBO.
- Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Hayley Atwell, "Pillars of the Earth"; Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin"; Judi Dench, "Return to Cranford"; Romola Garai, "Emma"; Jennifer Love Hewitt, "The Client List."
- Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, "Luther"; Ian McShane, "Pillars of the Earth"; Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack"; Dennis Quaid, "The Special Relationship"; Edgar Ramirez, "Carlos."
- Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Hope Davis, "The Special Relationship"; Jane Lynch, "Glee"; Kelly Macdonald, "Boardwalk Empire"; Julia Stiles, "Dexter"; Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family."
- Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Scott Caan, "Hawaii Five-O"; Chris Colfer, "Glee"; Chris Noth, "The Good Wife"; Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family"; David Strathairn, "Temple Grandin."
PREVIOUSLY ANNOUNCED
Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award: Robert De Niro.