Nicole Kidman, Jacki Weaver and Geoffrey Rush are on track for Oscar glory after scoring Golden Globes nominations, but fellow Australian hopefuls Naomi Watts, Peter Weir and David Michod hit major road bumps.
The Golden Globes are a significant pre-Oscar indicator, with nominations adding a surge of momentum and exposure two months out from the Academy Awards ceremony, while snubs can derail Oscar campaigns.
The Globe nominations were announced in Los Angeles on Tuesday (early Wednesday AEDT).
Kidman was nominated for her performance as a grieving mother in Rabbit Hole, Weaver continued her stunning run with a supporting actress nod for the chilling Australian crime-drama Animal Kingdom, while Rush was nominated for supporting actor for The King's Speech.
The King's Speech was the big winner with seven Globe nominations, out pointing Facebook-founding drama The Social Network and the rugged biopic about blue collar boxer Micky Ward, The Fighter, with six nominations each.
Watts could not manage a best actress in a drama nomination for Fair Game, where she played exposed CIA spy Valerie Plame.
Kidman's biggest opposition for the Globe in the category is Natalie Portman for her role as a ballet dancer in the Black Swan, while the other nominees are: Halle Berry (Frankie and Alice); Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine); and Jennifer Lawrence (Winter's Bone).
Weaver's fairytale run to a potential Oscar win, which included an AFI and a swag of American awards, received its largest positive shot to date with the supporting actress Globe nomination for playing Smurf, the diabolical matriarch of a Melbourne family of hoodlums in Animal Kingdom.
Weaver's competitors are: Amy Adams (The Fighter); Helena Bonham Carter (The King's Speech); Mila Kunis (Black Swan); and Melissa Leo (The Fighter) Animal Kingdom missed out on a nomination for best film drama, while director Michod also was bypassed. Weir was also considered an outsider to be nominated in the directing category for the epic, The Way Back.
The Globes' director nominees are: Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan); David Fincher (The Social Network); Tom Hooper (The Kings Speech); Christopher Nolan (Inception); and David O Russell (The Fighter).
Rush, a veteran of Globe and Oscar ceremonies, faces a tussle for the Globe with four other strong candidates: Michael Douglas (Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps); Christian Bale (The Fighter); Andrew Garfield (The Social Network); and Jeremy Renner (The Town).
Douglas, who is battling throat cancer, is the sentimental favourite. The Oscar best picture race also became clearer, although the Globes has separate drama and comedy-musical categories.
The Globes' best drama picture nominees are: Black Swan; The Fighter; Inception; The King's Speech; and The Social Network.
Rabbit Hole missed out in the category, robbing Kidman a chance of scoring two Globe trophies as she is a producer on Rabbit Hole.
The best musical-comedy picture nominees are: Alice in Wonderland; Burlesque; The Kids Are All Right; Red; and The Tourist.
In the TV categories, Toni Collette was nominated for best actress in a TV comedy series for United States of Tara, going head -to-head with Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Laura Linney (The Bic C) and Lea Michele (Glee).
In recent years Simon Baker (The Mentalist), Rachel Griffiths (Brothers & Sisters) and Rose Byrne (Damages) enjoyed nominations, but the Aussie trio of TV stars was snubbed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, an organisation of 80 journalists that decides the nominations.
The Pacific, mostly shot in Australia, was nominated for best TV mini-series while Sydney-made Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole was left out of the nominations for best animated film.
The 68th Annual Golden Globes ceremony will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on January 16.
The Oscar nominations, decided by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, will be revealed January 25 in Beverly Hills.
The 83rd Academy Awards ceremony is set for February 27 at Hollywood's Kodak Theatre.
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