Los Angeles: "Mank", filmmaker David Fincher's alluring take on "Citizen Kane" writer, and Aaron Sorkin's timely court drama "The Trial of Chicago 7" on Wednesday led the film nominations for 2021 Golden Globes, finally kicking off the pandemic-hit Hollywood award season.
The nominations for the Globes, which marks the beginning of Hollywood award season that culminates with the Oscars, were announced by actors Taraji P Henson and Sarah Jessica Parker virtually.
Besides "Mank" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7", who have six and five nods, respectively, the leading contenders for the awards are Anthony Hopkins-starrer "The Father" and Chloe Zhao-directed "Nomadland" with four nominations each.
These movies are set to compete with each other in the best motion picture (drama), with Carey Mulligan's #MeToo revenge story "Promising Young Woman" also in the fray. The film has also garnered four nods.
Oscar winner Regina King's directorial debut "One Night In Miami" bagged three nods for best director, best supporting actor and best original song.
Fincher is also nominated in the best director race and is joined by Sorkin, Zhao and Emerald Fennell of "Promising Young Woman".
It is for the first time in the history of Golden Globes that three women filmmakers (Zhao, King and Fennell) have been nominated in the best director category. The awards had received flak last year after no woman received nomination in the segment.
Oscar winner Gary Oldman, who played the titular Mank aka Herman J. Mankiewicz in "Mank", picked up his second Globe nomination for best actor (drama).
He is pitted against Riz Ahmed ("The Sound of Metal"), Hopkins ("The Father"), Tahar Rahim ("The Mauritanian") and the late Chadwick Boseman, who has been posthumously nominated for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom".
Viola Davis, Boseman's co-star from "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom", leads the race for best actress (drama) as she will go up against Frances McDormand of Nomadland, Mulligan of Promising Young Woman, Vanessa Kirby of Pieces of a Woman and Andra Day of The United States vs Billie.
The nominations for best motion picture (musical or comedy) was led by Sacha Baron Cohen's Borat Subsequent Moviefilm". The film is joined by Lin Manuel Miranda's "Hamilton", Andy Samberg-starrer "Palm Springs", Ryan Murphy's "The Prom" and "Music", directed by singer-songwriter Sia, in the race.
Cohen, Miranda and Samberg are all nominated in the best actor (musical or comedy) category with James Corden ("The Prom") and Dev Patel (Personal History of David Copperfield) completing the segment.
The best actress (musical or comedy) category will see veteran actor Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit) going up against Rosamund Pike ("I Care A Lot"), Kate Hudson (Music), Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma) and Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm).
Baron is also nominated in the best supporting actor category for his turn as social activist Abbie Hoffman in Sorkin's "The Trial of the Chicago 7.
The other nominees in the category are - Daniel Kaluuya (Judas and the Black Messiah), Jared Leto (The Little Things), Bill Murray (On the Rocks) and Leslie Odom Jr (One Night in Miami).
Actor Amanda Seyfried picked up her maiden Golden Globe nod for her portrayal of yesteryear star Marion Davies in "Mank". She is pitted against Oscar winner Olivia Colman ("The Father"), veteran star Glenn Close (Hillbilly Elegy), Jodie Foster (The Mauritanian) and Helena Zengel (News of the World).
Fincher's late father Jack Fincher, who had originally penned the script for "Mank" in the 1990s, has been honoured with best screenplay nomination.
Sorkin, Zhao, Fennell and "The Father" scribes Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton are the other nominees.
In the best original score category, the battle is between veteran music composer Alexandre Desplat (The Midnight Sky), Ludwig Goransson (Tenet), James Newton Howard (News of the World) and Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross (Soul and Mank).
The best original song features "Io Si (Seen)" from "The Life Ahead, "Speak Now" from "One Night in Miami, Tigress & Tweed from "The United States Vs Billie Holiday", Fight for You" from "Judas and the Black Messiah" and "Hear My Voice" from "The Trial of the Chicago 7".
Disney's "Soul" and "Onward" will go up against The Croods 2, Over the Moon and "Wolfwalkers".
Steven Yeun-starrer "Minari" has only been nominated in the best foreign film category as the film's dialogue is almost entirely in Korean.
The rules stipulates that at least half of the dialogue in contenders in theGolden Globes' best drama or comedy/musical categories must be in English, a barrier that the movie failed to clear even though it is produced by an American company, features many American actors, and is directed by Lee Isaac Chung, an American filmmaker.
In the foreign film category, the movie is joined by Denmark's "Another Round", "La Llorona" (Guatemala and France), "The Life Ahead" (Italy) and "Two of Us" (France and USA).
The 2021 ceremony of Golden Globes will be held on February 28, after being delayed from its usual January date due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The event will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who return for the first time since their gig at 2015 ceremony.
However, the two stars won't be in the same room as the award ceremony is going bi-coastal. Fey will broadcast live from New York City, while Poehler will host from the Globes' usual spot inside the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California.
