BEVERLY HILLS (CNS) - Powered by Christian Bale's weight-packing portrayal of former Vice President Dick Cheney, “Vice” will carry a leading six nominations into tonight's presentation of the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards, including a nod for best comedy/musical film.
“Vice,” a comedic take on the political rise and behind-the-scenes maneuverings of Cheney, will compete for best comedy/musical with “Crazy Rich Asians,” “The Favourite,” “Green Book” and “Mary Poppins Returns.”
Competing for the best drama prize are “If Beale Street Could Talk,” “BlacKkKlansman,” “Black Panther,” “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “A Star is Born.”
“A Star is Born,” “Green Book” and the “Favourite” each have five nominations heading into the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton.
The Golden Globes are often viewed as predictive of Oscar winners, but the record is mixed. Since the Hollywood Foreign Press Association divided the film category into two formats for the Golden Globes in 1963, nearly 64 percent of the films that ended up with best picture Academy Awards had first received a Golden Globe.
The Golden Globe drama winner has gone on to win a best picture Oscar 28 of 55 times. The musical/comedy winner has won seven times at the Oscars. Last year's Globe winner for best drama film, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” lost on Oscar night to best-picture winner “The Shape of Water.”
Bale, who gained 40 pounds to portray Cheney in “Vice,” is likely the top contender to win the Globe for best actor in a comedy/musical film. He will square off with acting legend Robert Redford, who is nominated for his work in “The Old Man & The Gun,” along with Lin-Manuel Miranda for “Mary Poppins Returns,” Viggo Mortensen for “Green Book” and John C. Reilly for “Stan & Ollie.”
Emily Blunt is up for best actress in a comedy/musical for her portrayal of the classic title character in “Mary Poppins Returns.” Also vying for the prize are Olivia Colman for “The Favourite,” Elsie Fisher for “Eighth Grade,” Charlize Theron for “Tully” and Constance Wu for “Crazy Rich Asians.”
Bradley Cooper is nominated for best actor in a drama film -- as well as best director -- for his work on “A Star is Born,” while co-star Lady Gaga is nominated for best actress in a drama. Lady Gaga also has a nomination for best original song for “Shallow.”
Nominated along with Cooper for best actor in a drama film are Willem Dafoe for “At Eternity's Gate,” Lucas Hedges for “Boy Erased,” Rami Malek for “Bohemian Rhapsody” and John David Washington for “BlacKkKlansman.”
Lady Gaga will vie for best drama actress honors with Glenn Close of “The Wife,” Nicole Kidman for “Destroyer,” Melissa McCarthy for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and Rosamund Pike for “A Private War.”
The Globes combine drama and comedy/musical films for the supporting actor and actress prizes. Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz of “The Favourite” are both nominated for best supporting actress, as are Amy Adams of “Vice,” Claire Foy of “First Man” and Regina King for “If Beale Street Could Talk.”
Supporting actor nominees are Mahershala Ali of “Green Book,” Timothee Chalamet for “Beautiful Boy,” Adam Driver of “BlacKkKlansman,” Richard E. Grant for “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” and Sam Rockwell of “Vice.”
Battling Cooper for best-director honors are Alfonso Cuaron for “Roma,” Peter Farrelly for “Green Book,” Spike Lee for “BlacKkKlansman” and Adam McKay for “Vice.”
“Incredibles 2,” “Isle of Dogs,” “Mirai,” “Ralph Breaks the Internet” and “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” will battle for best animated film.
On the television side of the awards, the major broadcast networks were shut out of the best-drama-series category. FX has two shows in the category -- “The Americans” and “Pose.” Also nominated are Netflix's “Bodyguard,” Prime Video's “Homecoming” and BBC America's “Killing Eve.”
Last year's winner in the category, Hulu's “The Handmaid's Tale,” failed to earn a nomination this year. But the show's star, Elisabeth Moss, will look to repeat her win for best drama series actress. Also nominated are Caitriona Balfe of “Outlander,” Sandra Oh of “Killing Eve,” Julia Roberts for “Homecoming” and Keri Russell for “The Americans.”
Russell's co-star, Matthew Rhys, is nominated for best drama series actor, along with Jason Bateman of “Ozark,” Stephan James for “Homecoming,” Richard Madden for “Bodyguard” and Billy Porter for “Pose.”
NBC's “The Good Place” is up for best comedy series, but it will face still competition from Prime Video's Emmy-winning “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” HBO's “Barry,” Showtime's “Kidding” and Netflix's “The Kominsky Method.”
Emmy winner Rachel Brosnahan will look to repeat last year's Globe win for best actress in a comedy series for “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” She'll be squaring off with Kristen Bell of “The Good Place,” Candice Bergen of “Murphy Brown,” Alison Brie of “GLOW” and Debra Messing of “Will & Grace.”
Sacha Baron Cohen has a best comedy-series-actor nod for his headline- grabbing series “Who is America.” Jim Carrey is nominated for his work in “Kidding,” along with Michael Douglas for “The Kominsky Method,” Donald Glover for “Atlanta” and Bill Hader for “Barry.”
Nominees for best limited series or TV movie are TNT's “The Alienist,” FX's “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” Showtime's “Escape at Dannemora,” HBO's “Sharp Objects” and Prime Video's “A Very English Scandal.”
The Golden Globe Awards, presented by the roughly 90-member Hollywood Foreign Press Association, will be handed out at the Beverly Hilton in a ceremony co-hosted by actress Sandra Oh of “Killing Eve” and Andy Samberg of “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
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