Julianne Moore, 'Boyhood,' 'Birdman' Earn Golden Globe Love

Birdman” continued to build momentum toward Oscar night today, scoring a leading seven nominations for the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards, including nods for best motion picture comedy/musical and best actor for Michael Keaton.

“Birdman” will compete for best comedy/musical film with “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “Into the Woods,” “Pride” and “St. Vincent.”

Nominated for best motion picture drama were “Boyhood,” “Foxcatcher,” “The Imitation Game,” “Selma” and “The Theory of Everything.”

In addition to Keaton, nominations for best actor in a comedy/musical went to Ralph Fiennes for “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Bill Murray for “St. Vincent,” Joaquin Phoenix for “Inherent Vice” and Christoph Waltz for “Big Eyes.”

Competing for best actress in a comedy/musical are Amy Adams for “Big Eyes,” Emily Blunt for “Into the Woods,” Helen Mirren for “The Hundred-Foot Journey,” Julianne Moore for “Maps to the Stars” and Quvenzhane Wallis for “Annie.”

Moore was also nominated for best actress in a drama for her role as a linguistics professor diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in “Still Alice.” Reese Witherspoon was nominated for her role as a woman sorting out her life during a 1,100-mile hike in “Wild,” along with Jennifer Aniston for “Cake,” Felicity Jones for “The Theory of Everything” and Rosamund Pike for “Gone Girl.”

For best actor in a drama, nominations went to Steve Carell for “Foxcatcher,” Benedict Cumberbatch for “The Imitation Game,” Jake Gyllenhaal for “Nightcrawler,” David Oyelowo for “Selma” and Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything.”

On the television side of the awards, nominations for best drama went to traditional favorites “Downton Abbey,” “Game of Thrones,” “The Good Wife” and “House of Cards,” along with newcomer “The Affair.”

Julianna Margulies was nominated for best actress in a drama for “The Good Wife,” along with Viola Davis for “How to Get Away with Murder,” Claire Danes for “Homeland,” Ruth Wilson for “The Affair” and Robin Wright for “House of Cards.”

Kevin Spacey of “House of Cards” scored another nomination for best actor in a drama. He will be challenged by Clive Owen for “The Knick,” Liev Schreiber for “Ray Donovan,” James Spader for “The Blacklist” and Dominic West for “The Affair.”

The television comedy nominations were a bit of a surprise, with Emmy powerhouse “Modern Family” and last year’s winner “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” ignored in favor of “Girls,” “Jane the Virgin,” “Orange is the New Black,” “Silicon Valley” and “Transparent.”

Perennial nominees Edie Falco and Julia Louis-Dreyfus were again tabbed for best comedy series actress for their work in “Nurse Jackie” and “Veep,” respectively. Lena Dunham was nominated for “Girls,” along with Gina Rodriguez of “Jane the Virgin” and Taylor Schilling for “Orange is the New Black.” Louis C.K. of “Louie” leads the list of comedy actor nominees. Don Cheadle will also compete for the honor for his work in “House of Lies.” William H. Macy of “Shameless,” Jeffrey Tambor of “Transparent” and Ricky Gervais of “Derek” round out the category.

HBO’s acclaimed “True Detective” was competing for best miniseries or television movie with “Fargo,” “The Missing,” “The Normal Heart” and “Olive Kitteridge.”

The Golden Globes will be presented Jan. 11 at the Beverly Hilton, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning as hosts for the third consecutive year. During the ceremony, George Clooney will be presented with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s Cecil B. DeMille Award honoring his “incredible impact on the world of entertainment.”

• City News Service
• Photo Credit: Wikipedia Commons