The China Mail - 'One Battle After Another' leads Golden Globes noms with nine

Norwegian family dramedy "Sentimental Value" was second with eight, followed by period horror movie "Sinners" with seven and Shakespeare family drama "Hamnet" with six.

"Wicked: For Good" ended up with five nominations -- a disappointing showing for the smash hit musical, which failed to secure a nod for best musical/comedy.

The Globes, set for January 11, are widely seen as a bellwether for the Academy Awards.

The Golden Globes offer separate awards for dramas and comedies/musicals -- widening the field of stars who could walk the red carpet, and fueling the suspense.

"One Battle After Another," which centers on an aging revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his teenage daughter (Chase Infiniti), leads the contenders in the comedy/musical categories.

The film is a rollicking ride featuring leftist radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists.

It won a pile of nominations, including best comedy/musical picture, best director and five acting nods: DiCaprio, Infiniti, Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro and Teyana Taylor.

"Sentimental Value," a moving story of a fractured family, won nominations for Swedish legend Stellan Skarsgard and co-star Renate Reinsve.

It is one of several foreign language films to gain traction in the main categories, along with Brazil's "The Secret Agent" and South Korea's "No Other Choice."

"Wicked: For Good" -- the blockbuster conclusion of the film adaptation of the hit Broadway musical -- won nominations for Ariana Grande, as the bubbly pink-clad Glinda, and Tony winner Cynthia Erivo, as the green-skinned Elphaba.

It also earned two nods for best original song, but failed to make the best picture short list.

Variety chief awards editor Clayton Davis predicted before Monday's announcement that the best actress categories for the Globes would be a "Murderers' Row" of worthy candidates -- and indeed, they are.

The women up for comedy-musical lead acting honors include Oscar winner Emma Stone ("Bugonia"), Erivo, Rose Byrne ("If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You"), Kate Hudson ("Song Sung Blue"), Amanda Seyfried ("The Testament of Ann Lee") and newcomer Infiniti.

On the drama side, past Oscar winners Jennifer Lawrence ("Die, My Love") and Julia Roberts ("After the Hunt") will do battle with Jessie Buckley ("Hamnet"), Reinsve, Tessa Thompson ("Hedda") and Eva Victor ("Sorry, Baby").

Each main category will have six nominees, not five as in past years.

- 'Sentimental Value,' 'Sinners' lead dramas -

On the drama side, beyond the leader "Sentimental Value," the top contenders all delve into the past.

"Sinners," from "Black Panther" director Ryan Coogler, stars Michael B. Jordan as twins in the criminal underworld who encounter a sinister force as they return home to racially segregated Mississippi in the 1930s.

The film was a runaway box office success, and both Coogler and Jordan secured nominations. It led the nods for the Critics Choice Awards on Friday with 17.

"It has so much going for it -- it's a big moneymaker, it was a culturally significant hit," explained Davis.

"Hamnet," from Oscar-winning director Chloe Zhao, stars Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare, who tries to forge a career as a playwright while his wife Agnes -- played by Buckley -- contends with the perils of plague and childbirth in Elizabethan England.

Both stars earned nominations, along with Zhao.

Guillermo Del Toro's adaptation of "Frankenstein" earned five nominations including one for Jacob Elordi as the iconic monster.

Oscar nominations are due on January 22, so the picks for the Globes will begin to map the road to the Academy Awards.

The Globes also honor the best in television, with HBO's black comedy anthology "The White Lotus," sci-fi office thriller "Severance" and searing teen murder saga "Adolescence" leading the contenders.

Last year's Globes gala hosted by comedian Nikki Glaser was a hit with audiences, with more than 10 million tuning in.

Glaser will return as host of the January 11 gala in Beverly Hills.

N.Lo--ThChM