Aviator Soars in Golden Globe Nominations

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's The Aviator shared the limelight with indy road-trip movie Sideways in this year's Golden Globes nominations.

The Aviator, a blockbuster biopic of Hollywood producer Howard Hughes, won six nominations, including best drama, best screenplay, best actor (drama) and best director. Sideways, by Election director Alexander Payne, had seven, including best musical or comedy, and best director. Neither film has yet been released in the UK.

The Golden Globes are usually reliable indicators of who will do well at the Oscars, but give separate awards in the major categories for dramas and musicals or comedies.

British nominees include Imelda Staunton (best drama actress for Vera Drake), Patrick Marber (best screenplay for Closer), and Kate Winslet (best comedy actress for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind).

The Golden Globes are awarded each year by the Hollywood foreign press association. The 2005 awards will be presented on January 16.

Best picture - Drama

The Aviator

Closer

Finding Neverland

Hotel Rwanda

Kinsey

Million Dollar Baby

Best picture - Musical or comedy

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

The Incredibles

Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom Of The Opera

Ray

Sideways

Best actress - Drama

Scarlett Johansson - A Love Song For Bobby Long

Nicole Kidman - Birth

Imelda Staunton - Vera Drake

Hilary Swank - Million Dollar Baby

Uma Thurman - Kill Bill Vol. 2

Best actor - Drama

Javier Bardem - The Sea Inside

Don Cheadle - Hotel Rwanda

Johnny Depp - Finding Neverland

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Aviator

Liam Neeson - Kinsey

Best actress - Musical or comedy

Annette Bening - Being Julia

Ashley Judd - De-Lovely

Emmy Rossum - The Phantom Of The Opera

Kate Winslet - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Renée Zellweger - Bridget Jones: The Edge Of Reason

Best actor - Musical or comedy

Jim Carrey - Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

Jamie Foxx - Ray

Paul Giamatti - Sideways

Kevin Kline - De-Lovely

Kevin Spacey - Beyond The Sea

Best foreign language film

The Chorus (Les Choristes) (France)

House Of Flying Daggers (China)

The Motorcycle Diaries (Brazil)

The Sea Inside (Spain)

A Very Long Engagement (France)

Best director

Clint Eastwood - Million Dollar Baby

Marc Forster - Finding Neverland

Mike Nichols - Closer

Alexander Payne - Sideways

Martin Scorsese - The Aviator

Best screenplay

Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind

The Aviator

Finding Neverland

Closer

Sideways