Mega star couple Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, actor-director George Clooney and hunky up-and-comer Ryan Gosling all snagged nominations when the 69th annual Golden Globe nominations were announced Thursday. Silent film “The Artist” led the list with six nominations.
Pitt picked up a nomination for best actor in a movie for sports drama “Moneyball,” while Jolie snagged a nomination for her directorial debut “In the Land of Blood and Honey” in the foreign film category. The Bosnia-set love story looks at the treatment of women during war.
A-list actors Clooney scored three nominations, while Gosling landed two, and Leonardo DiCaprio scored one nomination for his work in “J. Edgar.” Besides Pitt, Clooney snagged a nomination for best actor in a film drama for his disheveled dad in “The Descendants,” along with Gosling, who starred in the Clooney-directed political fable “The Ides of March.” Clooney was also nominated in the best director category for the film. Gosling, flexing his comic skills, was nominated as well for best actor in a film comedy for his buff role in “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
Oscars frontrunner “The Artist,” a 1920s Hollywood romp, came out on top, with best acting nods to its French stars Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The film was also nominated for best picture in a comedy or musical. Other nominees included gal powerhouse “Bridesmaids,” Woody Allen-directed “Midnight In Paris” and Marilyn Monroe ode “My Week with Marilyn
Actors Woody Harrelson, Gerard Butler , Rashida Jones and Sofia Vergara announced the nominations in 25 categories for movies and television early Thursday morning in Beverly Hills.
Harrelson joked about his own drama “Rampart” not opening until January. “I don’t see it on the list here. There’s a lot of things left off today,” he said, to laughs, before announcing the best picture in a drama nominees: “The Descendants,” “The Help,” “Ides of March,” “Hugo” and “War Horse.”
In the coveted best actress in a TV comedy category, Zooey Deschanel scored a nomination for her quirky new comedy “New Girl,” going up against heavyweights including Tina Fey for “30 Rock” and Amy Poehler for “Parks and Recreation.”
The Golden Globes, long considered the more informal Oscars, will be broadcast live on NBC on Sunday, Jan. 15. Sassy British comic Ricky Gervais, known for his pointed barbs at celebrities, is set to host for the third time. Gervais took to Twitter on Tuesday, cheekily writing, “Just shot the Golden Globe promos I wrote for NBC. They’d better leave in the insults or I’ll take my revenge live.”
“Driving Miss Daisy” Globe winner Morgan Freeman will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement at the ceremony. Rainey Qualley, daughter of Andie MacDowell, was recently named Miss Golden Globe 2012. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 90 international journalists based in Southern California, presents the awards show.
Tune in to Yahoo! for more coverage of the nominations.