A number of this year's early Oscar front-runners, including "The Shape of Water," "The Post," "Lady Bird," "Dunkirk" and "Call Me By Your Name," made strong showings in this year's Golden Globes nominations _ while several potential contenders like "Get Out," "All the Money in the World" and "I, Tonya" also received a leg up.
In short, what has been to date the most open-ended and unpredictable awards season in memory remains _ for now, at least _ just that, and Oscar prognosticators will have to wait for nominations from Hollywood's various guilds to roll in over the coming weeks to get a clearer picture of the state of the horse race.
For those in Hollywood who received the wee-hours-of-the-morning call that they were among this year's nominees, though, the news was greeted with unambiguous joy.
"I am in total shock right now," said actor Timothee Chalamet, who, at 21, earned his first-ever Globes nod for his leading turn in the romantic drama "Call Me By Your Name. "The other actors in the category are people that I've been studying and admiring for years, so I keep scratching my eyes trying to see what the fifth name is, seeing my name, and then scratching my eyes again."
"The Shape of Water," a fantastical love story between a mute woman and a fish-man, led the film field with seven nominations, including best picture in the drama category as well as nods for stars Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins and director and co-writer Guillermo del Toro.
The coming-of-age dramedy "Lady Bird" _ a small-scale crowd-pleaser that some see as the potential little engine that could of this awards season _ pulled in four nods, including for best picture in the musical or comedy category, lead actress Saoirse Ronan and supporting actress Laurie Metcalf.
In what many regarded a snub, however, the flim's first-time director, Greta Gerwig, failed to score a nod in the directing category, though she did earn a screenplay nomination. Other women directors who may have made the cut were also overlooked, including Dee Rees ("Mudbound"), Kathryn Bigelow ("Detroit") and Patty Jenkins ("Wonder Woman") _ marking a notable shutout for female filmmakers in a year that has seen issues of power and gender dominate headlines in Hollywood and beyond.
"I think Greta should win all the awards," said Ronan. "I think it's really important we got the best picture nomination. That is essentially hers, so she has been represented in that way. But I guess it's an onward journey to make sure that female filmmakers are being represented."
The Golden Globes can always be counted on to deliver their share of curve balls. The nominations announcement Monday morning by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. had no major head-scratchers on the level of last year's surprise best picture nod for "Deadpool." But many were surprised by the strong showing for director Ridley Scott's kidnapping drama "All the Money in the World," which earned three nods. Actor Christopher Plummer � who replaced Kevin Spacey in the role of industrialist J. Paul Getty just last month in the wake of Spacey's sexual misconduct scandal _ won a nomination in the supporting actor category.
One of the year's breakout hits, the racially charged horror satire "Get Out," pulled in two nominations, for picture in the comedy and for Daniel Kuluya's lead performance. But the film's director, Jordan Peele, found himself shut out of both the directing and screenplay categories.
On the television side, HBO's limited series "Big Little Lies" led the field with six nominations, including five nods for series cast members Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley, Laura Dern and Alexander Skarsgard. FX's "Feud: Bette and Joan" followed with four.
Freshmen contenders were among the most nominated series, including three nominations for Hulu's Emmy champ "The Handmaid's Tale" and two each for Amazon's "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" and Showtime's "SMILF."
