The 2018 Hollywood Awards Season gets into full swing with Monday's (New Zealand time) annual handing out of the Golden Globes by the Hollywood Foreign Press.



As usual, the less-than-100 strong organisation have sprung more than a few surprises in their nominations, especially placing the horror-marketed Get Out in the best comedy-musical category.



While not all of the 10 nominated movies have reached our shores yet, there is still a chance to catch up with many of them before the ceremony. Welcome to Stuff's guide to the main contenders:



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BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

DUNKIRK

Fionn Whitehead was the breakout star of Dunkirk.

What is it About? Directed by Christopher Nolan, this British drama depicts the Dunkirk evacuation during World War II. In a taut running-time and with an impressive cast (Kenneth Branagh, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance, Tom Hardy), Nolan tells his story from three perspectives – land, sea and air.



What Else is It Nominated For? Best Director, Best Original Score.



Where/Where Can You See It? Out on DVD and available On Demand.

What We Thought: "Dunkirk is an audacious, intelligent and near-revolutionary film. It will be watched and talked about for decades. Nolan again continues his proud tradition of eschewing computer- generated shots in favour of actual ships, planes and men. The result is a film that will look authentic, bloody, honest and real for as long as there are people to watch it." - Graeme Tuckett

THE POST

The Post has been nominated for six Golden Globes.

What is it about? A dream team of Meryl Streep, Tom Hanks and Steve Spielberg combine for this based-on-fact political thriller which looks at the time when journalists from The Washington Post and The New York Times uncovered a US government conspiracy that spanned four American presidents.

What else is it nominated for? Best Actor, Actress, Director, Original Score, Screenplay.



When can we see it? In cinemas nationwide on January 11.



What have the critics thought? "Shot and edited by Spielberg and his team in less than six months, The Post is very evidently a strike-while-the-story's-hot kind of project, and it finds the master filmmaker at his most thrillingly supple and intuitive." - Robbie Collin, The Telegraph.

THE SHAPE OF WATER

Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer star in The Shape of Water.

What is it about? The latest visual masterpiece from Guillermo Del Toro focuses on a mute woman at a high-security government laboratory who befriends a captured amphibian creature. Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Richard Jenkins and Octavia Spencer star.



What else is it nominated for? Best Director, Actress, Supporting Actor, Supporting Actress, Original Score, Screenplay.



When can we see it? In cinemas nationwide on January 18.

What have the critics thought? "Yes, Del Toro's latest flight of fancy sets out to liberally pastiche the postwar monster movie, doffing its cap to the incident at Roswell and all manner of related cold war paranoia. But it's warmer and richer than the films that came before. Beneath that glossy, scaly surface is a beating heart," - Xan Brooks, The Guardian.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

SUPPLIED Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer both deliver terrific performances in Call Me By Your Name.

What is it about? Luca Guadagnino's romantic coming-of-age drama is adapted from Andre Aciman's 2007 novel by one James Ivory (famous for being one-half of the period drama specialists Merchant-Ivory who swept the globe in the 1980s and '90s). Starring Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer, it chronicles the budding relationship between a 17-year-old Italian-American boy and his father's American student.



What else is it nominated for? Best Actor, Supporting Actor.



When can we see it? In cinemas now

What did we think? "Beautifying shot, hauntingly scored and terrifically acted, this is a film whose imagery (particularly its final shot) and characters will stay with you for days. You can almost feel the summer heat, sense the escalating tensions and taste the mouth-watering food. Guadagnino paces his film to perfection, while also lacing this love story with lashings of dramatic moments and laugh-out-loud humour." - James Croot

THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI

Frances McDormand delivers an outstanding performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

What is it about? A deserving winner of this year's prestigious audience award at the festival (an honour secured by Whale Rider in 2002 and La La Land last year), Martin McDonagh's (In Bruges) black comedy focuses on one mother's crusade to get justice for her daughter. Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Peter Dinklage and Sam Rockwell star.

What else is it nominated for? Best Director, Screenplay, Actress, Supporting Actor, Original Score.

When can we see it? In cinemas now



What did we think? "McDonagh's crème de la crème of a cast deliver his wicked lines with glee, but the playwright-director has clearly developed in his craft since 2008's breakout crime caper, as now we find our loyalties shift as character details are revealed. The vibrant script and richly drawn characters make this an often intense and constantly compelling caper, with humour nicely pitched to balance McDonagh's trademark shocks." - Sarah Watt

BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY

THE DISASTER ARTIST



What is it about? Officially debuting to anarchic scenes at September's Toronto Film Festival, this is a recreation of the making of cult-classic The Room. Brothers James and Dave Franco star in what is both a loving homage and hilarious piss-take of how one the world's worst movies came into being. The Room creator Tommy Wiseau (who was in the audience for the midnight Canadian screening) declared it 99 per cent correct, only complaining about how James Franco depicted him throwing a football.

What else is it nominated for? Best Actor

Brothers Dave and James Franco teamed-up for The Disaster Artist.

When can we see it? If you're lucky there still might be a cinema playing a daytime session.

What did we think? "Much of your enjoyment of the first-half of Disaster Artist will depend on how much of James Franco-channeling-Wiseau's pan-Eastern European accent, malapropisms and earnest take on life. It's true there is a lot of humour to be mined out of this mysterious moneybags and his obsession with method actors like Marlon Brando and James Dean, but if you're hoping this will shed light on his background or motivations you're going to be sorely disappointed." - James Croot

GET OUT

Jordan Peele's horror movie Get Out has been nominated for Best Musical or Comedy.

What is it about? A young African American man's polite weekend introduction to his white girlfriend's parents (on a secluded estate in the woods) turns into a nightmare. Allison Williams, Daniel Kaluuya and Bradley Whitford star.

What else is it nominated for? Best Actor



When can we see it? On DVD and On Demand.



What did we think? "Writer/director Jordan Peele found the material for an updated Guess Who's Coming To Dinner and a Stepford Wives-style horror in America's queasy, recent race relations. Get Out had wit, a couple of pitch-perfect performances, some proper scares, plenty on its mind and a smarter way of upending the genres than anything else I saw in 2017." - Graeme Tuckett

THE GREATEST SHOWMAN

Hugh Jackman and Zac Efron join forces for The Greatest Showman.

What is it about? Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum, this musical celebrates the birth of showbusiness and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams and Zac Efron star.



What else is it nominated for? Best Actor, Original Song



When can we see it? In cinemas now.

What have the critics thought? "The movie never quite stops feeling like Moulin Rouge! written in extra-large block font, or Broadway projected straight onto a big screen, which certainly isn't bad news if that's exactly what you love. - Leah Greenblatt, Entertainment Weekly.

I, TONYA

SUPPLIED I, Tonya sees Margot Robbie take to the ice.

What is it about? Black comedy based on the real-life of competitive ice skater Tonya Harding who rose amongst the ranks at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, but found her future in the activity in doubt when her ex-husband intervened to try and help boost her career.

What else is it nominated for? Best Actress, Supporting Actress.



When can we see it? Screening nationwide from January 25.



What did we think? "Margot Robbie proves to be an excellent choice to play the controversial US figure skater Tonya Harding in this subversive take on her life and that incident involving fellow skater Nancy Kerrigan. However, the show is stolen by a brilliant Allison Janney, essaying Harding's acerbic mother LaVona." - James Croot

LADY BIRD

Saoirse Ronan is nominated for Best Actress for Lady Bird.

What is it about? Acclaimed indie actress Greta Gerwig makes her directorial debut in this coming-of-age dramedy about a Californian teen and the turbulent relationship she has with her mother. Saoirse Ronan, Laurie Metcalf and Timothee Chalamet star.

What else is it nominated for? Best Screenplay, Actress, Supporting Actress.

When can we see it? Advanced previews in select cinemas from February 9, nationwide from February 15.

What have the critics thought? "A sweet, deeply personal portrayal of female adolescence that's more attuned to the bonds between best girlfriends than casual flings with boys, writer-director Greta Gerwig's beautiful Lady Bird flutters with the attractively loose rhythms of youth." - Tomris Laffly, Time Out

Follow Stuff's live blog of The Golden Globes on Monday, January 8. Sky TV also have live coverage of the ceremony on it's Vibe Channel from 2pm.