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LOS ANGELES

Golden Globe voters did it again: a near-perfect spread.

“Lincoln” received the most Globe nominations on Thursday, picking up seven. But this Hollywood awards show typically likes to spread its love around — perhaps because that makes for a livelier red-carpet spectacle — so “Argo” and “Django Unchained” were close behind with five nominations apiece. “Zero Dark Thirty,” “Les Misérables” and “Silver Linings Playbook” each received four.

In one of the bigger surprises Globes voters plucked a small comedic drama, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” out of awards season obscurity, giving it nominations for best comedy-musical and best actress (Emily Blunt) and actor (Ewan McGregor). The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a group of about 80 mostly freelance journalists that presents the Globes, even found a way to invite Meryl Streep to its party, handing her a nomination for “Hope Springs.”



Golden Globes Analysis of the nominees, more images, reactions and more.

Moviedom’s elder stateswomen did great all around. In addition to Ms. Streep, Helen Mirren was nominated for her acting in “Hitchcock,” Judi Dench for “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and Maggie Smith got attention for the television series “Downton Abbey” and the film “Quartet,” which is set in a home for retired opera singers. But Globes voters also singled out younger stars, including Adele (nominated for her James Bond song, “Skyfall”) and Jennifer Lawrence (chosen for her acting in “Silver Linings Playbook”).

Globe voters have a history of idiosyncrasies that sometimes invite derision, but Thursday’s nominations, unveiled in clusters starting at 5:20 a.m. Pacific time, may have never been more important as an Oscar influencer. That is because voting for Academy Awards nominees begins unusually early this year, on Monday. So Globe attention puts momentum behind recipients just as the Oscar balloting begins.



And that could help swing the race. The movie industry’s self-congratulatory season is typically well defined by now, with favorites firmly established and potential dark horses looming. Although “Lincoln” is certainly the front-runner, consensus has yet to form around any best picture contender, perhaps because an unusual number of films are arriving late in the year.

“This is a part of what I do that I have absolutely not a scintilla of control over, and because of that it’s just, you’re on a ride, and the safety bar comes down, and you can’t get off until it stops,” Steven Spielberg, a directing nominee for “Lincoln,” said by telephone on Thursday morning.

Kevin Winter/Getty Images

While these movie awards receive most of the attention because of their proximity to the Oscar race, the Globes also honor television. HBO continued its stranglehold on the TV categories, coming away with 17 nominations for shows including “The Newsroom” and “Girls.” Showtime received seven; its “Homeland” received nominations for best drama, best actress (Claire Danes) and best actor (Damian Lewis).

For the first time since its premiere season in 2007 “Mad Men” did not receive a nomination in the best drama category, although Jon Hamm got a nomination for his acting.

“Mad Men” was not the only prominent snub on Thursday. In the film categories the critical darling “Beasts of the Southern Wild” was completely ignored. Robert De Niro, considered a lock in the supporting actor category for “Silver Linings Playbook,” was not nominated. Keira Knightley hit the campaign trail for “Anna Karenina,” but that film ended up with only a single shout-out, for best score.

And the nominee list did not include a single Hobbit.

Tom Hooper, in Los Angeles to watch the leading man of his film “Les Misérables,” Hugh Jackman, get a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame (he also got a Globe nomination), was philosophical about getting squeezed out of the directing category. “I like to be in good company, and I’m happy to be with David O. Russell,” said Mr. Hooper, referring to the director of “Silver Linings Playbook,” who was not nominated in that category, though he did receive a screenplay nod.

On a brighter side, voters thrust Nicole Kidman prominently into the awards race, giving her a nomination for her steamy, somewhat loopy work in the little-seen film “The Paperboy.” Other actresses gaining attention in itty-bitty movies included Rachel Weisz, nominated for “The Deep Blue Sea,” a spring romance that took in less than $1.2 million at the box office.

Three of the five nominated films for best animation come from the Disney empire: “Frankenweenie,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Brave.” DreamWorks Animation’s “Rise of the Guardians” also made the animated cut, despite a soft box office reception, along with Sony’s “Hotel Transylvania.”

Quentin Tarantino’s quirky western, “Django Unchained,” which does not roll into theaters until Christmas Day, gained some momentum on Thursday. Mr. Tarantino got nominated for his directing and screenwriting, with two of his stars, Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz, picking up supporting actor nods. “Django” was also nominated for best picture — drama, a field that included “Argo,” “Life of Pi,” “Lincoln” and “Zero Dark Thirty.”

Stacey Sher, a producer of “Django Unchained,” said the film’s failure to score in the Screen Actors Guild nominations on Wednesday was not a surprise, as the film was delivered too late to make a deadline for circulating screeners among the actors who vote. As for the Globe nominations, “We’re thrilled,” said Ms. Sher, who noted that press association voters viewed a print that was “dripping wet.”

In addition to “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” comedy-musical best picture nominations went to “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Les Misérables,” “Moonrise Kingdom” and “Silver Linings Playbook.”

Amy Poehler and Tina Fey will be the co-hosts of the live NBC telecast of the Globes on Jan. 13. (The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has notably begged Ms. Fey to host its show in the past to no avail.) About 16.8 million people watched the previous Globes telecast, on par with the year before.

Oscar strategists noted on Thursday that Globes voters pointed toward what may be the Achilles’ heel of “Argo” as an Academy best picture contender: weakness in the leading actor and actress categories. It received no nominations in either, though Ben Affleck, its star, was nominated for directing the movie, and Alan Arkin got attention in the supporting actor field. “Life of Pi” received no acting nominations.

Ang Lee, who was nominated for directing “Life of Pi,” said he had doubted whether audiences would respond to the film, with its complicated moral fable and 3-D effects, even after it was well received at a New York Film Festival debut. “Recently I’ve settled down a little more,” he said. “For four years I carried that anxiety.”

Hollywood was also trying to read the Globe tea leaves when it came to “Amour,” an Austrian drama about an elderly couple whose marriage is severely tested. Does it have a shot at becoming a rare movie that breaks out of the foreign film category and into the overall best picture race?

Some awards groups have been edging it toward the higher-profile slot, but the foreign journalists did not cooperate on Thursday, keeping it in the foreign category.

NOMINEES

Movies

Best Picture, Drama:

“Argo”

“Django Unchained”

“Life of Pi”

“Lincoln”

“Zero Dark Thirty”

Best Picture, Musical or Comedy:

“The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

“Les Misérables”

“Moonrise Kindgom”

“Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”

“Silver Linings Playbook”

Best Director:

Ben Affleck, “Argo”

Kathryn Bigelow, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Ang Lee, “Life of Pi”

Steven Spielberg, “Lincoln”

Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”

Best Actress, Drama:

Jessica Chastain, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Marion Cotillard, “Rust and Bone”

Helen Mirren, “Hitchcock”

Naomi Watts, “The Impossible”

Rachel Weisz, “The Deep Blue Sea”

Best Actor, Drama:

Daniel Day-Lewis, “Lincoln”

Richard Gere, “Arbitrage”

John Hawkes, “The Sessions”

Joaquin Phoenix, “The Master”

Denzel Washington, “Flight”

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy:

Jack Black, “Bernie”

Bradley Cooper, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Hugh Jackman, “Les Misérables ”

Ewan MCGregor, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”

Bill Murray, “Hyde Park on Hudson”

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy:

Emily Blunt, “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen”

Judi Dench, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel”

Jennifer Lawrence, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Maggie Smith, “Quartet”

Meryl Streep, “Hope Springs”

Best Supporting Actress:

Amy Adams, “The Master”

Sally Field, “Lincoln”

Anne Hathaway, “Les Misérables”

Helen Hunt, “The Sessions”

Nicole Kidman, “The Paperboy”

Best Supporting Actor:

Alan Arkin, “Argo”

Leonardo DiCaprio, “Django Unchained”

Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Master”

Tommy Lee Jones, “Lincoln”

Christoph Waltz, “Django Unchained”

Best Screenplay:

Mark Boal, “Zero Dark Thirty”

Tony Kushner, “Lincoln”

David O. Russell, “Silver Linings Playbook”

Quentin Tarantino, “Django Unchained”

Chris Terrio, “Argo”

Best Original Score:

Dario Marianelli, “Anna Karenina”

Alexandre Desplat, “Argo”

Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimet & Reinhold Heil, “Cloud Atlas”

Michael Danna, “Life of Pi”

John Williams, “Lincoln”

Best Original Song:

“For You” from “Act of Valor”

“Not Running Anymore” from “Stand Up Guys”

“Safe and Sound” from “The Hunger Games”

“Suddenly” from “Les Misérables”

“Skyfall” from “Skyfall”

Best Foreign Language Film:

“Amour”

“A Royal Affair”

“The Intouchables”

“Kon-Tiki”

“Rust and Bone”

Best Animated Feature:

“Rise of the Guardians”

“Brave”

“Frankenweenie”

“Hotel Transylvania”

“Wreck-It Ralph”

Cecil B. DeMille Award:

Jodie Foster

Television:

Best Television Comedy or Musical:

“The Big Bang Theory”

“Episodes”

“Girls”

“Modern Family”

“Smash”

Best Television Drama:

“Breaking Bad”

“Boardwalk Empire”

“Downton Abbey”

“Homeland”

“The Newsroom”

Best Miniseries or Television Movie:

“Game Change”

“The Girl”

“Hatfields & McCoys”

“The Hour”

“Political Animals”

Best Actress, Television Drama:

Connie Britton, “Nashville”

Glenn Close, “Damages”

Claire Danes, “Homeland”

Michelle Dockery, “Downton Abbey”

Julianna Margulies, “The Good Wife”

Best Actor, Television Drama:

Best Actor, TV Drama Steve Buscemi, “Boardwalk Empire”

Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad”

Jeff Daniels, “The Newsroom”

Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”

Damian Lewis, “Homeland”

Best Actress, Television Comedy Or Musical:

Zooey Deschanel, “New Girl”

Lena Dunham, “Girls”

Tina Fey, “30 Rock”

Julia Louis-Dreyfus, “Veep”

Amy Poehler, “Parks And Recreation”

Best Actor, Television Comedy Or Musical:

Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”

Don Cheadle, “House of Lies”

Louis C.K., “Louie”

Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes”

Jim Parsons, “The Big Bang Theory”

Best Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

Nicole Kidman, “Hemingway and Gellhorn”

Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story: Asylum”

Sienna Miller, “The Girl”

Julianne Moore, “Game Change”

Sigourney Weaver, “Political Animals”

Best Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

Kevin Costner, “Hatfields and McCoys”

Benedict Cumberbatch, “Sherlock”

Woody Harrelson, “Game Change”

Toby Jones, “The Girl”

Clive Owen, “Hemingway and Gellhorn”

Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

Hayden Panettiere, “Nashville”

Archie Panjabi, “The Good Wife”

Sarah Paulson, “Game Change”

Maggie Smith, “Downton Abbey”

Sofia Vergara, “Modern Family”

Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television:

Max Greenfield, “New Girl”

Ed Harris, “Game Change”

Danny Huston, “Magic City”

Mandy Patinkin, “Homeland”

Eric Stonestreet, “Modern Family”

Melena Ryzik contributed reporting from New York.