'Carol' leads Golden Globes race

Hollywood's awards season officially kicked off this week, as the Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced. Now the Golden Globes have revealed their picks Thursday (10.12.2015).

Angela Bassett, America Ferrera, Chloë Grace Moretz, and Dennis Quaid all got up very early to read out the nominations, as the ceremony was held in Los Angeles at 5:15 a.m. These different nominations boost speculations surrounding the Oscars in late February 2016.

One of the Best Drama nominees, "Carol," a lesbian romance set in the 1950s, leads the race with five nods, among which one for director Todd Haynes and two for co-stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as lead actresses.

Following close behind, "The Big Short," "The Revenant" and "Steve Jobs" all obtained four nominations.

The nominees

The Globes has awards in 25 categories. Here are some of the major ones:

- Best motion picture, drama: "Carol," ''Mad Max: Fury Road," ''The Revenant," ''Room," and "Spotlight."

- Best motion picture, comedy or musical: "The Big Short," ''Joy," ''Cinderella," ''The Martian," ''Spy," and ''Trainwreck."

- Best foreign language film:"The Brand New Testament," ''The Club," ''The Fencer," Mustang," and "Son of Saul."

- Best television series, drama: "Empire," ''Game of Thrones," ''Mr. Robot," ''Narcos" and "Outlander."

- Best television series, comedy: "Casual," ''Mozart in the Jungle," ''Orange is the New Black," ''Silicon Valley," ''Transparent," ''Veep."

What is a comedy?

Discussions surrounding the definition of a supporting role as well as the distinction between a comedy and a drama have emerged.

A day ago, Rooney Mara ("Carol") obtained a nomination from the Screen Actors Guild Awards for her supporting role and now she is among the nominees in the Globes best actress category.

Ridley Scott's sci-fi flick "The Martian" avoided the tight competition in this year's dramatic productions category by focusing on the humor in the film.

The select Golden Globe club

Created in 1944, the Golden Globes are one of the most important awards in the US film and television industry, right after the Oscars and the Emmys.

The Globe nominations are chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a circle of about 90 international editors and journalists covering the US entertainment industry. They are said to benefit from publicists' charm offensives, which is why the event is sometimes nicknamed "The Golden Bribes."

In comparison, there are more than 6,000 eligible voters for the Oscars, and the Screen Actors Guild polls its group of over 165,000 members for its prize.

The 73rd Golden Globe awards ceremony will be held on January 10, 2016.

eg/kbm (AP, AFP )