Up in the Air leads Golden Globes nominations

The tale of a corporate hatchet man who discovers how to connect with his personal side in Jason Reitman's Up in the Air leads Golden Globe film contenders with six nominations.

Among those nominations are nods for best drama and acting honours for George Clooney, Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.

The Golden Globe nominations were announced in Beverly Hills, Calif., Tuesday morning by presenters John Krasinski, Diane Kruger and Justin Timberlake.

Other drama picks are the space fantasy Avatar, the Iraq War story The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds and Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire.

The musical Nine has five nominations, including best musical or comedy and acting nods for Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz (as best supporting actress) and Marion Cotillard.

Also competing for musical or comedy film are (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover and Meryl Streep's It's Complicated and Julie & Julia.

Clooney is up against Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart, Colin Firth in A Single Man, Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in Invictus and Tobey Maguire in Brothers.

Day-Lewis competes in the comedic acting division against Matt Damon (The Informant!), Robert Downey Jr. (Sherlock Holmes ), Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer and Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man).

In the best supporting actor category (movie), Canadian Christopher Plummer is in the running for his portrayal of Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station. He's up against Matt Damon (Invictus), Woody Harrelson (The Messenger), Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds), Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones ).

Bullock, Streep collect two nominations each

Nominees for best actress in a dramatic movie include Emily Blunt in The Young Victoria, Helen Mirren for The Last Station, Carey Mulligan in An Education, Sandra Bullock forThe Blind Side and Gabourey Sidibe for her portrayal as Precious.

Actresses in the running for their portrayals in a comedy are:

• Sandra Bullock, The Proposal.
• Marion Cotillard, Nine.
• Julia Roberts, Duplicity.
• Meryl Streep twice, for Julie & Julia and It's Complicated.

Nominees for best actor in a TV drama series are:

• Simon Baker, The Mentalist.
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men.
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter.
• Hugh Laurie, House.
• Bill Paxton, Big Love.

Contenders for best actress in a TV drama series are:

• Glenn Close, Damages.
• January Jones, Mad Men.
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife.
• Anna Paquin, True Blood.
• Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer.

The 67th annual Globes, hosted by British comedian Ricky Gervais, will be handed out Jan. 17 in Los Angeles, just six days before nomination voting closes for the Oscars.

Globe winners are often an indication of Oscar glory. Last year's best drama winner at the Globes, Slumdog Millionaire, went on to win best picture and dominated the awards.

As well, the late Heath Ledger captured a Globe and an Academy Award forsupporting actor for The Dark Knight and Kate Winslet, who won supporting actress at the Globes for The Reader, captured an Oscar in the best actress category.

The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, comprised of 85 critics and reporters working for overseas media.