Mixing it up

The Oscar contest for best picture had been shaping up as a head-to-head fight between the plucky British drama “The King’s Speech” and David Fincher’s “The Social Network,” but Tuesday’s Golden Globes nominations may have brought a third contender into the ring: David O. Russell’s “The Fighter.”

Members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn., who vote on the annual awards, bestowed the most nominations -- seven -- on the indie film about King George VI’s stutter, including in the categories of best drama, director, lead actor in a drama (Colin Firth) and supporting actor (Geoffrey Rush).

“It’s incredibly good-natured in its appeal,” said director Tom Hooper, who received the news in Melbourne, Australia, at 2:30 a.m. local time. “I’ve traveled all over the world with the movie and it makes people everywhere laugh. It makes people cry. There’s something universal about it.”

But “The Social Network,” which in recent days has been recognized as 2010’s best picture by several key critics groups, is giving good chase, scoring six nominations, including for director Fincher and actors Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield.

“The Fighter” too earned six nominations, as it seems to be following a trajectory akin to the movie’s come-from-behind plot. It received the most actor nods of any film -- for Mark Wahlberg’s performance as Boston-area middleweight fighter Micky Ward, Christian Bale’s portrayal of his troubled brother, Melissa Leo as the clan matriarch and Amy Adams as Ward’s girlfriend.

“I feel like we were kind of an underdog for a while,” said Russell, who nabbed a director slot too. “But Micky [Ward] is a late starter too. He would go six or seven rounds before he really got going.”

The HFPA filled out the best drama category with recognition for Christopher Nolan’s “Inception” and “Black Swan,” which each walked away with four nominations, including director. That could boost the Oscar prospects for both films, which had been slightly less well-received by critics than “King’s Speech” and “Social Network.”

Conspicuously absent from the consideration was Joel and Ethan Coen’s “True Grit,” which was shut out completely. The western, opening in theaters next week, has generated excellent buzz from early screenings and the Coens are often a favorite with Oscar voters. Meanwhile, Ben Affleck’s “The Town” received only one nomination, for Jeremy Renner’s supporting role as an unhinged bank robber, even though the film has had wide appeal and has performed strongly at the box office, factors Golden Globes voters often seem to take into account. (Both films earned numerous Critics Choice Awards nominations from the Broadcast Film Critics Assn. on Monday)

In the comedy/musical category, “The Kids Are All Right” scored a best picture nomination, as well as two actress slots for stars Annette Bening and Julianne Moore. (The film also was nominated for screenplay for director Lisa Cholodenko and her co-writer, Stuart Blumberg.)

Otherwise, though, the comedy/musical categories consisted of an odd mixture of films, several of which either didn’t naturally fit or were so badly reviewed by critics that they seemed to stand little chance of recognition. Two Johnny Depp films, “Alice in Wonderland,” and “The Tourist,” were nominated for best comedy or musical, and he himself received two actor nominations -- one for each film.

With no comedic film dominating the box office and the cultural conversation as “The Hangover” did last year, the HFPA perhaps had less to choose from. The European-set “Tourist,” which received some of the worst reviews of any movie in the last three months, scored surprisingly well with the 81 members of the HFPA. It earned three nominations, with Angelina Jolie scoring a nod for her role as the mysterious temptress.

Also surprising was the fact that both Anne Hathaway and Jake Gyllenhaal received nominations for their performances in “Love and Other Drugs,” yet the Ed Zwick film was not nominated for best picture in the comedy/musical category. Instead, the members went with the Christina Aguilera-starrer “Burlesque” which was skewered by critics. James L. Brooks’ upcoming romantic comedy, “How Do You Know,” was shut out of the category.

“When I look over these Golden Globes nominations, I have kind of mixed feelings about some of them,” said Michael Barker, co-chief of Sony Pictures Classics, which received nods for Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom,” Paul Giamatti in “Barney’s Version” and the animated film “The Illusionist.” “Obviously, over the years, the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. likes to get as many movie stars in the room as possible. That’s certainly evident given this year’s nominations.”

Among those celebrities is Oscar winner Halle Berry, who received a lead actress nod for her role as a woman with multiple personality disorder in the indie drama “Frankie and Alice,” due in theaters at the end of the month. The actress hopes the recognition will give the heavy film, which she calls “a dinosaur,” an audience.

“These little movies that used to be what the industry was built on, they’re now becoming extinct,” said Berry. “With this recognition, hopefully that will inspire people to check it out.”

She will be vying against favorites Natalie Portman (“Black Swan”) and Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”), as well as Nicole Kidman for her portrayal as a grieving mother in “Rabbit Hole” and Michelle Williams in the racy drama “Blue Valentine.”

In the lead actor (drama) category, Eisenberg, Firth and Wahlberg will compete with James Franco for his role in “127 Hours” and Ryan Gosling in “Blue Valentine.” The awards will be handed out Jan. 16.

For “King’s Speech” director Hooper, returning to the Globes will be something of a homecoming -- over the years, the awards program has honored his television projects such “John Adams,” “Longford,” and “Elizabeth I.” “I’ve been very grateful [to the Globes] from the very beginning,” he said. “To be nominated for director, it’s my first time, it’s very exciting. To be honest, I’ve always dreamed of it.”

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nicole.sperling@latimes.com

Staff writers Chris Lee, Steven Zeitchik and Rebecca Keegan contributed to this report.

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BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX

Most nominations

FILM

“The King’s Speech” - 7

“The Fighter” - 6

“The Social Network” - 6

“Black Swan” - 4

“Inception” - 4

“The Kids Are All Right” - 4

“127 Hours” - 3

“Alice in Wonderland” - 3

“Burlesque” - 3

“The Tourist” - 3

TELEVISION

“Glee” - 5

“30 Rock” - 3

“Boardwalk Empire” - 3

“Dexter” - 3

“The Good Wife” - 3

“Mad Men” - 3

“Modern Family” - 3

“Pillars of the Earth” - 3

“Temple Grandin” - 3

----

VOICES

“I think in Australia, because I’ve been around for 48 years, people think of me as a piece of old comfortable furniture. And now suddenly foreigners like me.”

--Jacki Weaver, on her turn as the conniving Smurf Cody in “Animal Kingdom”

“You don’t expect late in your career to actually meet somebody that you form a very strong friendship and bond with. Which certainly happened with me and Colin and Tom. It’s a rather embarrassing triumvirate of man love.”

--Geoffrey Rush, on his relationships with “The King’s Speech’s” star Colin Firth and director Tom Hooper

“A lot of tequila will run in our veins tonight.”

--Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, “Biutiful” director on his post-nomination plans

“I can remember when I found out that I had been nominated for ‘The Full Monty,’ I was clearing cat sick off the floor. I really must get a more glamorous life one of these days!”

--Simon Beaufoy, “127 Hours” screenwriter

“It’s a big honor to be recognized by any group. Awards were the last thing on our mind. We all figured while we were naming it with the 3 after the title, we wouldn’t have any luck in awards.”

--Lee Unkrich, “Toy Story 3” director

“I normally create a journal, create a life for a character. Only this time instead of doing it for one character, I did it for three.”

--Halle Berry, on preparing to play a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder in “Frankie & Alice”

“I find it’s very funny that Colin’s probably going to get an Oscar for playing somebody who can’t speak, yet as soon as the camera is off, he talks nonstop.”

--Helena Bonham Carter, “The Kings Speech’s” co-star on Colin Firth’s on-set loquaciousness

“I never in a million years thought this comic book would get made into television. Zombies eat people. You don’t see that on television every day.”

--Robert Kirkman, “The Walking Dead’s” writer on seeing his graphic novel make the leap to the small screen