Golden Globe Awards 2015: Nominees and predictions, Film and television will be front and center Sunday at the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards, which is shaping up to be a star-studded affair with a few tight races.
Featuring a crowded television field (thanks to streaming content and a slew of cable shows) and a stellar year for films, it's bound to be an exciting night for TV and movie lovers alike.
"Birdman" leads the crop of nominees with bids in seven categories. The movie, about a Hollywood star trying to launch a Broadway show, is in the running for best motion picture, comedy or musical, as well as for actor Michael Keaton, supporting actors Emma Stone and Edward Norton and director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.
Richard Linklater's coming-of-age saga "Boyhood" and World War II film "The Imitation Game" follow closely behind with five nods each. As for television, the FX crime drama "Fargo" leads the pack with five nominations, followed by HBO's "True Detective" with four.
Buzz is building for some of the major film categories -- some of which appear locked, while others aren't so easy to predict.
"Birdman" is arguably the frontrunner for the best motion picture, comedy or musical category and is expected to beat out Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Disney's "Into the Woods," the independent British film "Pride" and "St. Vincent" starring Bill Murray.
The drama film category may not be so concrete though. The contenders? "Boyhood," "Foxcatcher," civil rights drama "Selma" and the Stephen Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything."It seems like it's probably between 'Boyhood' and 'Selma' -- those seem to be the ones that seem to be going over the most with the 90 or so members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association who determine the outcomes of the Globes," Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter's awards analyst, told CBS News. "There's also a lot of affection for 'The Theory of Everything' and 'The Imitation Game.' Some people think they may cancel each other out because they are both British biopic period pieces. Also, there's a certain degree of urgency and timeliness to 'Selma,' which is going to play to its advantage. Just as voting has been happening, it's been hit with these criticisms that it's historically inaccurate in some ways."
Feinberg predicts that ultimately "Boyhood" will take the prize as it will likely get points for "being different." Linklater's film, which was 12 years in the making, stars Patricia Arquette, Ellar Coltrane, Lorelei Linklater and Ethan Hawke.
"I love all things 'Selma.'...It's one of the most powerful movies...They shot that movie with a budget of $20 million...and in 32 days and what Ava pulled off was really amazing," said Gayle King, "CBS This Morning" co-host. "But they say 'Boyhood' is the leading contender."
The best actress in a motion picture drama category appears to be down to Jennifer Aniston for "Cake" and Julianne Moore for "Still Alice." They're up against Felicity Jones ("The Theory of Everything"), Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl") and Reese Witherspoon ("Wild") -- all excellent performances.
"Ever since the Toronto International Film Festival there's been discussion about two female performances -- Julianne Moore as a woman battling early onset Alzheimer's in 'Still Alice' and also Jennifer Aniston in the most dramatic role in her career -- in 'Cake,'" said Feinberg. "Those seem to be the most plausible [winners]."
A lot of insiders say Moore has it locked for "Still Alice," but the Globes do like the celebrity part of it all -- and Aniston has Moore beat on that front.
The contenders for best actor in a motion picture drama all gave memorable performances -- with Steve Carell in "Foxcatcher," Benedict Cumberbatch in "The Imitation Game," Jake Gyllenhaal "Nightcrawler," David Oyelowo in "Selma" and Eddie Redmayne in "The Theory of Everything."
Right now, signs are pointing to either Redmayne or Cumberbatch to take the category.
"You have these two tortured geniuses and I think it seems like the edge is going to go to Redmayne who in some ways has the showier performance," said Feinberg. "He's portraying a guy dealing with ALS...I think it is evocative of Daniel Day Lewis in 'My Left Foot' and some of the other great physical performances. I do think he will edge out Cumberbatch, even though Cumberbatch is the bigger star."
A lot of eyes will be on the director category, too, which features Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Ava Duvernay's "Selma," David Fincher's "Gone Girl," Inarritu's "Birdman" and Linklater's "Boyhood."
Duvernay's nomination makes her the first black woman to receive a Golden Globe nod for best director.
Julie Dash, the first black female director to have a full-length feature film produced by a major Hollywood studio (1992's "Daughters of the Dust") told CBS News that Duvernay's nomination is great news for the industry.
"'Selma' is not just a history lesson," she said. "It's history in the making on many counts -- for her being the first African-American woman to have this kind of budget and to be able to have final cut on an epic feature film -- telling the inside story of what's happening in the civil rights movement rather than from outside....This was an intimate, internal POV."
"It's definitely a turning point and one that people are paying a lot of attention to rightly...I think the actual [best director] win will actually go to either Linklater for 'Boyhood' -- or Inarritu for 'Birdman,'" added Feinberg.
TV, meanwhile, will be well represented across several categories. Top-notch shows are competing in the best drama television category: "Downton Abbey," The Affair," "Game of Thrones," 'House of Cards," and "The Good Wife." The Globes could go with a familiar favorite -- HBO's "Game of Thrones," or recognize Showtime's sexy new freshman drama, "The Affair."
There's a mix of series (including a few brand new shows) in the best musical or comedy series category: "Orange is the New Black," "Girls," "Jane the Virgin," "Transparent" and Silicon Valley." Here we see a couple of streaming show represented with "Transparent and "Orange is the New Black." This category is very much up for grabs, but seems that the Amazon series "Transparent" about a transgender parent could be a strong contender.Many of the nominees are set to attend, along with a slew of presenters (some of them are nominees, too), including Bryan Cranston, Meryl Streep, Robert Downey Jr., Kate Hudson, Channing Tatum, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Hart, Lily Tomlin, Salma Hayek, Chris Pratt, Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Harrison Ford, Jennifer Lopez, Jared Leto and Melissa McCarthy.
George Clooney will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and Greer Grammer, daughter of actor Kelsey Grammer, will serve as Miss Golden Globe.
Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will return as co-hosts for the third time when the ceremony airs live from Los Angeles starting at 8 p.m. ET on NBC. The most recent ceremony attracted nearly 21 million viewers -- the most since 2004.
As of Wednesday, Fey and Poehler hadn't even started coming up with material. "We have no tricks up our sleeves," Fey told ET. "We haven't written the show yet. We're going to start meeting. What is today? Tuesday? It's Wednesday? We'll start meeting tonight."
The Globe nominees and winners can often predict Oscar nominees. Last year, the Globes chose the eventual Oscars best-picture winner, "12 Years a Slave," as its best drama, for instance. Oscar nominations will be announced next Thursday.
