Golden Globe 2012 nominations: Kate Winslet gets 2, Brad Pitt and George Clooney up for Best Actor

By
Nadia Mendoza

Last updated at 7:24 PM on 15th December 2011

It’s the prestigious prize for the mantlepiece every starlet dreams of, with Golden Globe recognition paving the way for Oscar glory.

And all eyes will be on Kate Winslet after she scooped a nomination for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for Carnage and Best Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries for Mildred Pierce.

This will be the eighth time the Titanic beauty, 36, has been nominated, and potentially her third win after she triumphed in 2008 for The Reader and Revolutionary Road.

Chemistry: Sofia Vergara and Gerard Butler giggled away onstage together at the 69th annual Golden Globe Award nominations announcements

But Winslet has stiff competition on
her hands, battling the likes of Carnage co-star Jodie Foster, Charlize
Theron (Young Adult),
Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids) and Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn)
for the Musical/Comedy prize.

She will also battle Diane Lane of Cinema
Verite, Downton Abbey’s Elizabeth McGovern and Emily Watson from
Appropriate Adult for the Motion Picture/Miniseries title.

Moment of suspense: Sofia Vergara speaks during the 69th annual Golden Globe Award nominations announcements

Golden girl: Sofia was one of the celebrity guests to announce the Golden Globe nominations

Fellow women of the showbiz elite who
join Winslet on the list, include Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady and
Rooney Mara of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo who are up for Best
Actress in a Drama.

Streep
and Mara will strive to triumph alongside Glenn Close of Albert Nobbs,
Viola Davis from The Help and the fantastic Tilda Swinton for We Need to
Talk About Kevin.

Causing Carnage: Kate Winslet has been nominated for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy against co-star Jodie Foster

Flying the flag for the boys is George Clooney, whose two films The
Descendants and The Ides Of March, made it onto the Best Motion Picture list.

They face competition from The
Help, Hugo, Moneyball and Steven Spielberg production War Horse.

The coveted prize of Best Director will land in the lap of one of the lucky five; Woody Allen for Midnight in Paris, George Clooney for The Ides of March, Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist, Alexander Payne for The Descendants or Martin Scorsese for Hugo.

Holding her own: Sofia may have added the glamour, but Rashida Jones looked cute as a button in thick-rimmed glasses and a blazer

Foppish: Gerard was sporting a full set of curls at the Beverly Hill events in California

The nominations were announced today by
Hollywood veteran Woody Harrelson, Modern Family star Sofia Vergara,
Scottish hunk Gerard Butler and Rashida Jones at the Beverly Hilton
Hotel, California.

Unlikely film The Artist topped the leaderboard, with the French film scooping six nominations.

Yet hot on its tale and tied in second
place is sixties tale The Help and Clooney’s Hawaiian family
story The Descendants; with both films earning five nods including Best Motion Picture Drama.

Water baby: My Week With Marilyn star Michelle Williams received a nod for Best Actress in a Musical/Comedy

While Clooney was also nominated for Best Actor in a Drama, The Help earned acting nods for Viola Davis, Octavia Spencer and Jessica Chastain.

Best Actress in a Television Drama Series included nominations for Claire Danes (Homeland), Mireille Enos (The Killing), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) and Madeleine Stowe (Revenge).

Third time lucky? Kate won a nod for her efforts in Mildred Pierce, but already has two Golden Globes

Following their lead was the category for Best Supporting
Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV movie.

Boardwalk Empire
star Kelly Macdonald will battle Jessica Lange from American Horror Story,
Maggie Smith of Downton Abbey, Sofia Vergara of Modern Family and Evan Rachel Wood for Mildred Pierce.

Best Actor for a Television Comedy Series category sees Alec Baldwin of 30 Rock take on David Duchovny of Californication, Johnny Galecki of The Big Bang Theory and Matt LeBlanc of Episodes.

Down to business: The quartet shared plenty of jokes during their Golden Globe duties

Their lucky day: Woody and Gerard looked particularly pleased with themselves as they posed with Sofia and Rashida

There doesn’t seem to be a clear runner
for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical Film, with Jean Dujardin (The
Artist), Brendan Gleeson (The Guard), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50), Ryan
Gosling (Crazy, Stupid, Love) and Owen Wilson (Midnight in Paris) all
in the running.

The Flowers of War, In the Land of
Blood of Honey, The Kid With a Bike, A Separation and The Skin I Live In
will all compete for Best Foreign Film.

Ricky Gervais will return as the host, despite offending the entirety of the auditorium earlier this year.

The
Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced through Twitter last
month that the British comedian will reprise his role as presenter for
the third time at the ceremony in January 2012.

Hot favourite: George Clooney has been honoured with Best Actor in a Drama and Best Director nods

Making Angie proud: Brad Pitt, seen here with Jonah Hill, has been nominated for his efforts in Moneyball

A previous quip drew gasps when he referred to one film featuring ‘two heterosexual actors pretending to be gay, so the complete opposite of some famous Scientologists then’.

He then added: ‘My lawyers helped me with the wording of that joke.’

The 50-year-old also said that Sex And The City 2 should have won the special effects award for ‘the team that airbrushed that poster… ‘Girls, we know how old you are.’

Today he revealed he will be eating something light prior to popping on his tuxedo on the night, saying: ‘I’ll just have something light like beans on toast so I don’t throw up all over Robert De Niro.’

Show off! Sofia Vergara poses with a cake on Twitter to celebrate her nomination, with the caption: ‘Celebrating with cake at 5am my Golden Globe nomination’

The 69th annual Golden Globes ceremony will take place on January 15.

Five-time Academy Award and Globe nominee Morgan Freeman, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for Million Dollar Baby and a Best Actor Globe
for Driving Miss Daisy, will receive the group’s Cecil B. DeMille
Award for Lifetime Achievement.

Last year, The King’s Speech ruled over Hollywood with an impressive seven nominations.

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Golden Globe 2012 nominations: Kate Winslet gets 2, Brad Pitt and George Clooney up for Best Actor