The harrowing historical epic “12 Years a Slave” and the con-artist caper “American Hustle” led the 71st annual Golden Globes with seven nominations each, setting up two very different films as Academy Awards front-runners.
One outlandish and farcical, the other grimly accurate, “American Hustle” and “12 Years a Slave” dominated the Golden Globes on Thursday, when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominees from Beverly Hills, Calif.
Hailed by critics as the movies’ most unblinking portrait of slavery, “12 Years a Slave” verified its Oscar favorite status with nominations including best film drama, Chiwetel Ejiofor for best actor in a drama, Steve McQueen for best director and Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong’o for their supporting roles. The film is based on the 1853 memoir by Solomon Northup, a free man kidnapped and sold into slavery.
“All of these nominations hopefully mean that more people will go and see it and that is really exciting because I feel this film is pivotal and just so good for the world,” said Nyong’o.