Golden globe : La La Land takes the lead on Australians, actors of colour score nods nomination

                                                           
La La Land, a musical about two dreamers falling in love in Hollywood, has beat out gritty drama and true-life stories to lead the Golden Globe nominees list, which includes several Australian names.

The musical scored seven nominations in all, including for Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling in the lead comedy/musical acting categories, while writer-director Damien Chazelle received nods for best director and best screenplay.

Moonlight, the tale of an impoverished black boy in Miami struggling with his sexuality, scored six nods.

The nominations underscored how La La Land and Moonlight are becoming the two frontrunners in Hollywood's annual awards race.

Both made the American Film Institute's list of best movies of 2016.

At Sunday's Critics Choice awards, La La Land took home eight accolades, including best picture, while Moonlight picked up two.

La La Land is up against 20th Century Women, the story of a free-spirited mother; raunchy superhero action movie Deadpool; singing comedy Florence Foster Jenkins; and teen tale Sing Street for best comedy/musical film at the Golden Globes.

Moonlight will face Australian Mel Gibson's war drama Hacksaw Ridge; western crime story Hell or High Water; adoption tale Lion, in which fellow Australian Nicole Kidman has been nominated for best supporting actress; and Manchester by the Sea, which is about a working-class family dealing with tragedy, in the best  drama film category.

Gibson secured three Golden Globe nominations for Hacksaw Ridge, which was shot in New South Wales.

The film earned Gibson best direction at the recent AACTA Awards, and it also picked up best film, best actor and best supporting actor.

Gibson and Kidman are joined by Joel Edgerton, from Blacktown in Sydney, who is nominated for best actor for his role in historical drama Loving.

Winners will be announced on January 8 at a televised ceremony hosted by Jimmy Fallon.

After a furore that erupted earlier this year because all 20 acting Oscar nominees were white, the Golden Globes feature numerous actors of colour, including Ruth Negga of Loving, Ali and Harris of Moonlight, and Dev Patel, who is of Indian descent, for Lion.

Notable omissions from the best drama film category included Jackie, an in-depth character study of the widow of US president John F Kennedy in the week after his assassination.

Lead Natalie Portman, however, received a best actress nomination.

source: ABC reuters