Close behind with six nominations each were the boxing film The Fighter and the movie about Facebook, The Social Network, which also claimed places among the best film drama nominees. Rounding out the list of five contenders in this important category were Inception and The Black Swan, each with four nominations.

Nominees for best movie comedy or musical were The Kids Are All Right, Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque, The Tourist and Red.

The Golden Globes are given by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are one of the key film awards ahead of the Oscars, the world's top film prizes, given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Philip Berk, the president of the HFPA called Tuesday's nominees "a wonderful mix" of films.

Notably absent from the nominees were the widely-touted True Grit and Winter's Bone, which has been a critical favourite among low-budget and independent films this last year. True Grit star Jeff Bridges had been expected to pull in a nod for best actor in a drama, yet he failed to make the list.

Actors and Actresses

In fact, it was Social Network star Jesse Eisenberg, portraying the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who received a nomination in the category for best dramatic film actor against Colin Firth, who plays the stuttering British king, George VI in King's Speech.

They are joined by James Franco in 127 hours, Ryan Gosling for Blue Valentine and Mark Wahlberg in The Fighter, which has wowed critics in early screenings.

Best film drama actress nominees were Halle Berry in Frankie and Alice, Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone, Natalie Portman for Black Swan and Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine.

Musical and comedy films also have nominees for acting, and in that arena Johnny Depp was nominated twice, for Alice in Wonderland and The Tourist. He will compete against Paul Giamatti in Barney's Version, Jake Gyllenhaal with Love and Other Drugs and Kevin Spacey with Casino Jack.

Nominations for best actress in a musical or comedy were led by Annette Benning, whose performance as a lesbian mother in The Kids Are All Right has thrilled critics. She is joined by her co-star in Kids, Julianne Moore, as well as Anne Hathaway for Love and Other Drugs, Angelina Jolie in The Tourist and Emma Stone for Easy A.

Foreign language film nominees were Biutiful from Mexico and Spain, France's The Concert, Russia's The Edge, I Am Love from Italy and Danish movie In a Better World.

Awards for television

Unlike Oscar organisers, members of the Hollywood Foreign Press also give awards for television and leading the nominees in that arena was the hit musical Glee, with five nods overall.

Gleelanded in the category for best television comedy or musical, where it will be joined by five other shows including 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, The Big C, Modern Family and Nurse Jackie.

Nominations for best television drama went to Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, The Good Wife, Mad Men, and The Walking Dead.

The Golden Globes will be given out on J16 anuary, 2011 in a ceremony televised live on the NBC broadcast network.