'Marriage Story' leads Golden Globe nominations with 6, including best film drama

Netflix became the studio to beat at the Golden Globes when nominations were announced Monday morning. The streaming service received a total of 17 nominations and scored two major coups in the motion picture categories, where it leads the way with the two highest-nominated theatrical releases — Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” with six nods and Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman,” which earned five. The strong showing for Netflix — which also received 17 nominations in the TV categories — bodes well for its performance at the upcoming Academy Awards, where it has yet to pick up a coveted best picture award.

Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, who play a divorcing husband and wife in “Marriage Story,” each earned nods in the leading dramatic acting categories, while “The Irishman” picked up two supporting actor nominations for Joe Pesci as a low-level crime boss and Al Pacino as doomed Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa.

Elsewhere, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which oversees the Golden Globes, spread its nominations around fairly even. The group ignored the controversy around “Joker,” honoring it with nominations for director Todd Phillips, lead actor Joaquín Phoenix, composer Hildur Guđnadóttir and best dramatic film. The religious-themed drama “The Two Popes” and Sam Mendes’ World War I film “1917,” will also compete for best drama.

As always, the vagaries of awards season and the whims of the HFPA made for some unusual choices. Tom Hanks, who plays Fred Rogers in “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” received a nod for supporting actor, as did Brad Pitt, who arguably plays the hero in Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood.” The at times graphically violent film, about the parallel worlds of the entertainment industry and the Manson Family, landed in the comedy category, where it is up for a total of five awards.

A couple of dark horses also showed their strengths. “Parasite,” a satirical thriller from South Korea, is up for three awards, including nods for Bong Joon Ho for screenplay and director, where he will compete against Scorsese, Tarantino, Mendes and Phillips. “Dolemite Is My Name,” a biopic about a comedian-turned-movie-star — and another Netflix production — received nods for best comedy and Eddie Murphy as best comedic actor.

Among the more glaring absences were Robert De Niro, whose performance as a guilt-ridden hit man in “The Irishman” had been widely praised. Matt Damon was overlooked for his leading turn in “Ford v Ferrari,” even though his co-star Christian Bale received a nod for dramatic actor, as was Leonardo DiCaprio in “Once Upon a Time in ... Hollywood.” Adam Sandler, whose dramatic performance as a gambling addict in “Uncut Gems” has wowed the critics, also missed a nod, a possible result of that film’s last-minute reclassification from the comedy category to the far more competitive dramatic category.