Birdman squawked loudly at the Golden Globes, flying away with a leading seven nominations.
In nominations announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press, Boyhood and The Imitation Game trailed with five nods apiece. Those two films lead a best drama category that also includes Foxcatcher, Selma and The Theory Of Everything.
In the best picture, comedy or musical, category, Birdman is joined by St Vincent, Grand Budapest Hotel, Into The Woods and the independent British film Pride.
One of the surprise winners of the day was Grand Budapest Hotel. Along with a best picture nod in comedy, it earned nominations for Ralph Fiennes as best actor and Wes Anderson for screenplay and director.
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Birdman - about a Hollywood star trying to mount a serious drama on Broadway - earned nods for its star, Michael Keaton, supporting players Edward Norton and Emma Stone, as well as for its direction, screenplay and score.
Richard Linklater's long-in-the-making coming-of-age drama Boyhood, thus far the critical darling and perceived front-runner of Hollywood's awards season, added nominations for direction and script, and supporting actors Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette.
The Second World War code-breaker drama The Imitation Game, starring Benedict Cumberbatch as mathematician Alan Turing, also went over well.
In addition to its best picture nod, Cumberbatch is nominated for best actor, Keira Knightley for best supporting actress, Graham Moore for best screenplay and Alexandre Desplat for best score.
The other nominees for best actor in a drama were Steve Carell (Foxcatcher), David Oyelowo (Selma), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory Of Everything) and Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler).
In the best actress category, the young Quvenzhane Wallis (Annie) joined a battery of veteran performers in Julianne Moore (Maps To The Stars), Helen Mirren (The Hundred-Foot Journey), Amy Adams (Big Eyes) and Emily Blunt (Into The Woods).
The best actress category was notable for two stars in less adorned performances: Reese Witherspoon in the hiking drama Wild and Jennifer Aniston for Cake.
Also nominated were Moore (her second, for Still Alice), Felicity Jones (The Theory Of Everything) and Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl).
Fiennes and Keaton were joined in the best actor, comedy or musical category, by Bill Murray (St Vincent) and a few less-expected choices, Joaquin Phoenix for Inherent Vice and Christoph Waltz for Big Eyes.
In the TV categories, the best drama series nominations went to The Affair, Downton Abbey, Game Of Thrones, The Good Wife and House Of Cards.
The nominees for best TV comedy series are: Girls, Jane The Virgin, Orange Is The New Black, Silicon Valley and Transparent.
For the third time in a row, the Globes telecast will be hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The show will air live from the Beverly Hills Hotel in California on Sunday January 11.
Redmayne, who plays Stephen Hawking in the film said: "I've been a bit frantic. I'm trying to finish all my Christmas shopping in a day and now I got this phone call.
"I'm about to have a few mulled wines to celebrate."
In the TV categories, Fargo led with five nominations, including best TV miniseries or movie.
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