First blood for King's Speech in Oscars race

First blood in the star-studded battle that will eventually end at February's Oscars has been struck by the British film industry, after a home-grown costume drama called The King's Speech topped the shortlist for next month's Golden Globe awards, with nominations in seven categories.

The independent movie, a portrayal of King George VI's efforts to cure his stammer, won nods for all three of its major stars, Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush. It is now the firm favourite to walk off with the night's most prestigious award, for Best Drama.

Yesterday's shortlist, unveiled before dawn in Los Angeles by actors including Mrs Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes, was short on surprises and suggests that, as widely expected, the coming Hollywood awards season will revolve firmly around a battle between The King's Speech and a major studio rival, The Social Network, David Fincher's take on the creation of Facebook.

The latter film, a biopic of Mark Zuckerberg which has already made $190m at the box office, got six nominations, including one for its star, Jesse Eisenberg, as Best Actor in a Drama. Co-star Andrew Garfield, the young Brit who was this year cast as Spiderman, was also nominated, for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama.

Yesterday's other big winner was The Fighter, a gritty portrayal of the life of the professional boxer "Irish" Micky Ward starring Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale. It served notice that it will be a major player in the coming weeks and months, with six nods, most of them in acting categories. The Golden Globes is Hollywood's second most prestigious awards show. Victory in the event, which will be hosted again this year by the British comedian Ricky Gervais, is traditionally supposed to be a vital precursor to success at the Oscars.

By that logic, other films to watch out for are Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, a drama set in the world of ballet which won four nominations, including one for its star, Natalie Portman, and The Kids are All Right, a portrayal of a lesbian couple's family crisis, which got nods for its co-stars, Annette Bening and Julianne Moore.

Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, about the hiker Aaron Ralston, who in 2003 cut off his own arm to escape from beneath a fallen boulder, was nominated three times and is a lively outsider.

The Globes differ from Oscars in separating Drama from Comedy. They also honour the stars of television. In that realm, this year's shortlist was dominated by old favourites such as Glee, 30 Rock, Mad Men, Dexter and Modern Family. The most successful newcomer to the TV categories was Martin Scorcese's Prohibition-era mini-series Boardwalk Empire, with three nominations, including one for Scottish actress Kelly MacDonald and one for the show's star, Steve Buscemi.

Despite their status the Golden Globes – voted on by 80-odd occasional journalists who make up the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – have recently been an unreliable indicator of Oscar success. In the past six years, the movie selected as Best Drama went on to scoop the Academy Award for Best Picture just once: Slumdog Millionaire in 2009.

Golden Globes nominations in full

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Black Swan

The Fighter

Inception

The King's Speech

The Social Network

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – Drama

Jesse Eisenberg - The Social Network

Colin Firth - The King's Speech

James Franco - 127 Hours

Ryan Gosling - Blue Valentine

Mark Wahlberg - The Fighter

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – Drama

Halle Berry - Frankie and Alice

Nicole Kidman - Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence - Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman - Black Swan

Michelle Williams - Blue Valentine

Best motion picture – Comedy or musical

Alice in Wonderland

Burlesque

The Kids Are All Right

Red

The Tourist

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – Comedy or musical

Johnny Depp - Alice in Wonderland

Johnny Depp - The Tourist

Paul Giamatti - Barney's Version

Jake Gyllenhaal - Love And Other Drugs

Kevin Spacey - Casino Jack

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – Comedy or musical

Annette Bening - The Kids Are All Right

Anne Hathaway - Love and Other Drugs

Angelina Jolie - The Tourist

Julianne Moore - The Kids Are All Right

Emma Stone - Easy A

Best animated feature film

Despicable Me

How To Train Your Dragon

The Illusionist

Tangled

Toy Story 3

Best foreign language film

Biutiful (Mexico/Spain)

The Concert (France)

The Edge (Russia)

I Am Love (Lo Sono L'amore) (Italy)

In A Better World (Denmark)

Best Director – Motion Picture

Darren Aronofsky - Black Swan

David Fincher - The Social Network

Tom Hooper - The King's Speech

Christopher Nolan - Inception

David O Russell - The Fighter

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture

Christian Bale - The Fighter

Michael Douglas - Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Andrew Garfield - The Social Network

Jeremy Renner - The Town

Geoffrey Rush - The King's Speech

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture

Amy Adams - The Fighter

Helena Bonham Carter - The King's Speech

Mila Kunis - Black Swan

Melissa Leo - The Fighter

Jacki Weaver - Animal Kingdom

Best screenplay – Motion picture

Danny Boyle, Simon Beaufoy - 127 Hours

Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg - The Kids Are All Right

Christopher Nolan - Inception

David Seidler - The King's Speech

Aaron Sorkin - The Social Network

Best original score – Motion picture

Alexandre Desplat - The King's Speech

Danny Elfman - Alice In Wonderland

Ar Rahman - 127 Hours

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross - The Social Network

Hans Zimmer - Inception

Best original song – Motion picture

"Bound To You" - Burlesque (Music by: Samuel Dixon. Lyrics by: Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler)

"Coming Home" - Country Strong (Music and lyrics by: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges)

"I See The Light" - Tangled (Music by: Alan Menken. Lyrics by: Glenn Slater)

"There's A Place For Us" - Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader (Music and lyrics by: Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey)

"You Haven't Seen The Last Of Me" - Burlesque (Music and lyrics by: Diane Warren)

Best television series – Drama

Boardwalk Empire (HBO)

Dexter (Showtime)

The Good Wife (CBS)

Mad Men (AMC)

The Walking Dead (AMC)

Best performance by an actor in a television series – Drama

Steve Buscemi - Boardwalk Empire

Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad

Michael C Hall - Dexter

Jon Hamm - Mad Men

Hugh Laurie - House

Best performance by an actress in a television series – Drama

Julianna Margulies - The Good Wife

Elisabeth Moss - Mad Men

Piper Perabo - Covert Affairs

Katey Sagal - Sons Of Anarchy

Kyra Sedgwick - The Closer

Best television series – Comedy or musical

30 Rock (NBC)

The Big Bang Theory (CBS)

The Big C (Showtime)

Glee (Fox)

Modern Family (ABC)

Nurse Jackie (Showtime)

Best performance by an actress in a television series – Comedy or musical

Toni Collette - United States Of Tara

Edie Falco - Nurse Jackie

Tina Fey - 30 Rock

Laura Linney - The Big C

Lea Michele - Glee