Globes Love “Birdman” and “Budapest,” Shun “Unbroken,” Network TV

The Hollywood Foreign Press showered nomination love on "Birdman," "Boyhood" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" for the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards.

Director Angelina Jolie's "Unbroken," based on a real-life story of human courage in the face of unimaginable adversity, received no affection whosoever. Also lacking in love were the major television networks, receiving little recognition in the series races.

Heavily favored as a leader in the run up to the award season, "Unbroken's" shutout Thursday comes a day after a similar exclusion from the Screen Actors Guild nominations.

As "Unbroken" drifts behind, "Birdman" continues to ride a wave of popularity, earning a leading seven nominations from the Foreign Press, the group behind the Globes. The dark comedy about a movie actor (Michael Keaton) trying to jump start his fading career via a Broadway show also leads the nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards.

Jostling for awards season pole position is "Boyhood," director Richard Linklater's 12-years-in-the-making chronicle of a boy's transition to manhood, which already received top honors from the New York Film Critics Circle and Los Angeles Film Critics Association. "Boyhood" garnered five Globe nominations alongside the British spy drama "The Imitation Game" starring Benedict Cumberbatch.

"The Grand Budapest Hotel" received an award season surge with four Globe nominations. Wes Anderson's delightfully offbeat movie was named to the best picture drama, best actor comedy (Ralph Fiennes), director and screenplay categories.

In a history-making turn, Ava DuVernay became the first African American female filmmaker to be nominated for a best director Globe for "Selma." The civil rights drama earned four nominations, including best picture drama, best actor for David Oyelowo and best original song.

Like "Unbroken," the major networks were given the cold shoulder by the Hollywood Foreign Press Thursday with PBS' "Downton Abbey" and "The Good Wife" from CBS being the only series named to the television series categories.

"Girls" (HBO), ''Jane the Virgin" (CW), ''Orange is the New Black" (Netflix), ''Silicon Valley" (HBO) and "Transparent" (Amazon Prime) will compete for best comedy series, shutting out popular ratings juggernauts "The Big Bang Theory" and "Modern Family."

Though Julia Louis-Dreyfus was given a nod in the comedy actress race for her stellar work on "Veep," the show chronicling the political ups and downs of a bumbling Vice President was notably absent from the series lineup. An Emmy winner for best comedy actress every year since 2012, Louis-Dreyfus is yet to be honored with a Golden Globe for her "Veep" role.

The critically-hailed medical mix-up story "Jane the Virgin" and the quietly comic transgender tale "Transparent" are welcome freshman inclusions in the comedy race. "Jane" star Gina Rodriguez and "Transparent's" Jeffrey Tambor were also named to the best actress and actor comedy races.

Other Globes freshmen for 2015 include "Fargo," the quirky miniseries from FX which leads the television categories with five nominations, and Showtime newcomer "The Affair," receiving nods in the best drama series and actor and actress competitions.

"The Good Wife" (CBS) and "Downton Abbey" (PBS) must battle cable and streaming series "Game of Thrones" (HBO), "House of Cards" (Netflix) and "The Affair" for best drama series.

Hosted by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, the 72nd annual Golden Globe Awards will air live at 8 p.m. ET on January 11, 2015 on NBC.

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