BEVERLY HILLS: ‘Up in the Air,’ starring George Clooney as a man who fires people for a living, earned six Golden Globe nominations on Tuesday, including best drama, as Hollywood's awards season got down to business.

‘Up in the Air’ had the most nominations, followed by musical ‘Nine,’ with five, including for best musical or comedy. Science-fiction action adventure ‘Avatar’ and director Quentin Tarantino's World War Two fantasy ‘Inglourious Basterds’ were nominated for four awards, including best drama.

Rounding out the movies nominated for Golden Globes, one of Hollywood's most-watched awards shows, were Iraq war movie ‘The Hurt Locker’ and urban drama ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire.’

Joining ‘Nine’ in the category for best movie musical or comedy were cooking movie ‘Julie & Julia,’ box office sensation ‘The Hangover,’ relationship film ‘The Hangover’ and Sundance hit ‘(500) Days of Summer.’

The Golden Globes are given out in January by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and are seen as a key indicator of which movies will compete for the world's top film honors, the Oscars, in March.

Among nominees for best actor in a film drama were Clooney, whose character in ‘Up in the Air’ is forced to contemplate his own life, Jeff Bridges playing a down-and-out country singer in ‘Crazy Heart,’ Colin Firth as a man considering suicide in ‘A Single Man,’ Morgan Freeman playing Nelson Mandela in ‘Invictus’ and Tobey Maguire for ‘Brothers.’

Nominations for best actress in a drama went to Sandra Bullock for football film ‘The Blind Side,’ veteran Helen Mirren for ‘The Last Station,’ Emily Blunt in ‘The Young Victoria,’ Carey Mulligan with ‘An Education’ and newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in ‘Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire.’ -Reuters LINK