Nominations for the Golden Globe Awards will be announced later today, December 15th 2011, with anticipation high; it's generally considered that those in the running for the accolades - voted for by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association - will be there or thereabouts come the biggest stage of them all, the Academy Awards, a couple of weeks later. Of course for the past two years the ceremony itself has almost gained more attention that the eventual recipients as British funny man Ricky Gervais has tore the star-studded guests apart with two presenting performances that pulled no punches when discussing the controversies of the likes Charlie Sheen and Mel Gibson, and he'll be back at the helm for a third outing again promising a no-holds barred approach.
Though generally regarded as a precursor to the Oscars, the Globes have nonetheless deviated from that presumption in recent years, for instance 'Avatar' took home the Best Film award in 2010, beating out 'The Hurt Locker' in the process - only for the roles to be reversed when it game to handing out the golden statues. It's been three years since both awards matched up in fact, with the huge success of 'Slumdog Millionaire' taking both crowns.
Forerunners this year include the George Clooney-starring 'The Descendants', reports The Press Association, while A-listers such as Brad Pitt, Leonardo Di Caprio and Meryl Streep can all expect to be in the running when it comes to the final reckoning, thanks to roles in 'Moneyball', 'J. Edgar' and 'The Iron Lady' respectively.