Golden Globe Awards 2014: The stars, nominees and predictions

Dozens of Hollywood’s finest stars will step out for the 71st Golden Globe Awards on Sunday in Los Angeles when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association will honor some of the best in film and television, www.cbsnews.com reports.

This year, “American Hustle" and the Civil Rights film "12 Years a Slave" are tied for the most nominations with seven bids each.

"12 Years a Slave" will compete for best motion picture drama, alongside "Captain Phillips,”"Gravity,” "Philomena" and "Rush.” "I think '12 Years a Slave' is really the frontrunner,” Variety's Ramin Setoodeh told CBS News. “It's picked up a lot of the precursor awards and the critics really like it. So I think that will probably win for best picture drama."

Those nominated in the comedy/musical film category are "American Hustle," "Her," "Inside Llewyn Davis," "Nebraska" and "The Wolf of Wall Street." Many eyes will be on "American Hustle” as it's considered a likely winner in the race. The David O. Russell film, starring Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Christian Bale and Amy Adams, already won best picture at the New York Film Critics Circle and is getting Oscar nomination buzz.

Some of the lead movie acting categories, meanwhile, may not be so concrete. And with the two different categories -- one for drama, the other for comedy/musical -- there are quite a few nominees.

“Male acting is really, really competitive this year,” said Setoodeh. “The Golden Globes got to nominate 10 actors so they really can spread the wealth, but I think it's going to be a really tight race between Matthew McConaughey in 'Dallas Buyers Club' and Robert Redford in 'All is Lost.'”

Setoodeh says it’s a good year for some veteran actresses, with Kate Winslet, Cate Blanchett, Julia Roberts and Judi Dench all nominated in acting categories. Setoodeh thinks Blanchett has a good chance to walk away with the Golden Globe for “Blue Jasmine” in the best actress in a motion picture drama category, but says Emma Thompson is a “dark horse candidate” for “Saving Mr. Banks.”
Sunday’s winners are also watched closely in the lead-up to the Academy Award nominations on Jan. 16. In the last two years, one of the Globes' best-picture winners went on to score Oscars. Last year, the Globes named Ben Affleck's "Argo"best picture for drama.

The year before that, the silent film "The Artist" won best picture for a comedy.

Film stars aren’t the only ones who will be honored on Sunday. TV will have a big presence, too. "The Big Bang Theory," "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Girls," "Modern Family" and "Parks and Recreation" are nominated for best comedy series. The best drama nominees are "Breaking Bad," "Downton Abbey," "The Good Wife," "House of Cards" and "Masters of Sex."

No matter which film and TV shows score big wins on Sunday, viewers can expect some laughs with comedy pals Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning as hosts of the gala. Presenters will include Lawrence, Uma Thurman, Kevin Bacon, Julie Bowen, Laura Dern, Mila Kunis, Colin Farrell, Jimmy Fallon, Reese Witherspoon, Tom Hanks, Chris Hemsworth, Melissa McCarthy, Seth Meyers, Liam Neeson, Chris O’Donnell, Margot Robbie, Mark Ruffalo, Kyra Sedgwick, Channing Tatum, Emma Watson, Naomi Watts and Olivia Wilde.
Writer-director Woody Allen will be honored with the evening’s Cecil B. DeMille Award. He’s not expected to attend; actress Diane Keaton will reportedly take home the lifetime achievement award on his behalf.

The Golden Globes will air live from the Beverly Hilton on NBC starting at 8 p.m. ET on Sunday.