"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Doubt" and "Frost/Nixon" lead the race in the film category, with five nominations each, while outrageous comedies like "Tropic Thunder" and "Pineapple Express" also made unexpected appearances in the acting categories.

"Benjamin Button," starring Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchet, joined "Frost/Nixon," "The Reader," "Revolutionary Road" and "Slumdog Millionaire" in the race for best film drama. Pitt was nominated for best actor in a drama, while the film's director David Fincher was among nominees for best director.

Also picking up best director nominations were Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire," Stephen Daldry for "The Reader," Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon" and Sam Mendes for "Revolutionary Road."

Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes have two categories for best picture, one for musicals or comedies and the other for dramas.

The best picture nominees in the comedy/musical category were "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "In Bruges," "Mamma Mia!" and "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

Meryl Streep was nominated as best actress both in the drama and comedy/musical category, for "Doubt" and "Mamma Mia!" respectively, making her the most-nominated performer in Golden Globes history, with a total of 23.

"Bolt," "Kung Fu Panda" and "WALL-E" were the three contenders in the best animated feature film category, while nominations for best foreign film were split between Germany's "The Baader Meinh of Complex," Sweden/Denmark's "Everlasting Moments," Italy's "Gomorrah," France's "I've Loved You So Long" and Israel's "Waltz With Bashir."

Actors Elizabeth Banks, Terrence Howard, Brooke Shields and Rainn Wilson joined Jorge Camara, president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, in announcing the nominations at the Beverly Hilton hotel before dawn Thursday morning.

There were 113 dramas and 71 comedies or musicals eligible for this year's Golden Globes, along with eight animated feature films and 53 foreign language films, according to organizers.

The HFPA also announced that veteran director Steven Spielberg will receive the awards' Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award this year.

Although the Golden Globe Awards are often promoted as an early indicator winners on Oscar night, none of the Golden Globe best picture winners have gone on to win the best picture Academy Award in the past four years.

The 66th Golden Globe Awards will be presented January 11 at the Beverly Hilton, more than one month ahead of the Academy Awards.