“Wine-Country” road-trip movie “Sideways” led Golden Globe contenders Monday with seven nominations, including best musical or comedy film and best director, and the Howard Hughes biography “The Aviator” was second with six nominations including best dramatic feature and best director.

Other best drama nominees were director Mike Nichols'”Closer”; “Finding Neverland,” the story of Peter Pan creator J.M. Barrie; “Hotel Rwanda,” which is set against the genocide in that country; “Kinsey,” a film biography of sex researcher Alfred Kinsey, and the boxing saga “Million Dollar Baby.”

Along with “Sideways,” best musical or comedy nominees were “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”; “The Incredibles”; “The Phantom of the Opera,” and the Ray Charles film biography “Ray.”

“Ray” star Jamie Foxx was nominated for best musical or comedy actor for that film and received two other nominations: supporting actor for “Collateral” as a taxi driver whose cab is hijacked by a hitman, and as best actor in a TV movie or miniseries for “Redemption.”

The nominations for the awards given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Jan. 16 are cited as indicators of what films are might be competing for the film industry’s top awards, the Oscars, handed out in February.

**For the full list of nominees on the Hollywood Foreign Press Association Web site,

click here

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