LOS ANGELES - Hollywood’s finest hit the red carpet Sunday for the Golden Globes, launching Tinseltown’s most fiercely-contested awards season in years with a wide open field of hotly-tipped movies.
Historical drama ‘12 Years a Slave’ and crime caper ‘American Hustle’ are among the top contenders at the Globes, the first big show of a season which climaxes with the Oscars on March 2.
But others hoping for gold include 3D space spectacular ‘Gravity,’ Somali piracy movie ‘Captain Phillips,’ bleak family drama ‘August: Osage County’ and Martin Scorsese’s three-hour financial scandal epic ‘The Wolf of Wall Street.’ Frontrunners in the best drama actor field include Briton Chiwetel Ejiofor for the title role in ‘12 Years a Slave,’ which could also earn a best director Globe for his compatriot Steve McQueen. For best actress in a drama, the smart money is on Australian Cate Blanchett in Woody Allen’s latest ‘Blue Jasmine,’ although others tipped include Sandra Bullock for ‘Gravity’ and Emma Thompson taking on Walt Disney in ‘Saving Mr Banks.’ 
On the small screen - increasingly important as big-screen stars and money migrate to television - Netflix’s pioneering ‘House of Cards’ could win more gold, as could cult hit ‘Breaking Bad,’ after its finale in September.
Going into Sunday night’s show in Beverly Hills, ‘12 Years a Slave’ and ‘American Hustle’ have the most nominations with seven nods each, followed by five for black and white road movie ‘Nebraska.’
Both frontrunners garnered nods for their main actors, including Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong’o and Michael Fassbender for ‘12 Years a Slave,’ and Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence for ‘American Hustle.’