A wild, violent road trip, a boy and his mother held captive for five years and a team of journalists investigating abusive priests — each are among the story lines competing for best drama at the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.
In his fourth appearance, comedian Ricky Gervais will host the awards, which begin at 8 p.m. ET on NBC.
In addition to “Mad Max: Fury Road,” “The Room” and “Spotlight,” a 1950s tale of a lesbian romance (“Carol”) and a film about a 19th century frontiersman starring Leonardo DeCaprio (“The Revenant”) were also named as nominees for best drama.
Related: Full List of Golden Globe Nominees
Absent from the Globes' list was the highest-grossing film in North American history — “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.” The group behind the Golden Globes — the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — announced its nominees just days before the first industry screening of “Star Wars” last month, according to the Associated Press.
Among the Globes' nominees for best musical or comedy include the Judd Apatow-directed oddball romantic comedy “Trainwreck” and “The Big Short,” based on journalist Michael Lewis’ account of the financial collapse. A surprise, perhaps, on that list, is Ridley Scott's "The Martian," which stars Matt Damon as a scientist-astronaut marooned on the Red Planet.
Among the television titles to be considered are HBO’s “Game of the Thrones,” the Fox show “Empire” and Netflix’s "Transparent."