‘UP in the Air' landed at just the right time, emerging as a potential Academy Awards favorite with themes of job loss and economic calamity that offer a heartbreaking yet hilarious reflection of these hard times. The film grabbed a leading six Golden Globe nominations Tuesday, including best drama, plus directing and screenplay honors for Jason Reitman. George Clooney earned a best dramatic actor slot as a frequent-flyer junkie traveling the country in first-class seats and premium car rentals as he fires the rank-and-file at downsizing companies. “We just got a little lucky. Jason's been writing this movie for like six or seven years now and it only really came about right at this moment, and he kind of adapted the screenplay to fit the times,” said Anna Kendrick, a supporting-actress nominee as a bright young efficiency expert whose innovations threaten the livelihood of Clooney's character. “I think it's a better movie for that.” Kendrick's competition includes “Up in the Air” co-star Vera Farmiga, who earned a supporting-actress honor as Clooney's frequent-flyer dream woman. Other drama picks were the space fantasy “Avatar,” the Iraq War tale “The Hurt Locker,” the World War II saga “Inglourious Basterds” and the Harlem teen story “Precious: Based on the Novel `Push' by Sapphire.” The musical “Nine” ran second with five nominations, including best musical or comedy and acting slots for Daniel Day-Lewis, Penelope Cruz and Marion Cotillard. Also competing for musical or comedy are the romance “(500) Days of Summer,” the bachelor-party bash “The Hangover” and two Meryl Streep films, “It's Complicated” and “Julie and amp; Julia.” Hollywood's second biggest film honors after the Academy Awards, the Globes are a key ceremony that sort out the prospects leading up to the Oscar nominations Feb. 2. The 67th annual Globes will be handed out Jan. 17, six days before voting closes for the Oscar nominations. There will be room for more films this time at the Oscars, whose best-picture category has been doubled from five to 10 nominees. Oscar organizers hope the expanded field will open best-picture honors up to a broader mix of movies. Three film contenders had two Globe nominations each: Streep, competing against herself for musical or comedy actress in the Julia Child tale “Julie and Julia” and the romance “It's Complicated”; Sandra Bullock, nominated as dramatic actress in the football story “The Blind Side” and musical or comedy actress for the romance “The Proposal”; and Matt Damon as musical or comedy actor for the whistleblower satire “The Informant!” and supporting actor for the South African rugby drama “Invictus.” Among television categories, nominations for drama series went to HBO's “Big Love,” Showtime's “Dexter,” Fox's “House,” AMC's “Mad Men” and HBO's “True Blood.” Musical or comedy series slots went to NBC's “30 Rock,” HBO's “Entourage,” Fox's “Glee,” ABC's “Modern Family” and NBC's “The Office.” The notion of what's a comedy or musical and what's a drama often gets fuzzy. Fox Searchlight submitted the country-music tale “Crazy Heart” as a musical because of its wall-to-wall tunes, yet it wound up nabbing Jeff Bridges a nomination for best dramatic actor. Robert Downey Jr. scored a nomination for musical or comedy actor in the title role of “Sherlock Holmes,” which has a lot of humor but is mainly an action thriller. Along with its best-drama nomination, the Iraq story “The Hurt Locker” earned Kathryn Bigelow a directing slot and Mark Boal a screenplay nomination. “Brothers,” combining action at home and in Afghanistan, had a best-actor nomination for Tobey Maguire and a song nomination, while the homefront war tale “The Messenger” picked up a supporting-actor honor for Woody Harrelson. In “Brothers,” Maguire plays a soldier suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after fighting in Afghanistan. “I did the movie largely to explore this arena and shed a light on a subject that could use some light shed on it,” Maguire said. “We're responsible for this, in its entirety, as a society.” Set among a three-man unit that defuses bombs in Iraq, “The Hurt Locker” helps put the abstractions of the war into real terms for viewers, Bigelow said. “For those of us who have never been to the front lines or perhaps are never going to go, I think it unpacks it a bit,” Bigelow said. For Bigelow, the Globe attention also has a more personal connection: She's competing for best director against ex-husband James Cameron, nominated for “Avatar.” “Very interesting,” Bigelow said. “It's very curious.”
