Globes shine bright for Aussies

Maybe Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, Keith Urban and Naomi Watts will split a cab to the Academy Awards ceremony.

The Australian quartet is on track to score Oscar nominations, and maybe even win a few of the coveted statuettes, after a bumper performance at the Golden Globes nomination ceremony on Thursday.

Just 24 hours after Jackman, Kidman and Watts picked up nominations to the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards and 48 hours after Urban was short-listed for an Oscar, they struck gold at the Globes - one of the crucial Academy Award lead-up events.

Usually Urban is Kidman's date to movie award ceremonies, but after securing a Globe best original song nomination for For You, which featured in Act of Valor, an action film about a team of Navy SEALs, the New Zealand-born, Queensland-raised country music star could share the winner's podium with his wife at both the Globes and the Oscars.

Kidman secured two Globe nominations - repeating her SAG nomination haul.

She will be competing for the best supporting actress Globe for her feral, sex-crazed performance in the big-screen thriller, The Paperboy, and also in the actress in a TV mini-series-movie category for Hemingway and Gellhorn.

Anne Hathaway, for her film-stealing performance in Les Miserables, remains the frontrunner for the supporting actress Globe and Oscar, but Kidman is building momentum with her SAG and Globe nominations.

Jackman, who brings his Tony Award-winning singing-acting talent to the big screen in Les Mis, is the favourite for the Globe best actor in a musical/comedy category, with Silver Linings Playbook's Bradley Cooper the only real threat.

Luckily for Jackman the Globes' leading acting categories are split in two, with other best actor Oscar frontrunners Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln), Joaquin Phoenix (The Master) and Denzel Washington (Flight) competing in the drama category.

A musical/comedy Globe win for Jackman will catapult him to being equal Oscar favourite with the Globe! dramatic actor winner.

Jackman's performance of Suddenly in Les Mis will compete for the original song Globe against Urban's For You, Jon Bon Jovi's Not Running Anymore (for the movie, Stand Up Guys), Taylor Swift's Safe Sound (for The Hunger Games) and Adele's James Bond tune, Skyfall.

Watts is also shaping into a serious contender for the best actress Oscar for her role as a tsunami survivor in The Impossible. The role is based on the true story of a mother and her family caught in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Watts is up against past Oscar winners Helen Mirren (Hitchcock), Rachel Weisz (The Deep Blue Sea) and Marion Cotillard (Rust Bone) and new Hollywood darling, Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty).

At the start of the week, Jacki Weaver (Silver Linings), Russell Crowe (Les Mis) and Toni Collette (Hitchcock) were considered chances for supporting Oscar nominations, but after snubs at the SAG and Globe nomination ceremonies, the Aussie trio will almost certainly miss out.

The Academy Award nominations will be announced on January 10.

The Globes' best motion picture drama nominees are: Argo, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln and Zero Dark Thirty.

The best motion picture - comedy or musical - nominees are: Marigold, Les Mis, Moonrise Kingdom, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Silver Linings.

The 70th annual Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 13, while the 19th Annual SAG ceremony will take place on January 27.

The Academy Awards ceremony is scheduled for February 24.