JAKE COYLE
AP Film Writer
Damien Chazelle's Los Angeles musical "La La Land" sang and danced its way to a leading seven Golden Globes nominations, with Barry Jenkins' celebrated coming-of-age tale "Moonlight" close on its heels with six nods.
"La La Land" earned nominations for its lead actors, Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, as well best picture, comedy or musical. The film also scored nominations for directing, screenplay, score and original song in the nominations announced Monday in Los Angeles by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.
"Moonlight" led the field in the dramatic categories, including best picture. It earned nods for Jenkins' directing and script, supporting actor favorite Mahershala Ali and supporting actress Naomie Harris.
The other nominees for best picture, drama, were "Manchester by the Sea," "Lion," ''Hell or High Water" and Mel Gibson's "Hacksaw Ridge."
The Weinstein Co.'s "Lion," the story of an Indian boy separated from his family, had an especially good morning. The film also earned nods for Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman.
Kenneth Lonergan's tender portrait of grief, "Manchester by the Sea," landed five nominations, including best actor in a drama for Casey Affleck. Producer Matt Damon, in a statement, thanked the Hollywood Foreign Press "for championing a little movie like ours."
Meryl Streep landed her 30th nomination for best actress in a musical or comedy for "Florence Foster Jenkins." Streep, an eight-time winner, will also be the recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award for career achievement.
Going into the Golden Globe nominations, no film had more momentum than Jenkin's celebrated "Moonlight," a staple of top 10-lists and the best film choice of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Gotham Independent Film Awards.
But "La La Land," the top film choice of the New York Film Critics Circle is viewed as the Oscar favorite, and, as expected, it dominated.
The nominations also verified that this year's awards season won't be nearly so white as last year's. Nominations heaped on "Moonlight," ''Fences," ''Loving" and "Hidden Figures" confirmed what has already solidified as a notably more diverse field.
The Jan. 8 Golden Globes will be hosted by Jimmy Fallon and broadcast by NBC from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
