THE Hollywood award season is moving into high gear as a slew of televised nominations and award shows trip over one another in the race for attention, kudos and one-upmanship. ????With Oscar nominations announced yesterday, the Golden Globes ceremony in Beverly Hills on Sunday, and the annual People’s Choice and Critics Choice shows wedged in Wednesday and Thursday evenings, stars, pundits and fans have an embarrassment of movie riches to savor. ????The already busy awards schedule has taken on a new look this year with Oscar nominations being announced before the annual Golden Globes ceremony, instead of afterward. ????“This is partially an attempt to blunt the impact of the Globes on the part of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,” Pete Hammond, awards columnist for entertainment website Deadline.com, said of the earlier nominations date. ????“I think the Academy gets very frustrated that by the time you get to the Oscars in February, there have been so many awards shows and speeches, some of the luster is taken off. This is a way of stealing the attention back,” Hammond said. ????Six movies and a handful of actors are commanding the buzz in this week’s races, the results of which will narrow the field for Oscar glory Feb. 24. ????“Zero Dark Thirty,” Kathryn Bigelow’s controversial thriller about the decade-long hunt for Osama bin Laden, Iran hostage drama “Argo,” epic musical “Les Miserables,” presidential drama “Lincoln,” Quentin Tarantino’s violent slavery Western “Django Unchained” and quirky comedy “Silver Linings Playbook” are all expected to get Oscar nominations. ????All six films are also in the running to take home a Golden Globe on Sunday in a race pundits call too close to call — in all but one category. ????The one sure bet is that British-born Daniel Day-Lewis will win the Golden Globe for his quiet but powerful performance as U.S. President Abraham Lincoln — and probably the Oscar next month, awards watchers said. ????The other categories are another matter. ????“I can see the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) spreading the wealth around many different films for the Golden Globes,” said Dave Karger, chief movie correspondent at Fandango and host of its “The Frontrunners” online show. ????“If that happens, it speaks to how wide and even the field is this year. There’s not one or even two movies out in front, but five or even six, and I can’t recall a year like that.” ????“Lincoln” and “Argo” appear to be the Globe best drama front-runners, but “Django Unchained,” which won a surprise five nominations from the HFPA, could prove an upset.(SD-Agencies) | 