Tonight's Saucy Globes are heavy on dark and sober themes

A loose and cheeky tone is typical for the Golden Globes. Yet Hollywood's first major prize show on the road to the Academy Awards has plenty of heavy drama for the hard times we live in.

Three films with war-on-terror angles scored nominations, led by critical darling The Hurt Locker, which is among best dramatic picture contenders.

Also competing tonight for that honour is the tough Harlem drama Precious: Based on the Novel Push By Sapphire and the recession-era tale Up in the Air, while roles that nabbed acting nominations include a serial killer (Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones), a Nazi Jew hunter (Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds) and a suicidal academic (Colin Firth in A Single Man).

The line-up for best dramatic actress features newcomers Gabourey Sidibe as an illiterate, abused teen in Precious and Carey Mulligan as a teen who jeopardizes her future through an affair with an older man in An Education. Mo'Nique is the supporting-actress favourite as a vile welfare mother in Precious.

Sure, there is plenty of cheerier fare such as The Hangover and Julie & Julia to lighten things up, along with nominations for big action crowd-pleasers such as Avatar and Sherlock Holmes.

Two Meryl Streep flicks, the Julia Child plum Julie & Julia and the romance It's Complicated, are nominated for best musical or comedy. Also in the running are the romance (500) Days of Summer, The Hangover and the musical Nine.

Double nominees

Presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a relatively small group of about 85 entertainment reporters for overseas outlets, the Globes have a history of spotlighting edgy picks that might go overlooked at other awards shows.

Among the contenders are three double nominees: Streep for Julie & Julia and It's Complicated, Sandra Bullock for the football drama The Blind Side and the romance The Proposal and Matt Damon for the whistle-blower tale The Informant! and the South African rugby drama Invictus.

Up in the Air leads with six nominations, including two of the five supporting-actress slots.

Winners could get a last-minute boost for the Oscars, whose nomination balloting closes six days after the Globes are presented. Oscar nominees will be announced on February 2, with the awards ceremony following on March 7.