Carol, a lesbian romance set in 1950s New York has topped nominations for the Golden Globes, with Australian movie Mad Max: Fury Road competing against the Cate Blanchett film for the top honour.

The film, starring Blanchett as a housewife who falls for a store clerk played by Rooney Mara, earned five nominations, including for best motion picture drama film and its two star actresses.

Aussie apocalyptic blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road, revenge thriller The Revenant and harrowing kidnap tale Room and Spotlight have also been nominated for the best motion picture drama award.

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Australian film director George Miller has also been nominated for best director for Mad Max: Fury Road.

Aussie film Mad Max has earned international accolades. Photo: AAP

Financial crisis film The Big Short, The Revenant and biopic Steve Jobs have each received an impressive four nominations for the Globes, which will be handed out in Beverly Hills on January 10.

In the race for best comedy or musical film are David O. Russell dramedy Joy, space blockbuster The Martian, zany caper Spy and Amy Schumer’s breakout film Trainwreck.

Timothy Gray, awards editor at industry magazine Variety, said the nominations reflected the cross-section of films in the running for this year’s prizes.

“There is a wide range here when you’ve got Carol, which is this 1952 romance, or a film like Brooklyn, and then you’ve got Mad Max and The Martian which are big spectacles,” he said.

“The Golden Globes are encompassing a lot of what’s going on in film.”

The Globes nominations were announced a day after the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) award contenders.

Trumbo topped that list with three nods, including best ensemble cast and best lead actor for Bryan Cranston.

Tinseltown’s awards season culminates with the Oscars on February 28.

In the category for best actress in a drama, apart from Blanchett and Mara, Brie Larson was nominated for her portrayal of a mother held captive with her young son in Room, and Alicia Vikander earned a nod for her role alongside Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl, a film about transgender pioneer Lili Elbe.

Also nominated in that category was Saoirse Ronan for Brooklyn, a 1950s tale about immigration.

For best actor in a drama, the nominees are Cranston, Redmayne, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Revenant, Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs and Will Smith for Concussion, a story about a pathologist who diagnosed degenerative brain disease in American football players.