BEVERLY HILLS, Dec 13: "Sideways," a critically acclaimed tale of two men looking for love in California's wine country, led Golden Globe nominations on Monday with seven, one more than closest rival , "The Aviator", a biography of a young Howard Hughes conquering Hollywood.

The nominations for the awards given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association on Jan 16 are often an indicator of what films are jockeying for position for the US film industry's top awards, the Oscars, handed out in February.

Also receiving five nominations each were "Closer," a story of tangled love affairs among two couples, "Finding Neverland," a fictional film about "Peter Pan" author J.M. Barrie, and Clint Eastwood's female boxing movie, "Million Dollar Baby."

"Sideways" topped the nominees for best film musical or comedy. That group included romance "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," musical "Ray," about the life of soul singer Ray Charles, "The Phantom of the Opera," based on the play of the same name, and hit animated movie "The Incredibles." -Reuters