There are prestige movies featuring strongly across the board, including Spotlight, Carol, The Big Short, The Revenant and Bridge of Spies. But the surprise leader of the pack is the summer action blockbuster Mad Max: Fury Road.

Tom Hardy plays Max RockatanskyTom Hardy plays Max Rockatansky

Coming into the season, George Miller's long-awaited reboot had already won two Australian Film Institute awards from 11 nominations. And this week it was also named Film of the Year by both the National Board of Review and Boston Online Film Critics. In the Golden Globes, it received top nominations for Best Director and Best Film - Drama.

All of this bodes well for the film to feature highly in both the Oscar and Bafta nominations, which will be announced next month. It's especially likely to pick up nods across the craft categories, from music and cinematography to editing and sound mixing. And lead actors Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron have also had some attention.

It's rare that an action movie makes such a strong showing in the awards season, but Mad Max is obviously loved by both audiences, critics and those in the industry.

Meanwhile, the biggest snubs in the Golden Globes nominations list were reserved for Johnny Depp for Black Mass and the cast and crew of Straight Outta Compton, which was completely shut out. Still, both Depp and the Straight Outta Compton ensemble cast were nominated by SAG, so their Oscar hopes remain intact.

Watch the trailer for Mad Max here: