"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon" and "Doubt" led all Golden Globes nominees with five nods each Thursday, in a brief announcement ceremony that yielded several surprises.

The late Heath Ledger was among the nominees for a Best Supporting Actor Globe for "The Dark Knight," but the film didn't make the cut in the Best Motion Picture Drama category. "Milk," another awards season front-runner, also missed out on a Best Picture nomination.

Instead, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," "Frost/Nixon," "The Reader," "Revolutionary Road" and "Slumdog Millionaire" were the films the Hollywood Foreign Press Association cited as its nominees.

Up for Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy are "Burn After Reading," "Happy-Go-Lucky," "In Bruges," "Mamma Mia" and "Vicky Christina Barcelona."

Actors Brooke Shields, Elizabeth Banks, Rainn Wilson and Terrence Howard joined Hollywood Foreign Press Association President Jorge Camera to announce the nominees in Los Angeles.

Up for Best Actor in a Motion Picture Drama are Leonardo DiCaprio for "Revolutionary Road," Frank Langella for "Frost/Nixon," Brad Pitt for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Sean Penn for "Milk" and Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler."

While it missed out on a Best Motion Picture Drama slot, "Doubt" nabbed four acting nominations, including a Best Actress nod for Meryl Streep.

Facing off against Streep for the trophy are Kate Winslet for "Revolutionary Road," Anne Hathaway" for "Rachel Getting Married," Angelina Jolie for "Changeling" and Kristin Scott Thomas, "I've Loved You So Long."

Streep also nabbed a Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy nomination for "Mamma Mia!" Other nominees in the category include Rebecca Hall for "Vicky Christina Barcelona," Sally Hawkins for "Happy-Go-Lucky," Frances McDormand for "Burn After Reading" and Emma Thompson for "Last Chance Harvey."

Thompson's "Last Chance Harvey" co-star Dustin Hoffman was among the nominees for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy. Also up are Javier Bardem for "Vicky Christina Barcelona," Colin Farrell for "In Bruges," James Franco for "Pineapple Express" and Brendan Gleeson for "In Bruges."

Ron Howard earned a Best Director nomination for "Frost/Nixon," while Sam Mendes is up for "Revolutionary Road." Also in the race for the director's prize are Danny Boyle for "Slumdog Millionaire," David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" and Stephen Daldry for "The Reader."

Up for Best Animated Feature are "Bolt," "Kung Fu Panda" and "WALL·E."

"WALL·E" is also up for Best Original Song for "Down to Earth." The other song nominees include "Gran Torino" from "Gran Torino," "I Thought I Lost You" from "Bolt," "Once in a Lifetime" from "Cadillac Records" and "The Wrestler" from "The Wrestler."

On the television side, "30 Rock" is up for Best Television Comedy, along with "Californication," "Entourage," "The Office" and "Weeds."

Competing for the Best Television Drama Globe are "Dexter," "House," "In Treatment," "Mad Men" and "True Blood."

The Golden Globe Awards will be handed out Jan. 11 in Los Angeles.