This morning, the highly anticipated 71st Annual Golden Globe Award nominations were announced in Beverly Hills, Calif., by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The list revealed that American film aficionados either want to be 'hustled' or get a grim yet truthful lesson in American history - and they also want to take an innovative 3-D journey and get caught between Earth and the void of the universe.

Director David O. Russell's American Hustle tied with 12 Years a Slave with seven Golden Globes nominations apiece, the New York Daily News reports.

"Hailed by critics as the movies' most unblinking portrait of slavery, '12 Years a Slave' verified its front-runner status with nominations including best film drama, Chiwetel Ejiofor for best actor in a drama, Steve McQueen for best director and Michael Fassbender and Lupita Nyong'o for their supporting roles," the Associated Press reports.

"'American Hustle' dominated on the Globes' other category side: comedy or musical. The fictionalized story of the FBI's Abscam investigation amid the disco 1970s earned nominations for best movie comedy and David O. Russell for best director," the AP adds. "Much of its starry cast received nominations, including lead actors Christian Bale and Amy Adams, as well as last year's Oscar darling, Jennifer Lawrence for best supporting actress."

Mexican writer/director Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity tied the Somali pirate thriller, Captain Phillips with four nominations, including the Best Director category against contenders: Paul Greengrass, (Captain Phillips), Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave), Alexander Payne (Nebraska) and David O. Russell (American Hustle).

Cuarón's innovative 3-D spectacle Gravity, for which star Sandra Bullock received a best actress nomination, "should be a bigger Oscar heavyweight at the Academy Awards, which honor technical categories that the Globes don't," according to the AP. "With more than $630 million in worldwide box office, "Gravity" also figures to be the populist favorite." In the film, Bullock and George Clooney play astronauts whose shuttle explodes, leaving them tethered only to each other.

Gravity was the brainchild of writer-director Cuarón, who directed Children of Men, Y Tu Mamè Tambièn and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. His son, Jonès, who is Cuarón's biggest advocate, co-wrote the film, which was a challenging four-and-a-half-year journey.

"We shot space scenes in a sort of virtual-reality box that had the characters' environments projected on the walls. The actors had very little room to change their timing or their positions. But we adapted," Cuarón told Wired. "Sandra Bullock trained like crazy to be able to be a part of all these technological challenges. It was choreography for her. I think her background as a dancer helped a lot. It was so much by numbers. After all the training and all the rehearsals, she was able to just focus on the emotional aspect of her performance."

Besides the impressive yet grueling animation process and CG mastering, Cuarón told Wired how he approached the character development and brought its meaning and symbolism to life.

"In 'Gravity' nearly everything is a metaphor for the main character. The way I tend to approach a film is that character and background are equally important; one informs the other. Here, Sandra Bullock is caught between Earth and the void of the universe, just floating there in between. We use the debris as a metaphor for adversity," he explained.

"She's a character who lives in her own bubble, and in the film she's trapped in her space suit. She's a character who has trouble communicating, and here she literally starts having communication problems. She's a character who needs to shed her skin to move on, and in the film she needs to get out of her astronaut suit because it's suffocating her," he added. "In the end, the story is about rebirth as a possible outcome of adversity."

Colombian actress and "Modern Family" favorite, Sofia Vergara, is also nominated for Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie. She's up against Jacqueline Bisset, "Dancing on the Edge"; Janet McTeer, "White Queen"; Hayden Panettiere, "Nashville"; and Monica Potter, "Parenthood."

Who are the rest of the Golden Globe nominees for the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards 2014?

MOTION PICTURES

- Picture, Drama: 12 Years a Slave; Captain Phillips; Gravity; Philomena; Rush.

- Picture, Musical or Comedy: American Hustle; Her; Inside Llewyn Davis; Nebraska; The Wolf of Wall Street.

- Actor, Drama: Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave; Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips; Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club; Robert Redford, All Is Lost.

- Actress, Drama: Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock, Gravity; Judi Dench, Philomena; Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks; Kate Winslet, Labor Day.

- Director: Alfonso Curon, Gravity; Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips; Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave; Alexander Payne, Nebraska; David O. Russell, American Hustle.

- Actor, Musical or Comedy: Christian Bale, American Hustle; Bruce Dern, Nebraska; Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street; Joaquin Phoenix, Her.

- Actress, Musical or Comedy: Amy Adams, American Hustle; Julie Delpy, Before Midnight; Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said; Meryl Streep, August: Osage County.

- Supporting Actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips; Daniel Bruhl, Rush; Bradley Cooper, American Hustle; Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave; Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club.

- Supporting Actress: Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine; Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle; Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave; Julia Roberts, August: Osage County; June Squibb, Nebraska.

- Foreign Language: Blue Is the Warmest Color; The Great Beauty; The Hunt; The Past; The Wind Rises.

- Animated Film: The Croods; Despicable Me 2; Frozen.

- Screenplay: Spike Jonze, Her; Bob Nelson, Nebraska; Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan, Philomena; John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave; Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, American Hustle.

- Original Score: Alex Ebert, All Is Lost; Alex Heffes, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; Steven Price, Gravity; John Williams, The Book Thief; Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave.

- Original Song: "Atlas" (music and lyrics by Chris Martin, Guy Berryman, Jonny Buckland and Will Champion), The Hunger Games: Catching Fire; "Let it Go" (music and lyrics by Kristen Anderson Lopez and Robert Lopez), Frozen; "Ordinary Love" (music by Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen Jr. and Brian Burton, lyrics by Bono), Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; "Please Mr. Kennedy" (music and lyrics by Ed Rush, George Cromarty, T Bone Burnett, Justin Timberlake, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen), Inside Llewyn Davis; "Sweeter Than Fiction" (music and lyrics by Taylor Swift and Jack Antonoff), One Chance.

TELEVISION

- Series, Drama: Breaking Bad; Downton Abbey; The Good Wife; House of Cards; Masters of Sex.

- Actor, Drama: Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan; Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex; Kevin Spacey, House of Cards.

- Actress, Drama: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black; Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black; Kerry Washington, Scandal; Robin Wright, House of Cards.

- Series, Musical or Comedy: The Big Bang Theory; Brooklyn Nine-Nine; Girls; Modern Family; Parks and Recreation.

- Actress, Musical or Comedy: Zooey Deschanel, New Girl; Lena Dunham, Girls; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation.

- Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jason Bateman, Arrested Development; Don Cheadle, House of Lies; Michael J. Fox, The Michael J. Fox Show; Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory; Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

- Miniseries or Movie: American Horror Story: Coven; Behind the Candelabra; Dancing on the Edge; Top of the Lake; White Queen.

- Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor; Rebecca Ferguson, White Queen; Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven; Helen Mirren, Phil Spector; Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake.

- Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra; Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra; Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge; Idris Elba, Luther; Al Pacino, Phil Spector.

- Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jacqueline Bisset, Dancing on the Edge; Janet McTeer, White Queen; Hayden Panettiere, Nashville; Monica Potter, Parenthood; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family.

- Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra; Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad; Corey Stoll, House of Cards; Jon Voight, Ray Donovan.

The 71st Annual Golden Globes telecast will be presented on Jan. 12,  and will be hosted again by comedic favorites, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.