As the film awards season heats up with the Golden Globes on Sunday, Esther McCarthy assesses this year’s runners and riders.

Irene O’Mara teaches acting & voice on the Drama & Musical Theatre course at Cork School of Music. Originally from Dublin, she’s been living in Cork since 2012.

Timmy Creed is an actor and writer from Bishopstown in Cork.

From film to fashion, books to TV, our writers pick the best cultural highlights of the season.

The county of Cork will provide an intersection for the worlds of music and literature during the summer at several events. Among them is the West Cork Literary Festival (July 12-19)

Your morning bulletin...

From movies to music, food to fashion, our critics reveal their picks for the year ahead.

Well now, doesn't this look interseting.

Tom Hardy plays twin brothers Reggie and Ronnie Kray in Legend (18s), a stylish account of how the infamous villains rose to prominence during London’s Swinging Sixties.

Drama with two Tom Hardy's and horror from director M Night Shyamalan are the big releases this coming week in Irish cinemas

Some of Hollywood’s biggest names including Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Natalie Portman, Matthew McConaughey and Cate Blanchett are expected to jet out to the Riviera for the Cannes Film Festival.

Keelin Shanley returns with a new series of The Consumer Show on RTÉ One, Wednesday.

Inherent Vice ***

A dude kinda investigates the disappearance of a real estate mogul. Dude.

Declan Burke provides a quick snapshot of new year movie releases.

Declan Burke provides a quick snapshot of new year movie releases.

Birdman has topped the nominations for the Golden Globes, flying away with a leading seven nods, including best picture in the comedy or musical category.

Birdman squawked loudly at the Golden Globes, flying away with a leading seven nominations.

Soul’s James Brown is the latest singer to have his life story filmed, in a ‘rags to riches’ genre that began with the first ‘talkie’ in 1927.

Check out our spoiler-free guide to what’s good to watch on the box tonight.

THERE are few first world problems more humiliating than being too dumb for your smartphone. There you are, minding your own business, when the phone people ring up and tell you what a good customer you are.

Her ****

More of us are looking for romance online but are we at risk of missing out on the real thing, asks Deirdre Reynolds.

MUSIC NEWS:

A host of Hollywood stars turned out for the private funeral of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman today.

George Clooney is struggling to come to terms with Philip Seymour Hoffman's death.

Hollywood may be hoping for less drama in 2014. 2013 was a tale of two cinemas.

From food to fashion, movies to music, our critics reveal their Hot 100 choices for the year ahead.

'American Hustle' and '12 Years a Slave' lead the Golden Globes 2014 nominations with seven nods each.

A summer job mowing lawns or waiting on tables is a far cry from life for one Cork student attending college in Dublin.

Reese Witherspoon is to star in 'Inherent Vice'.

Jim Carrey is to star in 'Ricky Stanicky'.

I’M INTERESTED in the duality of people, says Rooney Mara, of her predilection for caliginous characters.

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars have strolled down the red carpet ahead of the Oscars.

Some of the biggest names in Hollywood are gathering ahead of the Oscars.

Adele is hot favourite to become the first ever singer to pick up an Oscar for a Bond theme with her hit Skyfall.

Ethan Hawke thinks the Oscars are "destructive".

Daniel Day-Lewis’s domination of the awards season is expected to continue at the Baftas tonight, where he is hot favourite to win the Best Actor award.

Daniel Day-Lewis's domination of the awards season is expected to continue at the Baftas tomorrow, where he is hot favourite to win the Best Actor award.

Hollywood star Denzel Washington said his Oscar nomination was a “thrill” as he premiered his new film 'Flight'.

MUSIC NEWS: He hasn’t gone away, y’know.

The American Civil War saga Lincoln leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture, director for Steven Spielberg and acting honours for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field, and Tommy Lee Jones.

Daniel Day-Lewis has been nominated for Best Actor for his title role in US historical drama 'Lincoln' as the nominations for the Oscars were announced today.