The 67th Annual Golden Globe Award nominations, announced in the wee Pacific time hours this morning, were filled with mostly expected choices but some surprising ones.
As for the expected nominees, Up in the Air lead the proceedings in the drama department with six nods, including: best picture: George Clooney for best actor: best supporting actress noms for both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick: Jason Reitman for best director; and finally, best screenplay. While the Fellini musical Nine, dominated the musical or comedy category with five nominations, including: best pic; Daniel Day-Lewis for best actor; Marion Cottilard for best actress; Penelope Cruz for best supporting actress; and for best song.
Also shining under the Golden Globe glow was Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds, which got four nominations, including best picture and best director. But the big surprise, for me anyway, was James Cameron’s Avatar, which also grabbed four nods, including best pic. Rounding out the drama best picture nominees were Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire and The Hurt Locker, which both received three nominations apiece. While Nine was joined by The Hangover, Julie & Julia, It’s Complicated and (500) Days of Summer.
Another sort of interesting trend in this year’s Golden Globe race is how there were several multi-nominated actors, including: Matt Damon, who got nods in the best supporting actor nod for Invictus and best actor in a comedy for The Informant!; Sandra Bullock who pulled off best actress nominations in both the comedy (The Proposal) and drama (The Blind Side) categories; and Meryl Streep, who gets to compete with herself in the best actress, comedy race with nods for Julie & Julia AND It’s Complicated.
Let me prognosticate in some of the major categories:
Best Picture – Drama
“Avatar”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”
“The Hurt Locker”
The upshot: A solid list, but as I said, I’m a little surprised to see Avatar there. Then again, I just saw it, and it is fairly spectacular in the visual department. While I don’t think it’s got any real shot at winning the Globe (my bet would be Up in the Air; or maybe The Hurt Locker), it’s inclusion now puts it officially on the Oscar radar. The big snub in this category was Invictus, which got Globe nods for best director, actor and supporting actor. I guess Avatar was just too strong a candidate to pass up.
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
“Nine”
“The Hangover”
“500 Days of Summer”
“It’s Complicated”
“Julie and Julia”
The upshot: Again, all strong contenders, with Nine clearly the stand out since, you know, it’s got the whole “musical” thing going for it. Nice to see The Hangover get some love, though.
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Tobey Maguire, “Brothers”
The upshot: Sorry George, Morgan and Colin, but I do believe Jeff Bridges is in for the career accolades he justly deserves. The nom I’m kind of scratching my head over is Maguire for Brothers. Over Jeremy Renner for The Hurt Locker? Huh?
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Emily Blunt, “The Young Victoria”
Gabourey Sidibe, “Precious”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
The upshot: Tough to choose who might win, though I’m leaning towards newcomer Sidibe for her heartbreaking turn in Precious. And yes, it certainly looks Bullock may have a real shot at an Oscar nomination. Go Sandy!
Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Matt Damon, “The Informant”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Nine”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”
Robert Downey Jr., “Sherlock Holmes”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “(500) Days of Summer”
The upshot: I think Day-Lewis is the strongest candidate to win the Globe, but I really like this list overall — especially the nods to Stuhlbarg, who is sadly hilarious in A Serious Man, and Gordon-Levitt, who is sweetly hilarious in (500) Days of Summer.
Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Marion Cotillard, “Nine”
Sandra Bullock, “The Proposal”
Meryl Streep, “Julie and Julia”
Julia Roberts, “Duplicity”
Meryl Streep, “It’s Complicated”
The upshot: Poor Meryl Streep, having to compete with herself like that, but it better not cancel her out, because she totally deserves to win for her take on Julia Child in Julie & Julia.
Best Supporting Actor
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
The upshot: Difficult to choose who stands out because they are all really good choices. Damon dons a South African accent in Invictus, Harrelson is touching in The Messenger and Plummer plays Leo Tolstoy in The Last Station, for heaven’s sakes. The Lovely Bones got a huge Globe snub overall, with it’s only nomination going to bad guy Tucci. I guess if I were to pick, I’d give it to Waltz for his sardonic turn as a Nazi in Inglourious Basterds. He’s got the most buzz.
Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’Nique, “Precious”
Vera Farminga, “Up in the Air”
Julianne Moore, “A Single Man”
The upshot: Again, a really tough category to pick. Kendrick and Farmiga might cancel each other out, while Cruz is just one of the many good performances in Nine. No, I think it’ll be between Mo’Nique for her scary portrayal of an abusive mom in Precious, and Moore, for her turn as a lonely divorcee in love with a gay man in A Single Man. I’m leaning towards Moore, who, like Bridges, is due for a career award.
Best Director
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Clint Eastwood, “Invictus”
The upshot: Now while Avatar as best picture is surprising, Cameron’s nomination is not. That man must have worked his ASS off to make that movie look the way it does (my Avatar review is coming). But this is another list I really like, giving props to a veteran like Bigelow and an auteur like Tarantino. Frankly, it’s up in the air on this one (pun intended).
Here are the rest of the film nominees:
Best Screenplay
“District 9”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“It’s Complicated”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Up in the Air”
Best Animated Feature
“Coraline”
“Fantastic Mr. Fox”
“Up”
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs”
“The Princess and the Frog”
Best Foreign Language Film
“Broken Embraces,” Spain
“Baaria,” Italy
“The Maid,” Chile
“Un Prophet,” France
“The White Ribbon, ” Germany
Best Original Song
“Cinema Italiano,” preformed by Kate Hudson, “Nine”
“Winter,” performed by U2, “Brothers”
“The Weary Kind,” performed by Ryan Bingham, “Crazy Heart”
“I Want to Come Home,” performed by Paul McCarney, “Everybody’s Fine”
“I Will See You,” performed by Leona Lewis, “Avatar”
Best Original Score
Michael Giacchino, “Up’
Marvin Hamlisch, “The Informant!”
Karen O, Carter Burwell, “Where The Wild Things Are”
Abel Korzeniowski, “A Single Man”
James Horner, “Avatar”
TELEVISION
I won’t go into much detail in the television arena, but I’ve always loved how the Hollywood Foreign Press thinks outside the box when it comes to its TV nominations, so much more than the Emmys. Looks like Glee is a big Globe favorite, but it’s also great to see such stellar shows as True Blood, Dexter, and even Modern Family get nominations.
Best Television Series – Drama
“Mad Men”
“True Blood”
“Dexter”
“Big Love”
“House”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
Hugh Laurie, “House”
Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
Simon Baker, “The Mentalist”
Bill Paxton, “Big Love”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Anna Paquin, “True Blood”
Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”
Julianna Marguilies, “The Good Wife”
Glenn Close, “Damages”
January Jones, “Mad Men”
Best Television Series – Comedy
“30 Rock”
“The Office”
“Glee”
“Modern Family”
“Entourage”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Comedy
Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
Edie Falco, “Nurse Jackie”
Toni Collette, “The United States of Tara”
Lea Michele, “Glee”
Courteney Cox, “Cougar Town”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Comedy
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
Steve Carell, “The Office”
David Duchovny, “Californication”
Matthew Morrison, “Glee”
Thomas Jane, “Hung”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jeremy Piven, “Entourage”
Neil Patrick Harris, “How I Met Your Mother”
William Hurt, “Damages”
John Lithgow, “Dexter”
Michael Emerson, “Lost”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Jane Lynch, “Glee”
Rose Byrne, “Damages”
Janet McTeer, “Into the Storm”
Jane Adams, “Hung”
Chloe Sevigny, “Big Love”
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
“Grey Gardens”
“Georgia O’Keeffe”
“Into the Storm”
“Little Dorrit”
“Taking Chance”
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Drew Barrymore,”Grey Gardens”
Jessica Lange, “Grey Gardens”
Sigourney Weaver, “Prayers for Bobby”
Anna Paquin, “The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler”
Joan Allen, “Georgia O’Keeffe”
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Kenneth Branagh, “Wallander”
Brendan Gleeson, “Into the Storm”
Kevin Bacon, “Taking Chance”
Chiwetel Ejiofor, “Endgame”
Jeremy Irons, “Georgia O’Keeffe”
The 67th Annual Golden Globe Awards, hosted by Ricky Gervais, will air live on NBC on January 17 at 8 p.m. ET, 5 p.m. PT.