Golden Globe Nominations

The Golden Globes, which honor both film and television, will be handed out on Sunday, January 13, 2013, and funny ladies Tine Fey and Amy Poehler will be hosting the ceremony. (The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, HFPA.)

Herein, the nominees and my commentary (reviews, if available, are linked to in the first mention):

Film

Best Motion Picture, Drama:
  • Argo
  • Django Unchained
  • Life of Pi
  • Lincoln
  • Zero Dark Thirty
So no love for The Master in the big category but other than that and Silver Linings Playbook's inclusion in the comedy category (scroll down), no surprises.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama:
  • Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
  • Richard Gere, Arbitage
  • John Hawkes, The Sessions
  • Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
  • Denzel Washington, Flight
Again, because Playbook is in the comedy category, it opened up a slot in this category for Gere. Still, I think we're all expecting Day-Lewis to win it.


Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama:
  • Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
  • Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
  • Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
  • Naomi Watts, The Impossible
  • Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
A lot of year-end lists are lamenting the fact that Weisz's performance in The Deep Blue Sea has, mostly, been overlooked. HFPA nominators noticed, though, and, again, Playbook's inclusion in the comedy category is likely what left the slot open.

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical:
Whoa - very interesting. A shrewd move by Harvey Weinstein to put Silver Linings Playbook in the comedy category, thereby guarding it from having to compete with Lincoln or Zero Dark Thirty. But, because it's the comedy or musical category, it does have to compete with Les Mis.


Speaking of which, the very combination of comedy and musical in one category is a fun/lamentable anachronism of the days of the great MGM musicals, when Singing in the Rain was a typical film. Surely, Les Miserables does not belong in the same category as, let's say, Ted, if we're separating by genre. I think the combination is to be to the detriment of true comedies, like Ted, this year, with awards going to Les Mis instead.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical:
  • Jack Black, Bernie
  • Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
  • Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
  • Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in Yemen
  • Bill Murray, Hyde Park on the Hudson
What a motley crew. By combining the comedy and musical genres into one category, we have such a divergent mess of films and subject matter.


Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical:
  • Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in Yemen
  • Judy Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
  • Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
  • Maggie Smith, Quartet
  • Meryl Streep, Hope Springs
It's the veterans vs. the up-and-comers. All the ladies are great at what they do, but look for Lawrence to charm the HFPA and squeak out a win.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
  • Amy Adams, The Master
  • Sally Field, Lincoln
  • Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
  • Helen Hunt, The Sessions
  • Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
I'm pulling for Adams, but all signs point to this being Hathaway's year. (Note that this category isn't separated into genres.)

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:
  • Alan Arkin, Argo
  • Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
  • Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
  • Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
  • Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
What a tough, tough category (and that's without the inclusion of Robert De Niro for Silver Linings Playbook). Two nominees from Django hurts both their chances of winning, but they do both have Harvey Weinstein campaigning for them so I wouldn't be shocked (or at all displeased) to see one of them accepting an award.  (Note that this category isn't separated into genres.)


Best Director, Motion Picture
  • Ben Affleck, Argo
  • Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
  • Ang Lee, Life of Pi
  • Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
  • Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
I want Affleck to win this category. Though I always dig Tarantino's movies and I'm sure Django will be no exception, and though Spielberg is a terrific director, I'm so impressed by what Affleck was able to do. He took a story to which we knew the outcome and made it the most intense, watch-on-the-edge-of-your-seat, hold-your-breath film I've seen in a long time. (Also, note that there's no nomination for Tom Hooper, director of Les Mis. It'll be interesting to see what happens in this category come Oscar time.)

(Note that this category isn't separated into genres, even though directing a comedy can be so different from directing a drama. I suppose there's an argument to be made that directing is directing (and, below, screenwriting is screenwriting) but not separating out the categories often excludes excellent work in comedy in favor of "heftier" dramatic fare.)

Best Screenplay:
  • Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
  • Tony Kushner, Lincoln
  • David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
  • Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
  • Chris Terrio, Argo
Having not seen Zero Dark Thirty or Django Unchained yet, it's premature to declare a favorite, though Tony Kushner does have a way with words. (Note that this category isn't separated into genres; and, it considers both original and adapted screenplays. I think the latter is to the detriment of some screenplays (like Rian Johnson's Looper) that might have received some love were the category to be separated into original and adapted, like at the Oscars.)

Best Original Score:
  • Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
  • Alexandre Desplat, Argo
  • Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
  • Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek and Reinhold Heil, Cloud Atlas
  • John Williams, Lincoln
I'm bummed Jonny Greenwood wasn't nominated for The Master. Boo.

Best Original Song:
  • "For You," Act of Valor
  • "Not Running Anymore," Stand Up Guys
  • "Safe and Sound," The Hunger Games
  • "Skyfall," Skyfall
  • "Suddenly," Les Miserables

Best Animated Feature Film:
  • Brave
  • Frankenweenie
  • Hotel Transylvania
  • Rise of the Guardians
  • Wreck-it Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film:
  • Amour
  • A Royal Affair
  • The Intouchables
  • Kon-Tiki
  • Rust and Bone


Television
Best Television Series, Drama:
  • Breaking Bad
  • Boardwalk Empire
  • Downton Abbey
  • Homeland
  • The Newsroom
Amazing slate! Obviously, I'm partial to The Newsroom, but all of these shows are excellent, and as I get caught up, I'm more and more partial to Breaking Bad. It's interesting to note, however, that except for Downton Abbey, none of the nominees are on network TV, and Downton Abbey isn't on one of the big three. Step up your game, NBC, CBS and ABC!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama:
  • Connie Britton, Nashville
  • Glenn Close, Damages
  • Claire Danes, Homeland
  • Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey
  • Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
How can you beat Danes's quivering chin?

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama:
  • Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
  • Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
  • Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom
  • Jon Hamm, Mad Men
  • Damian Lewis, Homeland
This is the same slate of nominees as the SAG Awards, and quite rightly.

Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical:
  • The Big Bang Theory
  • Episodes
  • Girls
  • Modern Family
  • Smash
Why am I not surprised to see Smash embraced by the HFPA? On the other hand, woohoo! for the inclusion of the hilarious Episodes and the great first season of Girls.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical:
  • Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
  • Lena Dunham, Girls
  • Tina Fey, 30 Rock
  • Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
In the SAG Awards nominations, I declared my love for Globe host Poehler, but with Emmy winner Louis-Dreyfus in the mix, I'm torn. Let's just hope the voters aren't torn to the point where Deschanel wins by default. New Girl is awful.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical:
  • Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
  • Don Cheadle, House of Lies
  • Matt LeBlanc, Episodes
  • Louis C.K., Louie
  • Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
This is a bit of a departure from most other awards, throwing LeBlanc (a winner in this category last year) and Cheadle into the mix.

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television:
  • Game Change
  • The Girl
  • Hatfields and McCoys
  • The Hour
  • Political Animals

Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:
  • Nicole Kidman, Hemingway and Gellhorn
  • Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
  • Sienna Miller, The Girl
  • Julianne Moore, Game Change
  • Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals

Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:
  • Kevin Costner, Hatfields and McCoys
  • Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock
  • Woody Harrelson, Game Change
  • Toby Jones, The Girl
  • Clive Owen, Hemingway and Gellhorn

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:
  • Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
  • Archie Punjabi, The Good Wife
  • Sarah Paulson, Game Change
  • Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
  • Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
As in the SAG Awards, Vergara was nominated while her co-star and recent Emmy winner Julie Bowen was not. As it is, though, I love a good throw down from the Dowager Countess!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:
  • Max Greenfield, New Girl
  • Ed Harris, Game Change
  • Danny Huston, Magic City
  • Mandy Patinkin, Homeland
  • Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
Inigo Montoya and his beard were nominated! What a special day.


And there you have it: the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards nominations. Lincoln leads the pack with seven nominations, and Django Unchained and Argo each received a respectable five nods. On the TV front, Homeland earned four nominations, the most of any TV series. Tune in to NBC on January 13 to see who wins (and what everyone's wearing!)

(Keep in mind: though they've become an "important" event in award season, the Globes are administered by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which is comprised of all sorts of foreign press outlets, including tabloid rags.)

Comments

Post a Comment