Golden Globe Nominees

The Golden Globes, which honor both film and television, will be handed out on Sunday, January 12, 2014, and funny ladies Tine Fey and Amy Poehler will, once again, be hosting the ceremony. (The Globes are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, HFPA.)

Herein, the nominees and my commentary:

Film

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Best Motion Picture, Drama:

• 12 Years a Slave
• Gravity
• Captain Phillips
• Rush
• Philomena

With all the buzz around Dallas Buyers Club, I'm surprised, though not upset, that it's not on this list. Throughout, as with the other awards, I'm rooting for 12 Years a Slave.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama:

• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
• Robert Redford, All is Lost
• Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

With the exception of Elba, this category is pretty much what was expected. Throughout award season, look for this race to come down to Ejiofor and McConaughey.


Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama:

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
• Judi Dench, Philomena
• Kate Winslet, Labor Day

I find it interesting that Woody Allen's Blue Jasmine is in the drama category. True, I haven't seen it, but knowing Allen's work I would think they'd try to finagle this film into that category. And isn't, in some circles, Saving Mr. Banks being deemed a musical, or at least a comedy? Hmm...

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical:

• Nebraska
• American Hustle
• The Wolf of Wall Street
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Her

I haven't seen any of these yet, but these are actually the buzzy flicks I'm most excited to see this month.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical:

• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Joaquin Phoenix, Her

Though there are funny moments in the trailer, having read Jordan Belfort's memoir, I never thought The Wolf of Wall Street would be in the comedy category. Of course, the dark comedy of the Coen brothers (Inside Llewyn Davis) is fitting, plus it's a musical, of sorts. Interesting category.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical:

• Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said 
• Amy Adams, American Hustle
• Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
• Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha

Oy vey, Hollywood Foreign Press. This seems like such a hodgepodge of a category, though, of course, even sight unseen, I'm rooting for Adams. She's just so good in everything she does.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

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

Tough category... I'm sure I'll have a stronger opinion after seeing the other nominees.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
• Daniel Bruhl, Rush
• Barkahd Abdi, Captain Phillips

I would say that this comes down to Fassbender and Leto, but with the HFPA you never know. Though I favor Fassbender, I'd be happy for Jordan Catalano.

Best Director, Motion Picture

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• David O. Russell, American Hustle
• Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
• Alexander Payne, Nebraska

I can't justifiably declare a favorite, having only seen one nominee's work, but Russell always has a strong point of view in his films, which is much appreciated.

Best Screenplay:

• John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
• Bob Nelson, Nebraska
• Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell, American Hustle
• Jeff Pope, Philomena
• Spike Jonze, Her

Let's hear it for the true original Jonze garnering a nomination. I'm so psyched to see Her, especially after The (Curious Case of the) Watson Intelligence.

Best Original Score:

• Steven Price, Gravity
• John Williams, The Book Thief
• Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave
• Alex Ebert, All is Lost
• Alex Heffes, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Original Song:

• "Atlas," The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
• "Let it Go," Frozen
• "Ordinary Love," Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
• "Please Mr. Kennedy," Inside Llewyn Davis
• "Sweeter than Fiction," One Chance

Best Animated Feature Film:

• Frozen
• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2

Best Foreign Language Film:

• Blue is the Warmest Color
• The Past
• The Hunt
• The Wind Rises
• The Great Beauty

Television

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Best Television Series, Drama:

• Breaking Bad
• Downton Abbey
• House of Cards
• Masters of Sex
• The Good Wife

Hell yeah, House of Cards. Still, this has to go to Breaking Bad, right?

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama:

• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Kerry Washington, Scandal
• Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
• Robin Wright, House of Cards
• Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black

Wow, Claire Danes, an awards darling, is not nominated. But, hooray, Wright is! 

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama:

• Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
• Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex
• Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
• James Spader, The Blacklist
• Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan 

Hooray for Cranston and Spacey. They're who this race comes down to, in my opinion. 

Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical:

• The Big Bang Theory
• Modern Family
• Girls
• Brooklyn Nine Nine
• Parks and Recreation

Opposite of the SAG Awards: Parks and Recreation. Word. No Veep. Boo.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical:

• Zooey Deschannel, New Girl
• Lena Dunham, Girls
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
• Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie

Yay - some love for Amy Poehler!!! I'm torn between her and Louis-Dreyfus, who was also just nominated for a SAG Award, and is a double nominee at the Globes.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical:

• 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

There seems to be a lot of love for Bateman this year. He's great, even if this fourth season of Arrested Development was a clunker. I'm most excited to see Samberg nominated, since Brooklyn Nine Nine is hella-funny and one of the few good new shows of the season.

Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television:

• American Horror Story
• Behind the Candelabra
• Dancing on the Edge
• Top of the Lake
• White Queen

Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:

• Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
• Rebecca Ferguson, White Queen
• Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
• Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
• Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake

Congratulations to all the nominees.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:

• Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
• Idris Elba, Luther
• Al Pacino, Phil Spector
• Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra

Well, I don't have a dog in this fight, but this makes both Ejiofor and Elba double nominees.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:

• Hayden Panetierre, Nashville
• Jacqueline Bisset, Dancing on the Edge
• Janet McTeer, White Queen
• Monica Potter, Parenthood
• Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Hell yeah, Monica Potter! Parenthood is one of the most underrated shows and Potter has been on fire recently.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for TV:

• Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra
• Josh Charles, The Good Wife
• Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
• Corey Stoll, House of Cards
• Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Oof. What a tough category. Charles, Paul and Stoll - amazing! If I had to choose, I'd probably narrow it down to Paul and Stoll, but I don't know that I could choose between those two.

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And there you have it: the 71st annual Golden Globe Awards nominations. Tune in to NBC on January 12 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. The voters aren't exactly Roger Ebert, may he rest in peace.)