The Globe Nominations were announced bright and early... I followed on CNN the only live stream that seemed to be working. They began with the credits for their 70th anniversary and a weird applause break (without initial applause) for Cecil B DeMille Tribute winner Jodie Foster. After that the first Mr Golden Globe was revealed (Sam Fox, son of the Michael J Foxes) along with our usual Miss Golden Globe (this time that's Francesca Eastwood, daughter of Clint & Francesca)
Megan Fox started us the announcements but Jessica Alba also joined in.
BEST SONG
For You -Act of Valor (Keith Urban)
Not Running Anymore - Stand Up Guys (Jon Bon Jovi)
Safe and Sound - The Hunger Games (Taylor Swift) *not eligible for Oscar consideration*
Skyfall - Skyfall (Adele)
Suddenly -Les Misérables (performed by Hugh Jackman)
Best Song is a tough category to predict for Oscar but Globes always go for the stars so they obviously want Adele, Taylor Swift and the rest to attend. They're tripling down to make sure Nicole Kidman and her man are there with 2 nominations for Nicki and one for Keith.
BEST SCORE
Life of Pi
Argo
Anna Karenina
Cloud Atlas
Lincoln
Mychael Danna has never had any luck with Oscar but will Life of Pi change that? The music is pretty noticeable and that usually helps. I've noticed a lot of online fandom for the Cloud Atlas score. Is that merely a case of the score being such a central part of the plot and the main theme being repeated like crazy? And is it just me or is Alexandre Desplat's score for Argo actually the weakest of his 18 scores this year? I'd much prefer to have seen him nominated for Moonrise Kingdom , Zero Dark Thirty or Rust & Bone or one of the 13 others. Of this batch of nominees, I think it's safe to say that I'm all about Anna Karenina.
SCREENPLAY
Zero Dark Thirty
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook
Django Unchained
Argo
The Globes don't differentiate between adapted and original and so their nominee list usually swings prestige which means adapted (for reasons I've never quite fathomed because original screenplays are where it's at baby, year in and year out... well maybe not this year but whatever). Only DJANGO from their nominee pool here is the usual type of original, while Zero Dark Thirty (which feels like an adapted because of the true story and research factor) can also qualify.
FOREIGN FILM
Amour - Austria
A Royal Affair - Denmark
Intouchables - France
Kon Tiki - Norway
Rust & Bone - France *not eligible for Oscar consideration in their correlative category*
Three French language films and two Scandinavian films for the Globes this year. They kept it regional.
ANIMATED FILM
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph
Utter rubbish, since snubbee ParaNorman is easily superior to 60% of this list. The smaller films just aren't catching for awards groups this year which is a shame since GKids has been working their asses off to diversify the animated medium for audiences.
Do you think the Hotel Transylvania nomination is just an excuse to get Adam Sandler to their show?
LEAD ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Misérables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson
Cooper & Jackman may well be competing for the fifth Oscar slot since the Academy usually takes 4 from drama and 1 from here. It shouldn't surprise me but the nominee that does is actually not McGregor but Murray who I keep forgetting about since Hyde Park on Hudson has been lambasted by critics and isn't passing the test with audiences either.
LEAD ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs
Dame Maggie is ready for your applause
I am quite unhappy to report that there isn't anything remotely award worthy to Quartet, including our dear Maggie Smith who is wasted in a bland film which can't ever muster much in the way of drama or comedy or suspense or tears or anything really... just a lot of sitting around waiting for backstory to emerge.
It's a shame that the Globes annually ignore actual comedies in this category. This might have been a nice place to throw a bone to Leslie Mann (This is 40) or especially Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect... which also fits the musical bill) if they wanted a younger star present. I wonder if Streep will show? She's generally a good sport about these things and shows to everything but she's definitely lying low post Oscar win -- no campaign for Hope Springs -- so maybe she'll skip?
Joe warned us on the podcast that Emily Blunt was beloved by the Globes like few stars have ever been beloved. So this shouldn't surprise us as much as it does.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DicCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
Once again we see Matthew McConaughey snubbed despite giving one of the year's best and most talked about performances. Weirder still he's definitely a Globe-friendly type star. I didn't want to be right, movie gods, I didn't want to be right! Awards bodies just have such problems with eroticized men (see also Michael Fassbender last year getting the big Oscar snub for Shame)
I'm not entirely sure that these high profile nods for Django Unchained will help it since it doesn't narrow the focus much by including both Leo & Christoph.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Identical to the SAG list but for Adams in place of Maggie Smith in "Best Exotic" which is a bit strange when you realize that Best Exotic made their Best Picture list. Still... the Globes were far more responsive to The Master than SAG was and it is a Weinstein effort and Weinstein & Globes are generally happy bedfellows.
LEAD ACTRESS, DRAMA
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust & Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz , The Deep Blue Sea
will she or won't she?
Another nod for Rachel Weisz in what is an increasingly competitive Best Actress year. And yet year after year no one will listen to me when I say "BUT IT'S NOT A WEAK YEAR FOR BEST ACTRESS. YOU SAY THIS EVERY YEAR!"
The two high profile snubs here are Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts) and Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) both are which had a disadvantage with the Globe preference for household name stars. A lot of people are thrown by the Riva snub but the Globes are probably the last place they should have ever expected to see her nominated.
LEAD ACTOR, DRAMA
Daniel Day Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
The Globes extend another mash note to Richard Gere who has come up short despite a few solitary voices crying for traction. Lewis, Washington & Hawkes are all locked up now in Best Actor.
BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Tarantino is the only "new" name in terms of awards traction. But can he make it to Oscar. Django seems like it might be more Globe friendly than Oscar friendly. I've been predicting Michael Haneke for a Best Director nomination for months and months now. Should I start losing confidence in my somewhat ballsy prediction?
Les Miz won 4 key nominations but response from the Musical Friendly Globes couldn't been much stronger. What's going on?
Here we see the age old "musicals direct themselves!" thing though affecting Les Miz. And don't say it was a judgment call (even if you think it was a good judgment) since Globes are hardly the most discerning precursor in this category.
MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
Nothing too unexpected here though this is frankly terrible news for The Master considering how much they did like it overall. I'd say it's hopes for a Best Picture nomination are done. The passion for #1 placements on Oscar ballots probably just isn't there in a year with this many well received dramas from major auteurs.
MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY or MUSICAL
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook
Salmon Fishing is the sole surprise here and probably came at the expense of Bernie, which has been doing pretty well this season. But newsflash: The Globes REALLY didn't like This is 40. I also believed Ted might have a shot here given its blockbuster status. But I guess there were enough Oscar friendly choices to fill this one up.
What's your takeaway this morning?