The Golden Globes: The Nominations Announced
Thursday, December 12, 2013 at 8:00AM 
Good morning once again. It feels like just yesterday we were getting up early to watch a major awards precursor announce their list of nominees. Well, that's because it was just yesterday. Yikes! First SAG, now the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Spread it out, guys! The movies, and us fools who love them, are still all going to be here tomorrow. Or next week! Next week would have been a fabulous time to announce your nominees! I'm still here in bed wrapped up like that Golden Globe award to your left. Anyway, we're all here now and we're going to get the titles to you as fast as presenters Zoe Saldana, Aziz Ansari and Olivia Wilde can read 'em and I can write 'em. My brain nor my typing fingers work particularly well before 10am (okay - noon!), but here's hoping for some surprises.
While we wait, any last minute hunches? Will the HFPA mimic SAG's shockeroo of no Robert Redford? Will Dallas Buyers Club find its way into the best picture category? Will the comedy categories actually honour a non-prestige comedy? I'm pulling for This is the End if they do, but what about you? Gah! It's so exciting...
Before the nominations have even started and I have to heartily congratulate the HFPA on their "streming". Whatever that means. It's not like thousands are viewing the feed or anything.
Okay, here is the complete list of film nominations with commentary. (We'll get to TV eventually - they were certainly a more interesting lot than SAG; oh hi Orange is the New Black and Orphan Black! - for now let's keep it to film).
Best Motion Picture - Drama
- 12 Years a Slave
- Captain Phillips
- Gravity
- Philomena
- Rush
Harvey Weinstein must be getting whiplash. Yesterday it was Lee Daniels The Butler and August: Osage County picking up big awards and Philomena getting a lone acting nod and zero for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. Today it's The Butler getting zero (not even OPRAH!!), August getting a couple of acting, Mandela getting three and Philomena getting three biggies. The common denominator? Nothing for Fruitvale Station at either awards. I wasn't a fan of the movie, but it feels so long ago that people thought it was a Best Picture certainty.
It also makes sense for Rush to show up here since formula one is so much more popular in Europe where I imagine many HFPA voters come from. Plus now they can invite Chris Hemsworth and actually give him a reason to go. Still, that nomination is so... blegh. That film was not good. The other three are solid as rocks right about now.
Lastly, can we discuss whether Saving Mr Banks was hurt by being submitted as a drama? Given the comedy category below, it probably wouldn't have made it in there, either. The lack of any nominations outside of Emma Thompson both here and at the SAG means it's a much weaker property than initially thought. One of the unexpected twists of the last two days.
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
- American Hustle
- Her
- Llewyn Davis
- Nebraska
- Wolf of Wall Street
Sigh. They went all highbrow prestige. Well done Hollywood, you've won. You even somehow managed to make the annual fun set of award nominations look boring. They may as well have just combined the two best picture categories into one since that's what they look like. Every single one of these films straddles the drama/comedy line so I can't get entirely mad, I guess, it's just frustrating. No The Heat or This is the End, nor any of the smaller comedies like Frances Ha or Enough Said. Boo.
This may just be my favourite tweet of the morning.
Nebraska is a comedy & Philomena is a drama? You say potato, the Golden Globes say orangutan.
— Xan Brooks (@XanBrooks) December 12, 2013
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
- Chewitel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
- Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
- Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
- Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
- Robert Redford, All is Lost
This looks about right. Redford made up for yesterday's SAG snub like he needed too, but without Dern or DiCaprio to compete against that was much easier. This will surely be Elba's - and the film's - one day in the sun, I'm positive.
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
- Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
- Sandra Bullock, Gravity
- Judi Dench, Philomena
- Emma Thompson, Saving Mr Banks
- Kate Winslet, Labor Day
With Streep deferred over the musical/comedy, Kate Winslet is a suitably starry replacement. And she's good in the film, too. Shame, however, that they couldn't stump for Adele Exarchopoulos whose long shot odds just got longer without a Golden Globe or SAG nomination. Likewise for Brie Larson in Short Term 12.
Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
- Christian Bale, American Hustle
- Bruce Dern, Nebraska
- Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
- Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
- Joaquin Phoenix, Her
Yup. I genuinely have very little to say about the musical/comedy categories this year, which is sad because they're usually one of the season's high points. A place to honour filmmakers who made excellent genre pictures that nonetheless don't get recognized elsewhere. These five look like an Oscar shortlist. We're thinking this has to go to DiCaprio or Phoenix though, right? Although the internet may not too secretly be wishing for an Oscar Isaac upset on Globes night.
Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
- Amy Adams, American Hustle
- Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
- Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
- Julia Louis Dreyfus, Enough Said
- Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Okay, I like this musical/comedy category. I'm not as keen of Adams' work, but she gets points for *going there*. Loving the Gerwig nomination - who needs an Independent Spirit nomination now, huh? As entirely un-hilarious as Delpy in Before Midnight, I guess we should just be thankful that they nominated her at all. This is Adams' race to win now, right? Streep has recently won (a lot) and the other three seem too small. That being said, Sally Hawkins did win for Happy-go-Lucky so you never know.
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
- Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
- Daniel Bruhl, Rush
- Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
- Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
- Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Wow. For all the talk of how open this category was, within two days it appears to have formed around six names with little room for anyone else. At the Globes they went with Cooper over the late Gandolfini (that rumour of them not nominating him because "he won't show up" going around a month or so ago came true!) I still wonder if Bruhl will have any momentum with Oscar, or if today and SAG are merely the effect of voting a month ago. I'm glad for Cooper since his work is so strong in the film, but even happier for Abdi who - for all the jokes about the HFPA's starf**king - I assumed they wouldn't think twice about ignoring in favour of Jonah Hill.
Meanwhile... after not being seen by SAG, Jonah Hill now misses with an organisation that clearly did see the film. I wouldn't say he's out, but he's dropped back in the rankings definitely.
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
- Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
- Jennifer Lawence, American Hustle
- Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave
- Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
- June Squibb, Nebraska
No OPRAH?!?! Meanwhile, it appears that Sally Hawkins is officially a HFPA pet. With this and a couple of critics nominations so far she's still in the hunt for Oscar. No OPRAH?!?! I don't think Oprah is in danger of missing an Oscar nomination, but boy is that a doozy of a miss. I'm not going to call it a "snub" since they clearly just did not like the movie so they weren't actively voting against her. Still, how does Oprah miss? Again, they could have so easily just ignored the likes of June Squibb.
Best Director
- Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
- Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
- Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
- Alexander Payne, Nebraska
- David O. Russell, American Hustle
No Scorsese means Hustle clearly has the upper hand in the Best Picture - Musical or Comedy category. This looks like it could be the Oscar nominees, too, don't you think? I had a joke here about McQueen being the only person here who's not a middle-aged white man, but was corrected that Cuaron isn't one either. It did just dawn on me that this will be two years in a row where the Best Director prize hasn't gone to a white man. Ang Lee last year. Cuaron/McQueen this year. Interesting!
Best Screenplay
- Spike Jonze, Her
- Bob Nelson, Nebraska
- Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, Philomena
- John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
- Eric Singer and David O. Russel, American Hustle
Maybe there's a large number of Alan Patridge fans in the HFPA.
Best Foreign Language Film
- Blue is the Warmest Color
- The Great Beauty
- The Hunt
- The Past
- The Wind Rises
This is a very solid list. Hopefully Blue's nomination means we get to see Adele and Lea on the red carpet after all, despite the organisation failing them in the acting categories. I'm glad The Wind Rises was able to get in here since...
Best Animated Feature
- The Croods
- Despicable Me 2
- Frozen
The Wind Rises good for foreign language, but not animated? I'm going to assume they don't allow cross-over or else that's bit wacky.
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
Even though "Please Mr Kennedy" isn't actually an original song. This is like that time the BFCAs nominated "Seasons of Love" from Rent! If there's one category to take zero heed from in terms of Oscar, it's this. They always go for names like U2, Taylor Swift, Coldplay (added bonus of meaning Gwyneth Paltrow gets invited), Justin Timberlake and, yes, Demi Lovato over the likes of Lana Del Rey, Fantasia or Keith Stanfield.
Score
- Alex Ebert, All is Lost
- Alex Heffes, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
- Steven Price, Gravity
- John Williams, The Book Thief
- Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave
Is John Williams really going to get his upteenth Oscar nomination for a movie that - I think literally - nobody likes? The music branch can't be that transparent, can they? I admit I recall nothing of the Mandela score (that entire film is fuzzy and I only saw it two weeks ago) and All is Lost. Price and Zimmer continue on their way to battle it out for the Oscar. Zimmer is a bigger name so he'll probably win the Globe.
So that's it for now. I hope you'll forgive me, but I am deliriously tired so I'm going back for a pre-noon nap. Continue to discuss in the comments. Can't wait to see what y'all have to say!
Reader Comments (65)
***The opinions of JuanL do not necessarily reflect those of Alfonso Cuaron***
I enjoyed that the did nominate "Rush", which is one of Ron Howard's best films. I rooting for American Hustle and 12 years, which are in my opinion the best motion pictures of 2013... And I'd love to see DiCaprio and Robert Redford winning...
Favorite Nominations This Morning:
TV: Monica Potter, Corey Stoll, Kerry Washington
FILM: Greta Gerwig, Sally Hawkins, Daniel Brühl
YAY
American Hustle (especially Adams & Cooper)
Her (Picture, Actor & Screenplay)
Greta!!
Tatiana!!
BOO
Nebraska (Picture/Director/Screenplay)
Barkhad
SNIFF…
Adele
Scarlett (Don Jon)
Jake
WTF?
Best Drama: Rush AND Philomena
Oh, don't hate on Kate. I don't think this is a surprise at all. Everyone has had her somewhere close to the predicted 5 for the Oscar, so with the split between comedy and drama, it seemed highly likely even. Plus, people seem to like her performance even if they don't love the movie. But I do agree that it's time for her to surprise us with a roll she doesn't seem perfect for, otherwise people will continue to take her for granted, like they do with Julianne Moore.
Julie Delpy, Greta Gerwig and Julia-Louis Dreyfuss for lead is where it's at.
Biggest miss is Enlightened. They keep nominating the wrong Dern! (What's with people still pretending Downton Abby is worth awarding for anything other than Maggie Smith? Series 3 and 4 were TERRIBLE.)
I hate the subject, but yes, Cuaron is white. Anyone who's ever lived in a Latin country know that their people may be white, of Indian descent, black or multirracial. If you go to Argentina and Uruguay, for example, most people are white the same way thet're white in Spain and Italy. In Mexico, not so much, but Cuaron doesn't seem to have Indian decent or multirracial background at all.
I could not be more thrilled about the nominations for Greta Gerwig and Julia Louis Dreyfus. But I really do find it flabbergasting that Oprah, was not nominated for Best Supporting. Although, if it allows someone like Sally Hawkins to slip in there and get some recognition, then I can live with that.
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy. WHAT WHAT. Amazing.
Supporting Actress looks really great too, minus the Julia Roberts category fraud.
There's so much to talk about on the TV side tho.
'Please Mr Kennedy' is an original song; there was a recent Huffington Post interview with T-Bone Burnett about writing it (although it was inspired by a song with a similar title).
Mark The First,
The categorization of Daniel Brühl as supporting is also fraudulent, but everybody seems happy for him...
(I am also happy for both Brühl and Roberts, by the way...)
I wish the HFPA released a list of all the eligible films and which category they were in. I changed my mind about Philomena being a Comedy and switched her to Drama - but I didn't know about Saving Mister Banks being a drama. And I've seen both and I thought they were more comedy than drama.
I believe Rush will only get a tech nom at the Oscars and believe The Butler and Fruitvale Station still have a good chance at major noms...including Octavia Spencer and Oprah Winfrey in support.
That's disgusting that Oprah was snubbed. SAG and Oscars will rectify this one, so what the hell ever, Globes.
The Globes tend to nominate celebrities - see how many big name celebs they nominate in the song category;- U2, Justin Timberlake, Taylor Swift....
So the snub of Oprah Winfrey is really surprising.
I guess the Supporting Actress Oscar will now be between Lupita and Jennifer.
Speaking of which - I just saw American Hustle and am trying to figure out which bits were 'comedy'? Was it the 'up yours' ending that we were supposed to be laughing out loud about?
Seriously - almost every time I see a film that the critics rave about - I always walk away uttering 'WTF'.
If Best Picture is between Gravity, 12YAS and Hustle - I sure hope the Academy don't make the mistake of giving it to Hustle.
As to the whether there is anyone on the planet that liked "The Book Thief"...the missus and I both thought it was a wonderful film. We really do not get the negative reception it has received from so many folks. Though I agree this is not the best work John Williams has done - it must be true that his name automatically appears on a nominee list if he does any work in film at all in a given year.