Golden Globes Nominations

It’s my favorite time of the year. Not just because of the holidays — but because it’s Oscar season. I’ll admit my nerdiness: I get giddy predicting who’ll be nominated. I visit awards blogs. I see all the movies I think could be in the running. And my favorite night of the year is the Oscar telecast. I make bets. I order take-in. I watch the winners unfold with awe.

And this week, the Golden Globe noms were announced. It’s often the first big step to Oscar night — even if these nominations don’t always match the Academy’s picks.

Hence, here are my comments on this year’s Globe slate.
— Brent Johnson

BEST PICTURE — DRAMA

Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based On The Novel Push By Sapphire
Up In The Air

NOTES: This is actually a more interesting Globe category than usual.

Because this year, the Oscars increased its Best Picture slate to 10 nominees — a ridiculous move, especially because this is a down year for motion pictures. Hence, this year’s Globe Best Picture race is a good indication what the actual best five dramas of the year are.

Which makes Precious a surprise, while the melodramatic, more-Academy-like epic Invictus was left off the list. And what happened to Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones?

But it’s good to see Inglourious Basterds here. I was curious to see whether the major awards would welcome Tarantino back since he hasn’t been nominated since 1994 with Pulp Fiction. And Basterds deserves the attention.

Still, my pick for the winner: Up In The Air. It’s arty and subtle enough to be a safe selection. It’s got the likable-as-ever George Clooney. And its subject matter — about a man who travels around the country firing people — is timely.

SNUBS: Invictus; A Single Man; The Lovely Bones; An Education; Star Trek (Remember: These could make an appearance, since the Oscars are going for 10 noms this year.)

BEST ACTRESS — DRAMA

Emily Blunt– The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

NOTES: This makes it seem more likely that Sandra Bullock may actually be on her way to becoming an Oscar nominee. And this gives momentum to Emily Blunt, who has been considered a dark horse. I’m just glad to see Carey Mulligan here. Her performance is touching and tough.

SNUBS: Abbie Cornish — Bright Star; Saoirse Ronan, The Lovely Bones

BEST ACTOR — DRAMA

Jeff Bridges– Crazy Heart
George Clooney – Up In The Air
Colin Firth – A Single Man
Morgan Freeman –Invictus
Tobey Maguire – Brothers

NOTES: Tobey Maguire? Really? Jeremy Renner should be here for another war movie:The Hurt Locker. Spider-Man’s nomination is the biggest surprise of this year’s Globes.

This one should be a race between Jeff Bridges (who has never won) in a shambled, Kris Kristofferson-like performance as a country singer, and George Clooney (a two-timer winner) for his measured portrayal of a hatchet man.

SNUBS: Jeremy Renner — The Hurt Locker; Viggo Mortensen — The Road

BEST PICTURE — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

(500) Days Of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine

NOTES: Hooray for The Hangover — easily the best comedy of the year, if not the last few years. But I call it: (500) Days Of Summer will upset Nine in this race.

SNUBS:A Serious Man (Really? Julie & Julia instead of the Coen Brothers?)

BEST ACTRESS — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Sandra Bullock – The Proposal
Marion Cotillard – Nine
Julia Roberts – Duplicity
Meryl Streep – It’s Complicated
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

NOTES: Streep will get an Oscar nod for Julie & Julia. But something tells me Sandra Bullock will upset here, as a consolation prize for having a big year and for not winning Best Actress in a Drama.

SNUBS: None

BEST ACTOR — MUSICAL OR COMEDY

Matt Damon – The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis – Nine
Robert Downey Jr. – Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – (500) Days Of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg – A Serious Man

NOTES: Expect Damon to nab an Oscar nod. Hence, he should win here. The only surprise: Downey Jr. Maybe people really are starting to like him.

SNUBS: None
[Editorial Note: Zach Galifianakis could’ve easily gotten a nom for The Hangover]

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Penélope Cruz – Nine
Vera Farmiga – Up In The Air
Anna Kendrick – Up In The Air
Mo’nique – Precious
Julianne Moore – A Single Man

NOTES: Good to see Vera Farmiga in this race — a fine actress, from my home state of New Jersey who has never been nominated. This one category that could be duplicated, nominee by nominee, at the Oscars.

SNUBS: No one major. These really are the five that stand out.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Matt Damon – Invictus
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
Christopher Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

NOTES: This is the most crowded, open race of the year. So there are plenty of snubs I’ll list below. But it’s good to see Waltz, who gave the most memorable performance of the year in any film. And it’s good to see Tucci and Plummer — veteran actors who have never gotten much awards attention.

SNUBS:Alfred Molina — An Education (subtle and funny as an overprotective father — and never nominated); Alec Baldwin — It’s Complicated; (taking his brilliant comedy work on TV and translating it to film); Christian McKay — Me And Orson Welles (celebrity impersonations often do well at the Oscars), Expect one of these three men to slip into the Oscar race, because Damon will likely not get nominated.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess And The Frog
Up!

NOTES: This was actually a great year for animated films. But, as much as I loved Coraline, expect Up! to have a slight advantage over Fox. And don’t be surprised if one of these films slips into the Oscar Top 10.

SNUBS: None

BEST DIRECTOR

Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
James Cameron – Avatar
Clint Eastwood – Invictus
Jason Reitman – Up In The Air
Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

NOTES: A cool category for a few reasons: Reitman is becoming quite the young auteur; Q.T. is back; and Bigelow and Cameron used to be married. Eastwood’s nomination also shows Invictus could still be an Oscar contender.

SNUBS: Lee Daniels — Precious; Rob Marshall — Nine; Tom Ford — A Single Man; Joel & Ethan Coen — A Serious Man

BEST SCREENPLAY
District 9— Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
The Hurt Locker — Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds — Quentin Tarantino
It’s Complicated— Nancy Meyers
Up In The Air —Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner

NOTES: District 9 is the surprise here. It’s Complicated is unexpected, too. Especially since this category is exclusive — unlike the Oscars, the Globes don’t have a screenwriting category for adapted scripts.

SNUBS: A Serious Man — Joel & Ethan Coen; (500) Days of Summer — Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber; An Education — Nick Hornby; Fantastic Mr. Fox — Wes Anderson & Noah Baumbach

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Up — Michael Giacchino
The Informant! — Marvin Hamlisch
Avatar — James Horner
A Single Man — Abel Korzeniowski
Where The Wild Things Are — Karen O and Carter Burwell

NOTES: This may be the only love Wild Things gets this awards season — but it’s neat to see Yeah Yeah Yeahs frontwoman Karen O here.

SNUBS: The Lovely Bones — Brian Eno (one of my favorite musicians — the former Roxy Music keyboardist and ambient music pioneer); The Princess And The Frog — Randy Newman; Up In The Air — Rolfe Kent

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Cinema Italiano” – Nine
Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston

“I See You” – Avatar
Music by James Horner and Simon Franglen
Lyrics by James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell

“I Want To Come Home” – Everybody’s Fine
Music & Lyrics by Paul McCartney

“The Weary Kind” – Crazy Heart
Music & Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

“Winter” – Brothers
Music by U2
Lyrics by Bono

NOTES: The Globes often do a much better job picking the best song from a movie than the Oscars. They gave Bruce Springsteen a statuette last year for the great title song from The Wrestler when the Academy didn’t even nominate him. And because the Hollywood Foreign Press gives out the Globes, they tend to favor Europeans like McCartney and U2. Which is good, because they’re incredible musicians who write indelible music. I’d like to see Sir Paul win here, because he’s had a great late-period career. And I definitely will not be happy if they give it to James Horner for another sappy song from a James Cameron movie (Horner is the guy who wrote the horrible ‘My Heart Will Go On’ from that iceberg movie).

SNUBS: “All Is Love” from Where The Wild Things Are – Karen O, Nick Zinner; “Almost There” from The Princess And The Frog — Randy Newman

TWO FINAL NOTES:

1. Another reason I’m pissed the Academy Awards will have a whopping 10 Best Picture nominees? It makes the Golden Globe Best Picture races less exciting. Part of the fun used to be seeing which of the Globe nominees end up as Oscar noms. Now, with 10 slots, it’s almost as if all of them will be there when the Academy unveils its slate.
2. It’ll be interesting to see if the Academy recognizes Quentin Tarantino like the Globes have. He’s big overseas, and the Hollywood Foreign Press runs the Globes. Will the Academy agree that Q.T. is back in top form?