the staff of pop-break gives their thoughts to the nominees…
As the world was waking up from it’s 12.12.12 Concert hangover, The Golden Globe nominees were officially announced. For award show geeks like many of us here at Pop-Break, this was an exciting morning. The announcement of the nominees means that Christmas is right around the corner and if you’re a film lover, that means the big, juicy, Oscar bait-worthy films are coming up. For those who are obsessed with television the awards now, more than years past, are more of a hotbed for debate due to the proliferation of great one hour cable dramas that have been hitting the airwaves.
So, Pop-Break’s staff thought, in the spirit of awards season, that they should throw in their “pop-eds” about this years nominees.
Jason Stives(Senior Editor/Resident Whovian) The Golden Globe nominations are another mix bag of expected and surprising nominations. The film end of things seems to have a solid group of nominees although on the Best Drama end I’m quite surprised that critical favorite Beasts of the Southern Wild didn’t get any nomination which is a terrible shame. The beauty of the Golden Globes, film wise, is they have two separate best picture categories allowing films like Moonrise Kingdom to get some well deserved recognition regardless of if they win or not. I can’t make too many judgments on the actual choices in the Drama category because three of the films (Les Miserables, Zero Dark Thirty and Django Unchained) nominated have yet to see wide release but based on early reviews this seems to be a solid group of contenders. As far as the acting nominations are concerned it’s definitely a unique batch and sadly I’m sidetracked on a full opinion because most of these films I haven’t seen yet save for The Master which are deserved even if the film wasn’t an overall success. What is a bit troubling with these nominations is because the Globes are notorious from going off the grain from the expected nominees some of these will probably be looked over when the Oscars are announced in January so don’t be shocked to see Joaquin Phoenix disappear from the Best Actor fold down the line.
On the television end I feel much the same. The Best Drama category seems like the usual suspects although I am quite surprised that Mad Men was excluded considering this was probably their best season to be nominated for awards in general. Thankfully Jon Hamm did get nominated for Best Actor in Drama which once again looks like a nail biter. Hopefully this won’t follow the same results as the Emmys, with all due respect to Homeland. I am disappointed to see The Newsroom up for Best Drama that really isn’t a good show in my eyes. I like Aaron Sorkin’s pension for witty dialogue but there is a lot of sexist elements and overall journalism bashing that goes on in that show that made it a complete turn off to me and apparently to a lot of critics despite a second season renewal. Same goes on the comedy end mainly for the inclusion of Lena Dunham’s abysmal show Girls, a critical darling, that has met with mixed results at best, but scorn from this writer. Thankfully the Best Comedy category is overrun by standard favorites that should prevent it from picking up any wins. All in all another round of the expected which if the shows and movies listed are that good it truly doesn’t matter so despite the inclusion or exclusion of certain things it’s a okay line-up.
Jonathan Elliott (Marketing Director): I’m all for Silver Linings Playbook picking up any and all noms it can, everywhere. I’d give Jennifer Lawrence a NAACP award, if I could. She’s thirty-three kinds of amazing, and she’s only twenty-two.
Zero Dark Thirty is going to implode under its own controversy, and I’m anxious to see how this might be contextualized at a less-formal awards show like the GGs.
Oh, and proof that the GGs are a joke? Smash got a nom. Really?
Amy Poehler (Parks & Rec) better win.
Luke Kalamar (Staff Writer/Walking Dead Columnist): Film Nominees: I really have no strong feeling for or against any of the films that are up for a Golden Globe. Every film nominated definitely deserves the award. I was a little surprised that Django Unchained was nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama since it hasn’t come out yet, but if anything that just makes me more excited to see it. Considering his praise for Lincoln, I’d say that Daniel Day-Lewis will most likely win the Best Actor Globe. Jack Black’s nomination for his role in Bernie really caught me off guard however. I don’t recall the movie getting that much attention and I’ve never thought of Black as an award winner or nominee. The movies he leads are usually pretty terrible.
Every other nomination was definitely expected, predictable even. You don’t even need to see films like Flight or Les Misérables to know they would get some big nominations. I would have liked to see a nomination for The Avengers or The Dark Knight Rises in some category, but those aren’t typically award films anyway. Maybe they’ll have more recognition at the Academy Awards. As I said before though, I have no strong feelings for or against any of these films. They all deserve the nominations and I can’t really think of many films that got snubbed.
Television Nominees: This is definitely the section I have a very strong opinion about, namely the complete lack of The Walking Dead in any form. The first half of Season 3 was both critically acclaimed and the most popular show of the Fall broadcasting schedule. Seriously, it brought it more viewers every week than any other show. It’s the best season to date with actors like David Morrissey and Andrew Lincoln excelling in their roles. The first season even got a Best Television Series – Drama nomination, and that was definitely not as good as this current one. Clearly I feel this is a very huge oversight.
Everything else was almost as predictable as the Film Nominees. Breaking Bad, Mad Men, and Boardwalk Empire got their usual nominations and Homeland was obvious considering its huge win at the past Emmy awards. I love how Jeff Daniels was nominated for his role in The Newsroom. I definitely did not expect this happening when I saw him for the first time in Dumb & Dumber. Modern Family and The Big Bang Theory are typical for the Musical or Comedy section, and thankfully the former isn’t popularizing the awards with multiple nominations. I mean, let’s be serious. No show should get 4 out of 6 Supporting Actor Emmy nominations. I’m glad other very talented actors are getting recognized. All in all, I’m fine with the choices, but very upset The Walking Dead has no representation.
Daniel Cohen (Film Editor): On Best Motion Picture Drama: I can’t speak for Django Unchained or Zero Dark Thirty. Those movies haven’t even been released yet, which always makes the Golden Globes difficult to analyze. But as far as the rest of the nominees go, the only one that truly deserves to be here is Argo. I don’t have a problem with Life of Pi getting recognized, it’s a very good film, but not ‘Best Picture’ material. The one that really grinds my gears though is Lincoln. While it’s not as bad as War Horse last year, people feel obligated to nominate this movie because of Spielberg, and the subject matter, but I’m sorry, it’s a mediocre film. Come on! As far as snubs go, I could rant and rave about movies like the Dark Knight Rises, Looper, and Chronicle, but those don’t qualify as snubs, because they never had a chance. Out of the award type movies, The Master to me was the only real snub. The plot is a bit sloppy, but there’s some powerful shit going on in that film.
On Best Motion Picture Comedy/Musical: So thrilled to see Moonrise Kingdom nominated, that’s awesome. Silver Linings Playbook is also very deserving, and it’s pretty much a two horse race between that and Les Miserables, also not released yet. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel are films I haven’t seen, but those are two atrocious movie titles. The one snub I’m actually legitimately surprised at is Ted. I know it doesn’t seem like a film that would get nominated, but let’s not forget this is an awards show that honored The Hangover with not only a nomination, but the win. So is Ted really that far fetched?
On the Acting Nominations:
Actor – Drama: Joaquin Phoenix should win this, but Daniel Day-Lewis’ name is already being engraved. The only wild card is John Hawkes who seems to be a bit of a darling. The snub – Liam Neeson for The Grey should be here.
Actor – Comedy/Musical: I only saw Bradley Cooper for Silver Linings Playbook, but that was pretty damn impressive. As far as snubs go, people will think I’m crazy, but I thought Channing Tatum in 21 Jump St. was hysterical.
Actress – Drama: Didn’t see any of these yet, but those are some pretty impressive names. Chastain feels like she has the lead just because people are fainting over Zero Dark Thirty.
Actress – Comedy/Musical: Meryl Streep (Hope Springs) and Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) get the ‘we are required by law’ to nominate them picks, but Jennifer Lawrence should win.
Supporting Actor: I’ll never argue with Leonardo DiCaprio or Christoph Waltz (for both for Django) getting nominations. All of these are fine except Tommy Lee Jones (Hope Springs). I don’t care what people say, he was a cartoon character in Lincoln…way over acted.
Supporting Actress: Yet another undeserving Lincoln nomination (for Sally Field). The only other one I saw was Amy Adams in The Master, who was good, but not in it enough. For some reason this feels like an Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) win, unless Sally Field get the ‘She’s old and hasn’t won an award in a while’ vote.
Brendan Williams (Contributor): Without Leslie Knope, Parks and Recreation, would not be the same. Fortunately actress and comedian Amy Poehler is up for a Golden Globe this year for “Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy.” Poehler has been nominated for countless awards ranging Emmys, People’s Choice Awards, and this same category of Golden Globe. The only time she won any of the things she was nominated for was an MTV Movie Award for her “Best WTF Moment,” when she peed in a sink in the 2008 movie “Baby Mama.” Needless to say, it would be nice if she finally won for her portrayal of Leslie Knope.
Poehler has tough competition in her former SNL co-star Tina Fey for her role as Liz Lemon in 30 Rock, Zoeey Deschanel for New Girl, Lena Dunham for Girls, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus for Veep. With the show halfway through its fifth season and Amy’s character finally a City Councilwoman for Pawnee, Indiana, this may be the best shot at a Golden Globe for her so far.
Joel Wosk (Contributor): Brace yourselves. Awards season is coming. Seriously, it is going to be inescapable. Movies will be rereleased in an attempt to stoke the fires of movie debates. Full-page spreads will adorn newspapers across the nation. It is going to be difficult to beat Daniel Day Lewis, a man who is apparently genetically engineered to win awards, nominated for his portrayal of Abraham Lincoln in … do I really have to say it?
And this is not a slight against Mr. Day-Lewis. The man is a genius in the true sense of the word. My favorite part of any awards season when he is nominated is the inevitable crazy stories we get to hear about the depths of his method acting madness. And here is one such story: apparently he would text Sally Field (who portrayed First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln) IN CHARACTER. That is to say that Daniel Day-Lewis (Abraham Lincoln, for all intents and purposes) sent Sally Field (Sally Field, because who would even attempt to compete with that kind of crazy) text messages on set. While the cameras were off. No one would have even known about this unless Sally Field had been asked, “What is the most insane thing that has happened to you on-set, not involving Burt Reynolds?”
I find this anecdote evidence and justification enough to give Daniel Day-Lewis the Golden Globe.
Ann Hale (Senior Writer/Horror Expert): Upon looking at the Golden Globe Nominations for this year, I have found myself with mixed emotions. I’m incredibly happy that Argo was nominated for Best Picture, Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay. All would be very well deserved wins. I am also very happy that Ben Affleck was not included in the nomination for Best Actor in a Motion Picture. The guy is a fantastic director but he has one facial expression in the entire film and the guy is not believable as a Latino. I also loved Moonrise Kingdom and would be very happy to see them win but I don’t think they will with Les Miserables in the same category. Everyone loves a musical. As for television, I can’t wait to see Jessica Lange take home the award again for American Horror Story. The woman just oozes perfection.
Now for my disappointments- I absolutely hate The Big Bang Theory. I don’t find anything at all even remotely funny about it. In fact, I’d rather shave my eyeballs and stab out my eardrums with a rusty screwdriver than be forced to sit through an episode. I think that Jim Parsons is absolutely obnoxious and I will be irate if he wins over Louis C.K. who is easily one of the funniest people alive. He shouldn’t even be allowed in the same category with Louis. I was annoyed to see that Hotel Transylvania was on the list for Best Animated Film and ParaNorman wasn’t. That just doesn’t make any sense. Then there is the category for Best Original Song where Les Miserable was chosen for the song “Suddenly” over Anne Hathaway’s version of the song “I Dreamed a Dream.” I sat in the theater with goose bumps during the preview, absolutely amazed at the beauty of the song. Now, “Suddenly” might turn out to be great but Hathaway deserves some recognition for being able to belt out one of the most beautiful songs from a musical without flaw.
I will honestly be happy with any wins as long as none of them are The Big Bang Theory. If they win and you happen to hear an incredibly long and loud groan of anguish, don’t be alarmed, don’t call the police; it’s just me.
I should have contributed to this just to stand up for the Newsroom. It’s such a great show – its actually a new favorite of mine and all of the nominations they receive are well deserved!