I can't think of an opening paragraph. So without further ado, here are the nominations for this years Golden Globe Awards, as well as my brief thoughts on each category.
BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
• Avatar
• The Hurt Locker
• Inglourious Basterds
• Precious
• Up in the Air
Wow! This is actually a really nice list. I've only seen one of the movies so far (Inglorious Basterds) but the buzz on all of them has been great, and I'm really happy to see that some less conventional films (like Basterds, Avatar and Hurt Locker) are getting some love, whilst perhaps the more standard (though never the less very good) dramas like An Education or Bright Star (haven't seen the latter but have heard good things) got skipped over. I'll take interesting over just plain good any day of the week.BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
• Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
• Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
• Helen Mirren, The Last Station
• Carey Mulligan, An Education
• Gabourey Sidibe, Precious
Of these I've only seen An Education; Mulligan fully deserves the nomination if not the win.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
• Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
• George Clooney, Up in the Air
• Colin Firth, A Single Man
• Morgan Freeman, Invictus
• Tobey Maguire, Brothers
Haven't seen any of them. What I have seen is Sam Rockwell in Moon. His name should be here.
BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
• (500) Days of Summer
• The Hangover
• It's Complicated
• Julie & Julia
• Nine
I've seen the first two here, between which there should be no contest. The Hangover was funny but I never need to see it again. (500) Days of Summer was funny and it was a truly wonderful film that I can't wait to own the DVD. I'm thinking it'll probably go to Summer unless Nine (the new musical from Rob Marshall, director of Chicago) is a big hit.With the Best Picture noms, the two films that I think really missed out are Up (not really surprising) and A Serious Man (don't care if you call it a drama or a comedy, just give it something!)
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
• Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
• Marion Cotillard, Nine
• Julia Roberts, Duplicity
• Meryl Streep, It's Complicated
• Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Meh. I've only seen Duplicity and wasn't a huge fan of Julia Roberts at all. Whatever...just give Streep another trophy; she can use it as a back scratcher.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
• 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
Good lot of contenders here. Still need to check out The Informant! as well as Nine and Sherlock Holmes (both yet to be released). I'm kind of getting the feeling the Downey is only getting the nomination because he's Downey, but that seems reasonable to me. I also know that it's tempting to give Daniel Day-Lewis every single award in the history of awards, but I still think he'd have to do something pretty damn impressive to snatch it away from my pick: Michael Stuhlbarg (believe it or not, A Serious Man's only nomination). Would have liked to see Seth Rogen get a nom for his surprisingly disturbing and yet hilarious role in Observe and Report.
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
• Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs
• Coraline
• Fantastic Mr. Fox
• The Princess and the Frog
• Up
Haven't seen Fantastic Mr. Fox or Princess and the Frog (both hitting screens in Australia early next year). Apparently people are saying that Fox is a genuine threat to Up - I'll believe it when I see it. Also sad (though not that surprised) to see that Australia's Mary and Max (my second favourite film of the year, after Up) isn't making an appearance.BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
• Baaria (Italy)
• Broken Embraces (Spain)
• The Maid (Chile)
• A Prophet (France)
• The White Ribbon (Germany)
Haven't seen any; will do endeavour to do so.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
• Penélope Cruz, Nine
• Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
• Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
• Mo'Nique, Precious
• Julianne Moore, A Single Man
Two big snubs in my opinion? Melanie Laurent in Inglorious Basterds and Celia Weston in Observe and Report (this was never going to happen, but I thought she was sensational). Haven't seen any of the actual nominations though.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
• Matt Damon, Invictus
• Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
• Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
• Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
• Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds
Christoph Waltz wins! Moving on.
BEST DIRECTOR
• Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
• James Cameron, Avatar
• Clint Eastwood, Invictus
• Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Nice! Some great nominations here...also Eastwood! Nah I'm just kidding Clint, although you've got to admit that his is by far the most unoriginal name on this list. I've only seen Basterds, but assuming Hurt Locker, Up in the Air and Avatar all live up to the hype, any one of these four directors would be wonderful choices. And again, I haven't seen Invictus either, but even if Eastwood did an amazing job, I just don't want him to win. Also, Coen Brothers?BEST SCREENPLAY
• Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, District 9
• Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
• Nancy Meyers, It's Complicated
• Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
• Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds
Need to see the middle three before I can comment further. Of Basterds and District 9, either would be great. Serious Man should be there too.
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
• Michael Giacchino, Up
• Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant!
• James Horner, Avatar
• Abel Korzeniowski, A Single Man
• Karen O and Carter Burwell, Where the Wild Things Are
Don't really care. Clint Mansell should be here for Moon though.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
• "Cinema Italiano," Music & Lyrics by Maury Yeston (Nine)
• "I Want to Come Home," Music & Lyrics by Paul McCartney (Everybody's Fine)
• "I Will See You," Music by James Horner, Simon Franglen; Lyrics by James Horner, Simon Franglen and Kuk Harrell (Avatar)
• "The Weary Kind," Music & Lyrics by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (Crazy Heart)
• "Winter," Music by U2; Lyrics by Bono (Brothers)
Don't really care.
BEST TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
• Big Love
• Dexter
• House
• Mad Men
• True Blood
I like Mad Men a lot, but not as much as everyone else seems to. I also need to get around to watching True Blood (DVD is on my shelf). House and Dexter are both good. Honestly though, I just...I don't care.BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
• Glenn Close, Damages
• January Jones, Mad Men
• Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
• Anna Paquin, True Blood
• Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
Don't really care.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA
• Simon Baker, The Mentalist
• Michael C. Hall, Dexter
• Jon Hamm, Mad Men
• Hugh Laurie, House
• Bill Paxton, Big Love
Has this list changed at all in the last three years?
BEST TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
• 30 Rock
• Entourage
• Glee
• Modern Family
• The Office
Need to watch Glee. Love 30 Rock and The Office
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
• Toni Collette, United States of Tara
• Courteney Cox, Cougar Town
• Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
• Tina Fey, 30 Rock
• Lea Michele, Glee
Need to watch United States of Tara. Marry me Tina Fey.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
• Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
• Steve Carell, The Office
• David Duchovny, Californication
• Thomas Jane, Hung
• Matthew Morrison, Glee
Marry me Alec Baldwin.
BEST MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION• Georgia O'Keefe
• Grey Gardens
• Into the Storm
• Little Dorrit
• Taking Chance
Don't care AT ALL. Hope The Pacific wins next year (it will).
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
• Joan Allen, Georgia O'Keefe
• Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens
• Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens
• Anna Paquin, The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler
• Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby
Don't care AT ALL.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
• Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance
• Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: One Step Behind
• Chiewetel Ejiofor, Endgame
• Brendan Gleeson, Into the Storm
• Jeremy Irons, Georgia O'Keefe
Don't care AT ALL.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
• Jane Adams, Hung
• Rose Byrne, Damages
• Jane Lynch, Glee
• Janet McTeer, Into the Storm
• Chloë Sevigny, Big Love
Haven't watched any of these shows. Will try to rectify.
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
• Michael Emerson, Lost
• Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
• William Hurt, Damages
• John Lithgow, Dexter
• Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Michael Emerson is the best thing about Lost. Hope he wins.
Thoughts anyone? No? Well the winners will be announced on Jan. 17, 2010. Look forward to that I guess. Lot of stuff I need to watch before then.
