Golden Globes: Film Nominations

I already talked about the unusually refreshing TV nominations earlier today, so it's time to talk about the movies! It was a big day for still presumed frontrunner 12 Years A Slave which leads with 7 nominations alongside American Hustle. Next up is Nebraska with 5 nominations and then Gravity with 4 nominations. So far nothing too shocking...

Best Director

• Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
• Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years A Slave
• Alexander Payne, Nebraska
• David O. Russell, American Hustle

The competition is between Cuaron and McQueen here and at the Oscars unless one of them gets Affleck'd out of the Oscars for some reason. I would think Martin Scorsese is a threat in the long run as well as Spike Jonze, but might both of their films be just a little outside the Academy comfort zone?

Best Motion Picture, Drama

• 12 Years A Slave
• Captain Phillips
• Gravity
• Philomena
• Rush

With most of their tougher competition relegated to the Comedy/Musical category, Cuaron and McQueen will go head to head here once again as the favorites. With their starry cast, it's surprising that The Butler and Saving Mr. Banks missed with the HFPA, but that gave big boosts to Philomena and even more surprisingly Rush.

Best Actress, Drama

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Sandra Bullock, Gravity
• Judi Dench, Philomena
• Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
• Kate Winslet, Labor Day

These are the exact nominees as yesterday's Best Actress lineup at the SAG with the exception of Winslet replacing Meryl Streep (who's in Comedy). I don't think anyone, let alone Winslet, expected this, but it'll certainly give her film the buzz it sorely needed. Some thought Adele Exarchopoulos would've shown up instead.

Best Actor, Drama

• Chiwetel 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

After getting snub by his fellow actors, Redford needed to show up here and he did. Forest Whitaker's absence is quite telling, but again the HFPA just didn't seem to like the film. Ejiofor is the frontrunner here and he's actually nominated twice, like Elba, once here and another for their TV work.

Best Motion Picture, Comedy Or Musical

• American Hustle
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Granted I've only seen Inside Llewyn Davis, which definitely is very musical, but looking at these nominations, I think the definition of "comedy" has warped into something completely different. I'm not totally against these films, but I just feel sorry for the real comedies like The Heat, This is the End, or Much Ado About Nothing to be featured here.

Best Actress, Comedy Or Musical

• Amy Adams, American Hustle
• Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
• Greta Gerwig, Francis Ha
• Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said
• Meryl Streep, August: Osage County

I just love this category so much. Adams and Steep were givens, but the Globes highlighting the other three is just delightful considering they've all been unfairly pushed aside so far this awards season for FANTASTIC work.

Best Actor, Comedy Or Musical

• Christian Bale, American Hustle
• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
• Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Joaquin Phoenix, Her

Not too shocking to see all the male leads for the Best Picture nominees making it in. In terms of frontrunner, I don't think there really is one. Perhaps Dern as a sentimental favorite. But my vote would go to Isaac just because I pretty much fell in love with his singing voice in the film.

Best Supporting Actress

• Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
• Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
• Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years A Slave
• Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
• June Squibb, Nebraska

If there was one shocking news of the day, it would be the HFPA choosing to not nominated Oprah Winfrey, which is such a curious choice given their history. That made room for Sally Hawkins who joins the others who, unlike her, were SAG nominated yesterday.

Best Supporting Actor

• Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
• Daniel Bruhl, Rush
• Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years A Slave
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

Leto has been the one dominating the awards circuit, but I think the non-campaigning Fassbender will make it competitive in the long run. First-time nominees Abdi and Bruhl are putting themselves in very good shape repeating both of their surprise SAG nominations yesterday. Finally, Cooper makes it 4 for 4 for the American Hustle team in the acting categories as he replaces SAG nominee James Gandolfini. Still think Will Forte and Jonah Hill could make a play for Oscars.

Best Screenplay

• Her
• Nebraska
• Philomena
• 12 Years a Slave
• American Hustle

I think the only surprise here is the inclusion of Philomena. With the Oscars splitting the screenplay category, all of these should re-appear there. I did hope that Before Midnight would randomly show up here.

Best Animated Film

• The Croods
• Despicable Me 2
• Frozen

Apparently this is the first time that Pixar has not been nominated for this award. I mean Monsters University wasn't their best film, but the HFPA nominated Cars 2 in the past! Anyways, Frozen should win this handily especially since its bigger competitor, The Wind Rises, wasn't eligible here.

Best Foreign Language Film

• Blue is the Warmest Color
• The Great Beauty
• The Hunt
• The Past
• The Wind Rises

The Wind Rises was eligible here so go figure! I want to see all of these films! I haven't yet. Ugh, the problems of a cinephile.

Best Original Score

• All is Lost
• Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
• Gravity
• The Book Thief
• 12 Years a Slave

I've only see two of these films, 12 Years and Gravity (there goes Cuaron and McQueen again), so I don't really have much to say about this award.

Best 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

I'm shocked not to see "Young and Beautiful" from The Great Gatsby here. Actually what happened to The Great Gatsby? I thought it would be right up the HFPA alley. But as much as I love, love, love "Let It Go," "Please Mr. Kennedy" is the my current earworm.