All of the critic awards this week were just prelude to this, the real kick-off to Oscar fever: the Golden Globes nominations. The Golden Globes are, essentially, a joke – they’re given out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a nobody group who only recently stopped accepting expensive gifts from studios – but they’re seen as a major bellwether for the Academy Awards. And they serve booze at the Golden Globes ceremony, meaning it’s without a doubt one of the loosest major awards shows.
The Golden Globes give out awards for film and TV, and the one place where I find them superior to the Oscars is that they have a separate Musical/Comedy category – every year comedies get snubbed at the Oscars because they’re just not “serious” enough (I guess that’s by definition).
Here’s the list of nominees, with my unwanted commentary sprinkled within:
Motion pictures
Picture, Drama: "Babel," "Bobby," "The Departed," "Little Children," "The Queen”
Devin says: Bobby? Bobby?!? That piece of shit is taking up United 93’s spot, thanks to Harvey Weinstein’s deal with the Devil. Still, it’s nice that Little Children is here – I think this guarantees a wider roll out in the weeks to come.
Actress, Drama: Penelope Cruz, "Volver"; Judi Dench, "Notes on a Scandal"; Maggie Gyllenhaal, "Sherrybaby"; Helen Mirren, "The Queen"; Kate Winslet, "Little Children"
Actor, Drama: Leonardo DiCaprio, "Blood Diamond"; Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Departed"; Peter O’Toole, "Venus"; Will Smith, "The Pursuit of Happyness"; Forest Whitaker, "The Last King of Scotland"
Devin says: Leo vs Leo! This is one of the categories where someone is competing against themselves, which is never good. Leo is in major danger of splitting his own vote between the two films, rendering him a loser. It’s Whitaker’s award, anyway.
Picture, Musical or Comedy: “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine," "Thank You for Smoking"
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Annette Bening, "Running With Scissors"; Toni Collette, "Little Miss Sunshine"; Beyonce Knowles, "Dreamgirls"; Meryl Streep, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Renee Zellweger, "Miss Potter"
Devin says: I don’t know how Annette Bening made it off the sinking ship of hate that was Running With Scissors, but getting nominated was her biggest hurdle – she’s got a major shot now.
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Sacha Baron Cohen, "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan"; Johnny Depp, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest"; Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You for Smoking"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Kinky Boots"; Will Ferrell, "Stranger than Fiction"
Devin says: Kinky Boots sucked, and it’s one of Chiwetel’s worst performances. And Johnny Depp for rehashing Jack Sparrow without any added nuance? And I guess that Sacha Baron Cohen wins just because everyone wants to see what he’ll do.
Supporting Actress: Adriana Barraza, "Babel"; Cate Blanchett, "Notes on a Scandal"; Emily Blunt, "The Devil Wears Prada"; Jennifer Hudson, "Dreamgirls"; Rinko Kikuchi, "Babel"
Devin says: Tough category, and it could go any way at all.
Supporting Actor: Ben Affleck, "Hollywoodland"; Eddie Murphy, "Dreamgirls"; Jack Nicholson, "The Departed"; Brad Pitt, "Babel"; Mark Wahlberg, "The Departed"
Devin says: Good for Ben Affleck! This doesn’t guarantee him an Oscar nomination, but it does indicate that his image recovery is coming along fine. And maybe this will convince Eddie Murphy not to make a Norbit 2.
Director: Clint Eastwood, "Flags of Our Fathers"; Clint Eastwood, "Letters from Iwo Jima"; Steven Frears, "The Queen"; Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, "Babel"; Martin Scorsese, "The Departed"
Devin says: Clint vs Clint! What’s interesting is that neither of his films were nominated for Best Drama. Is the idea here that he’s deserving of an award for “the achievement”? I just hope he splits his own votes… I am now officially anti-Clint this awards season.
Screenplay: Guillermo Arriaga, "Babel"; Todd Field and Tom Perrotta, "Little Children"; Patrick Marber, "Notes on a Scandal"; William Monahan, "The Departed"; Peter Morgan, "The Queen"
Devin says: No Little Miss Sunshine, which is interesting because everybody is pretending that script was part of the magic. Maybe this little VW bus didn’t get the push it needed.
Foreign Language: "Apocalypto," USA; "Letters from Iwo Jima," USA/Japan; "The Lives of Others," Germany; "Pan’s Labyrinth," Mexico; "Volver" Spain
Devin says: Apocalypto????
Animated Film: "Cars," "Happy Feet," "Monster House"
Devin says: The lack of A Scanner Darkly is a crime. Especially when the grossly mediocre Cars takes it’s place.
Original Score: Alexandre Desplat, "The Painted Veil"; Clint Mansell, "The Fountain"; Gustavo Santaolalla, "Babel"; Carlo Siliotto, "Nomad"; Hans Zimmer, "The Da Vinci Code"
Devin says: Holy shit! The Fountain!
Original Song: "A Father’s Way" from "The Pursuit of Happyness"; "Listen" from "Dreamgirls"; "Never Gonna Break My Faith" from "Bobby"; "The Song of the Heart" from "Happy Feet"; "Try Not to Remember" from "Home of the Brave"
Television
Series, Drama: "24," Fox; "Big Love," HBO; "Grey’s Anatomy," ABC; "Heroes," NBC; "Lost," ABC
Devin says: I don’t care much about the TV stuff, but Big Love and Heroes making the list when Battlestar Galactica didn’t – even coming off the best and most daring episodes that show has done – smells like bullshit. Maybe if Galactica had become a big hit like Heroes it would have had a chance.
Actress, Drama: Patricia Arquette, "Medium"; Edie Falco, "The Sopranos"; Evangeline Lilly, "Lost"; Ellen Pompeo, "Grey’s Anatomy"; Kyra Sedgwick, "The Closer"
Actor, Drama: Patrick Dempsey, "Grey’s Anatomy"; Michael C. Hall, "Dexter"; Hugh Laurie, "House"; Bill Paxton, "Big Love"; Kiefer Sutherland, "24"
Series, Musical or Comedy: "Desperate Housewives," ABC; "Entourage," HBO; "The Office," NBC; "Ugly Betty," ABC; "Weeds," Showtime
Actress, Musical or Comedy: Marcia Cross, "Desperate Housewives"; America Ferrera, "Ugly Betty"; Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; Mary-Louise Parker, "Weeds"
Actor, Musical or Comedy: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"; Zach Braff, "Scrubs"; Steve Carrell, "The Office"; Jason Lee, "My Name is Earl"; Tony Shalhoub, "Monk"
Miniseries or movie: "Bleak House," PBS; "Broken Trail," AMC; "Elizabeth I," HBO; "Mrs. Harris," HBO; "Prime Suspect: The Final Act," PBS
Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Gillian Anderson, "Bleak House"; Annette Bening, "Mrs. Harris"; Helen Mirren, "Elizabeth I"; Helen Mirren, "Prime Suspect: The Final Act"; Sophie Okonedo, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"
Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Andre Braugher, "Thief"; Robert Duvall, "Broken Trail"; Michael Ealy, "Sleeper Cell: American Terror"; Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"; Ben Kingsley, "Mrs. Harris"; Bill Nighy, "Gideon’s Daughter"; Matthew Perry, "The Ron Clark Story"
Devin says: Well, hey, Chiwetel, nice to see you down here as well.
Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Emily Blunt, "Gideon’s Daughter"; Toni Collette, "Tsunami, The Aftermath"; Katherine Heigl, "Grey’s Anatomy"; Sarah Paulson, "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"; Elizabeth Perkins, "Weeds"
Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Thomas Haden Church, "Broken Trail"; Jeremy Irons, "Elizabeth I"; Justin Kirk, "Weeds"; Masi Oka, "Heroes"; Jeremy Piven, "Entourage"
The winners will be announced January 15th.