AAN: Thoughts on the Golden Globes Nominations with Silva, David and Joe

Well well well, the Golden Globes nominations happened. And I'm not sure why they get such a bad wrap. Sure, they nominated The Tourist for giggles and that showed how bad they were. But they've made amends. Remember that they were the ones who nominated Michael Fassbender for Best Actor for Shame last year. And they didn't nominate Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close for giggles. And this year's line-up is pretty okay by my standards. I wouldn't say it is anything ground-breaking but it has created a few interesting possibilities. It is surprising how wide open this awards season is without having too many competitors. Now just in case you've forgotten how my new Annual Awards Nerdism ratings system works, here's a reminder:

Sparkling Silva - I'm generally happy about this line-up. I got what I wanted.
'Overjoyed' David - Meh. I knew it was going to happen. I'm neither here nor there.
Loopy Looper - No. Just no.

Best Motion Picture - Drama:

Argo / Django Unchained / Life of Pi / Lincoln / Zero Dark Thirty

Nothing new here, folks. Although Django Unchained needed that boost. The late release kind of hurt its chance at SAG, so it really did need it. But we can be sure that they'll all make Best Picture at the Oscars, so you may as well put your bets in now.

Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy:

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel / Les Miserables / Moonrise Kingdom / Salmon Fishing in the Yemen / Silver Linings Playbook

Is it just me or is it insanely weird to see Les Miserables in this category? I mean, I know it is a musical and all, but amongst all of these comedies, it really sticks out. Otherwise, this category looks pretty relaxed, but also quite unsettling for some reason. I'm surprised that anyone even thought of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen. I liked the movie enough, but there are plenty of other comedies out there deserving of some attention. Like 21 Jump Street, which I still contest is the funniest movie of the year. But I must say, major ups to the HFPA for not nominating Rock of Ages just coz it is a musical. That's the kind of stuff they normally pull, but they didn't do it here.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama:

Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln / Richard Gere in Arbitrage / John Hawkes in The Sessions / Joaquin Phoenix in The Master / Denzel Washington in Flight

Joaquin Phoenix got in too, so if we're accusing the HFPA of ass-kissing, this shows they're not. No-one really wants to kiss his ass, but everyone feels like supporting his supposedly great performance. Richard Gere is a bit of a surprise, however, a lot of people have been supporting him. I don't think he'll make it any further. Daniel Day-Lewis, John Hawkes and Denzel Washington can all be considered as locks, though.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama:

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty / Marion Cotillard in Rust and Bone / Helen Mirren in Hitchcock / Naomi Watts in The Impossible / Rachel Weisz in The Deep Blue Sea

So I guess we're still making Helen Mirren a thing. But I honestly don't think she'll get an Oscar nomination. However, I'm quite surprised that they went for Rachel Weisz - it is good surprise, though. And Marion Cotillard is still hanging in there. There's no Emmanuelle Riva, though, which kind of hurts her. Can't wait to see Jessica Chastain win this one.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy:

Jack Black in Bernie / Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook / Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables / Ewan McGregor in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen / Bill Murray in Hyde Park on Hudson

Again, it is so weird to see Hugh Jackman in this category. At least he'll probably win. Bradley Cooper is looking even more likely to get an Oscar nomination, too. I'm pretty happy that Jack Black got recognised since he is awesome in Bernie. And Ewan McGregor was awesome in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen as well. I must say I'm rather surprised at how Hyde Park on Hudson hasn't taken off this awards season, even though it has all of those familiar bait-traits. Bill Murray's nomination is about as much recognition as it'll get.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy:

Emily Blunt in Salmon Fishing in the Yemen / Judi Dench in The Best Exotic Margiold Hotel / Jennifer Lawrence in Silver Linings Playbook / Maggie Smith in Quartet / Meryl Streep in Hope Springs

Eh. Really, this category is all for Jennifer Lawrence and they just had to fill up the rest of the spots. So they did it like this:
-Emily Blunt for Salmon Fishing in the Yemen because it got nominated for all of the other awards so may as well do this. But she was kinda good in that movie.
-Judi Dench for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel because we might as well nominate one person from that movie. Even though neither Bill Nighy or Tom Wilkinson got nominated and they were cool.
-Maggie Smith for Quartet because she's Maggie Smith and there wasn't a category to nominate her in for Downton Abbey (mind you, is Quartet still a major player in awards season like we thought it would be?)
-Obligatory Meryl Streep nomination.
Not the HFPA's fault - it was just a really weak year for that. And this line-up isn't all that bad.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

Alan Arkin in Argo / Leonardo DiCaprio in Django Unchained / Philip Seymour Hoffman in The Master / Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln / Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained

I don't know how to feel about this one. There's no Matthew McConagughey, and that was the only real surprise I got. However, I'm happy to see that both Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz got in for Django Unchained. The rest of the line-up is pretty much looking like a lock now.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture:

Amy Adams in The Master / Sally Field in Lincoln / Anne Hathaway in Les Miserables / Helen Hunt in The Sessions / Nicole Kidman in The Paperboy

So I see we're again making Nicole Kidman a thing. Interesting. Everything else went pretty much as planned, but I do have to wonder whether we'll see Samantha Barks getting any love any time soon.

Best Director - Motion Picture:

Ben Affleck for Argo / Kathryn Bigelow for Zero Dark Thirty / Ang Lee for Life of Pi / Steven Spielberg for Lincoln / Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained

Even though I haven't seen any of the films, I'm happy with this line-up because I love all of the directors. There's no Tom Hooper, though, which is rather suspicious - is Les Miserables set to be the huge hit we thought it was going to be? I've heard some rather mixed things come out of the patchwork lately. That'll keep us on our toes.

Everything else...

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture:

Chris Terrio for Argo / Quentin Tarantino for Django Unchained / Tony Kushner for Lincoln / David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook / Mark Boal for Zero Dark Thirty

Best Original Song - Motion Picture:

"For You" - Act of Valour / "Safe and Sound" - The Hunger Games / "Suddenly" - Les Miserables / "Skyfall" - Skyfall / "Not Running Anymore" - Stand Up Guys

Best Original Score - Motion Picture:

Anna Karenina / Argo / Cloud Atlas / Life of Pi / Lincoln

Best Animated Film:

Brave / Frankenweenie / Hotel Transylvania / Rise of the Guardians / Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Film:

Amour / Kon-Tiki / Intouchables / A Royal Affair / Rust and Bone

How do you feel about these nominations?