In one of the bigger weeks of the awards season (bar Oscar nominations week itself), we've already seen the LA Film Critics Awards, the Critics Choice Awards and the SAG Awards, among others, hand down their winners or nominees for the films and actors of the past twelve months. And this morning, the Academy's black sheep cousin (the one who turns up at family gatherings for the free booze, namedrops about the time he met Johnny Depp, then leaves), the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, have announced their nominees for their 70th Golden Globe Awards.
Generally deemed to be silly and disreputable, they nevertheless get more press coverage than most, so are still a relatively important part of the precursor season, even if it's slightly less so this year due to the awards themselves now coming after Oscar nominations have been announced. But it's still the last chance for films and performances to make an impact before Oscar balloting opens on Monday, so they could end up making a difference to some degree or another. So how did the HFPA go this morning, when Megan Fox, Ed Helms and Jessica Alba announced the nominees?
Well, leading the field was "Lincoln," with 7 nominations, picking up a nod in every category it was eligible for (it didn't have a Best Actress or Best Original Song entry), including the now-commonplace nominations for Steven Spielberg, Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. Not far behind was "Argo," which had five (Drama, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actor for Alan Arkin, and Score), and more surprisingly, "Django Unchained" (Picture, Director, Screenplay and two Supporting Actor nominations for Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz). Given that the latter film has been something of an awards question mark, and was absent from the SAG awards entirely, this is probably the first sign of a strong showing for the film across the rest of the season.
Elsewhere, "Zero Dark Thirty," "Les Miserables" and "Silver Linings Playbook" all kept up their reputation as strong contenders with four nominations, though aside from ZDT, there were disappointments too; Tom Hooper wasn't nominated for "Les Miserables," and Robert De Niro was a surprise omission from the supporting actor category. Meanwhile, the HFPA threw in their traditional curveball to the Comedy/Musical category, with the long-forgotten "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen" picking up a Best Picture nomination on that side of the divide, as well as nominations for leads Emily Blunt and Ewan McGregor. We suspect that CBS Films may have been quietly courting the HFPA vote, and it paid off in a big way. Don't expect it to figure anywhere else in the awards season, though.
Other notables; Rachel Weisz bounced back from her SAG omission by picking up a nomination, alongside Naomi Watts and Helen Mirren, for "The Deep Blue Sea," while Richard Gere managed a nomination for "Arbitrage" in the counterpart category. Maggie Smith, Bill Murray, Meryl Streep and Jack Black also managed lead acting nominations in the Comedy/Musical category, which wasn't dominated by "Les Miserables" in the way many had suspected it would be.
In the smaller categories, announced first, things played out mostly as expected; we predicted all five screenplay nominees correctly, though we were surprised to see "Hotel Transylvania" beat out "ParaNorman" for the fifth animated slot. "Kon-Tiki" joined "Amour," "Rust & Bone," "The Intouchables" and "A Royal Affair," all expected, in the foreign language category. "Cloud Atlas" managed a nod for its score, while Taylor Swift, Bon Jovi and Keith Urban made it into Best Original Song. Christ.
As ever, everything should be taken with a pinch of salt when it comes to the awards season as a whole; the HFPA have always gone their own way, and as such, there may not be too many repeats of the surprises here this morning when the Academy get going. But you never know… We'll find out who wins what when the awards are given out on January 13th. Here's the promo for the show with hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler followed by the full list of nominees.Best Picture – Drama
"Argo"
"Django Unchained"
"Life Of Pi"
"Lincoln"
"Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Picture – Comedy/Musical
"Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
"Les Miserables"
"Moonrise Kingdom"
"Salmon Fishing In The Yemen"
"Silver Linings Playbook"
Best Director
Ben Affleck – "Argo"
Quentin Tarantino – "Django Unchained"
Ang Lee – "Life Of Pi"
Steven Spielberg – "Lincoln"
Kathryn Bigelow – "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Actress – Drama
Rachel Weisz – "The Deep Blue Sea"
Helen Mirren – "Hitchcock"
Naomi Watts – "The Impossible"
Marion Cotillard – "Rust And Bone"
Jessica Chastain – "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Actor – Drama
Richard Gere – "Arbitrage"
Denzel Washington – "Flight"
Daniel Day-Lewis – "Lincoln"
Joaquin Phoenix – "The Master"
John Hawkes – "The Sessions"
Best Actress – Comedy/Musical
Judi Dench – "Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"
Meryl Streep – "Hope Springs"
Maggie Smith – "Quartet"
Emily Blunt – "Salmon Fishing In The Yemen"
Jennifer Lawrence – "Silver Linings Playbook"
Best Actor – Comedy/Musical
Jack Black – "Bernie"
Bill Murray – "Hyde Park On Hudson"
Hugh Jackman – "Les Miserables"
Ewan McGregor – Salmon Fishing In The Yemen
Bradley Cooper – "Silver Linings Playbook"
Best Supporting Actress
Anne Hathaway – "Les Miserables"
Sally Field – "Lincoln"
Amy Adams – "The Master"
Nicole Kidman – "The Paperboy"
Helen Hunt – "The Sessions"
Best Supporting Actor
Alan Arkin – "Argo"
Christoph Waltz – "Django Unchained"
Leonardo DiCaprio – "Django Unchained"
Tommy Lee Jones – "Lincoln"
Philip Seymour Hoffman – "The Master"
Best Screenplay
Chris Terrio – "Argo"
Quentin Tarantino – "Django Unchained"
Tony Kushner – "Lincoln"
David O Russell – "Silver Linings Playbook"
Mark Boal – "Zero Dark Thirty"
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat – "Argo"
Dario Marianeli – "Anna Karenina"
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil – "Cloud Atlas"
Mychael Danna – "Life Of Pi"
John Williams – "Lincoln"
Best Original Song
Keith Urban – "For You" ("Act Of Valor")
Taylor Swift – "Safe & Sound" ("The Hunger Games")
Hugh Jackman – "Suddenly" ("Les Miserables")
Adele – "Skyfall" ("Skyfall")
Jon Bon Jovi – "Not Running Anymore" – ("Stand Up Guys")
Best Animated Feature Film
"Brave"
"Frankenweenie"
"Hotel Transylvania"
"Rise Of The Guardians"
"Wreck-It Ralph"
Best Foreign Film
"Amour"
"The Intouchables"
"Kon-Tiki"
"A Royal Affair"
"Rust & Bone"
Best Television Series – Drama
"Breaking Bad"
"Boardwalk Empire"
"Downton Abbey"
"Homeland"
"The Newsroom"
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama
Connie Britton, "Nashville"
Glenn Close, "Damages"
Claire Danes, "Homeland"
Michelle Dockery, "Downton Abbey"
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Jeff Daniels, "The Newsroom"
Jon Hamm, "Mad Men"
Damian Lewis, "Homeland"
Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"
Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad"
Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
"The Big Bang Theory"
"Episodes"
"Girls"
"Modern Family"
"Smash"
Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Zooey Deschanel, "New Girl"
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"
Lena Dunham, "Girls"
Tina Fey, "30 Rock"
Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation"
Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Don Cheadle, "House of Lies"
Louis CK, "Louie"
Matt LeBlanc, "Episodes"
Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory"
Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
"Game Change"
"The Girl"
"Hatfields & McCoys"
"The Hour"
"Political Animals"
Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Nicole Kidman, "Hemingway and Gelhorn"
Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story: Asylum"
Sienna Miller, "The Girl"
Julianne Moore, "Game Change"
Sigourney Weaver, "Political Animals"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Kevin Costner, "Hatfields & McCoys"
Benedict Cumberbatch, "Sherlock"
Woody Harrelson, "Game Change"
Toby Jones, "The Girl"
Clive Owen, "Hemingway and Gelhorn"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hayden Panettiere, "Nashville"
Archie Panjabi, "The Good Wife"
Sarah Paulson, "Game Change"
Maggie Smith, "Downton Abbey"
Sofia Vergara, "Modern Family"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Max Greenfield, "New Girl"
Ed Harris, "Game Change"
Danny Huston, "Magic City"
Mandy Patinkin, "Homeland"
Eric Stonestreet, "Modern Family"
