GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS

The Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning. These are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press and are usually considered a precursor to the Oscars. I see it more as "Oscar lite". The Globes tend to take more risks and have some surprises. THE ARTIST received the most nominations at 6. THE DESCENDANTS and THE HELP both received 5.  Ricky Gervais will again host the ceremony on January 15th. Here is the full list of nominations with my personal opinion of each category:

BEST PICTURE, DRAMA
"War Horse"
"The Ides of March"

"The Help"
"Moneyball"
"Hugo"
"The Descendants"

I had pretty much counted out THE IDES OF MARCH, but it is a good place to get recognized. The rest are pretty much expected.

BEST PICTURE, COMEDY
"The Artist"
"50/50"
"Bridesmaids"
"My Week With Marilyn"
"Midnight in Paris"

Great to see BRIDESMAIDS and 50/50 get recognized. It will be tough to win over THE ARTIST.

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
George Clooney in "The Descendants"
Brad Pitt in ''Moneyball''
Leonardo DiCaprio in ''J.Edgar''
Ryan Gosling in ''The Ides of March''
Michael Fassbender in ''Shame''

No real surprise here. Would have like to have seen Woody Harrelson for RAMPART get a nomination.

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Viola Davis in ''The Help''
Meryl Streep in ''The Iron Lady''
Tilda Swinton in ''We Need to Talk About Kevin''
Rooney Mara in ''The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo''
Glenn Close in ''Albert Nobbs''

Would like to have seen Kirsten Dunst and/or Elizabeth Olsen on the list. 

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Jean Dujardin in ''The Artist''
Brendan Gleeson in ''The Guard''
Owen Wilson in ''Midnight in Paris''
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in ''50/50''
Ryan Gosling in ''Crazy, Stupid, Love''

Brendan Gleeson for THE GUARD is a surprise. I read a couple good things about this movie and Gleeson's performance, but didn't think I would hear from it again.

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Michelle Williams, ''My Week With Marilyn''
Jodie Foster, ''Carnage''
Kristen Wiig, ''Bridesmaids''
Charlize Theron, ''Young Adult''
Kate Winslet, ''Carnage''

Huge mistake to leave out for Melissa McCarthy in BRIDESMAIDS. Way too many nominations from CARNAGE.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Albert Brooks, ''Drive''
Christopher Plummer, ''Beginners''
Kenneth Branagh, ''My Week With Marilyn''
Jonah Hill, ''Moneyball''
Viggo Mortensen, ''A Dangerous Method''

Albert Brooks all the way!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Berenice Bejo, ''The Artist''
Octavia Spencer, ''The Help''
Jessica Chastain, ''The Help''
Janet McTeer, ''Albert Nobbs''
Shailene Woodley, "The Descendants"

BEST DIRECTOR
Martin Scorsese, ''Hugo''
George Clooney, ''The Ides of March''
Michel Hazanavicius, ''The Artist''
Alexander Payne, ''The Descendants''
Woody Allen, ''Midnight in Paris''

George Clooney for IDES and no Spielberg for WAR HORSE?

BEST SCREENPLAY
''Midnight in Paris''
''The Ides of March''
''The Artist''
''The Descendants''
''Moneyball''

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
''Rango''
''The Adventures of Tintin''
''Puss in Boots''
''Arthur Christmas''
''Cars 2''

Not many great animated films to choose from this year if you don't count motion capture. RANGO seems to be the favorite.

BEST FOREIGN FILM
''In the Land of Blood and Honey''
''Flowers of War''
''The Skin I Live In''
''The Kid With a Bike''
''A Separation''

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
''W.E.''
''The Help''
''Albert Nobbs''
''Machine Gun Preacher''
''Gnomeo and Juliet''

BEST SCORE
''The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo''
''War Horse''
''The Artist''
''W.E.''

The only 2 places Madonna will get any recognition for W.E. is ironically for the music. Madonna needs to stay with what she is good at.