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. 

SAG NOMINATIONS

The Screen Actors Guild nominations were announced bright and early this morning in LA. This is a very prestigious award to the acting community because they are chosen and voted on by fellow actors. Sure an Oscar is great for publicity, but everyone loves the attention of one of their own. SAG honors film and television. I am only going to list the film nominees.

THE Help had the most nominations with four. EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE, HARRY POTTER, WAR HORSE and HUGO were shut out. No film has won best picture in the last 15 years without a SAG nomination. I am not sure why because to me acting is totally separate from the movie. You can have great acting in a mediocre film as well as the opposite. WAR HORSE and HUGO are more about movie making than acting.


Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
DEMIÁN BICHIR / Carlos Galindo - “A BETTER LIFE”
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King - "THE DESCENDANTS”
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / J. Edgar Hoover - "J. EDGAR"
JEAN DUJARDIN / George - "THE ARTIST"
BRAD PITT / Billy Beane - "MONEYBALL"

A surprise with the Demian Bicher in A BETTER LIFE.

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
GLENN CLOSE  / Albert Nobbs - "ALBERT NOBBS”
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark - “THE HELP”
MERYL STREEP / Margaret Thatcher - “THE IRON LADY”
TILDA SWINTON / Eva - “WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN”
MICHELLE WILLIAMS / Marilyn Monroe - “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”

Glenn Close was having trouble staying in the race. This nomination is a big help.

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
KENNETH BRANAGH / Sir Laurence Olivier - “MY WEEK WITH MARILYN”
ARMIE HAMMER / Clyde Tolson - "J. EDGAR"
JONAH HILL / Peter Brand - "MONEYBALL"
NICK NOLTE / Paddy Conlon - “WARRIOR”
CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER / Hal - “BEGINNERS”

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy - "THE ARTIST"
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote - “THE HELP”
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan - “BRIDESMAIDS”
JANET McTEER / Hubert Page - "ALBERT NOBBS”
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson - “THE HELP”

Great to see Melissa McCarthy for Bridesmaids. She probably won't win, but it at lease is some recognition.

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
THE ARTIST
BÉRÉNICE BEJO / Peppy
JAMES CROMWELL / Clifton
JEAN DUJARDIN / George
JOHN GOODMAN / Al Zimmer
PENELOPE ANN MILLER / Doris
BRIDESMAIDS
ROSE BYRNE / Helen
JILL CLAYBURGH / Annie’s Mom
ELLIE KEMPER / Becca
MATT LUCAS  / Gil
MELISSA McCARTHY / Megan
WENDI McLENDON-COVEY / Rita
CHRIS O’DOWD / Rhodes
MAYA RUDOLPH / Lillian
KRISTEN WIIG / Annie
THE DESCENDANTS
BEAU BRIDGES / Cousin Hugh
GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King
ROBERT FORSTER / Scott Thorson
JUDY GREER  / Julie Speer
MATTHEW LILLARD  / Brian Speer
SHAILENE WOODLEY  / Alexandra King3
THE HELP
JESSICA CHASTAIN / Celia Foote
VIOLA DAVIS / Aibileen Clark
BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD / Hilly Holbrook
ALLISON JANNEY / Charlotte Phelan
CHRIS LOWELL / Stuart Whitworth
AHNA O’REILLY / Elizabeth Leefolt
SISSY SPACEK / Missus Walters
OCTAVIA SPENCER / Minny Jackson
MARY STEENBURGEN / Elaine Stein
EMMA STONE / Skeeter Phelan
CICELY TYSON / Constantine Jefferson
MIKE VOGEL / Johnny Foote
MIDNIGHT IN PARIS
KATHY BATES / Gertrude Stein
ADRIEN BRODY / Salvador Dali
CARLA BRUNI / Museum Guide
MARION COTILLARD / Adriana
RACHEL McADAMS / Inez
MICHAEL SHEEN / Paul
OWEN WILSON / Gil

BIG DAY!!

Sunday was a big day for critic awards winners and nomination announcements. We are really getting a feel now for the movies that have the momentum to them to The Academy Awards. Here are all of the announcements from Sunday:

Boston Film Critics Association Awards Winners
Best Picture: THE ARTIST
Best Director: Martin Scorsese for HUGO.
Best Actor: Brad Pitt for MONEYBALL Runners up: George Clooney for THE DESCENDANTS, Michael Fassbender for SHAME
Best Actress (another competitive one!): Michelle Williams for MY WEEK WITH MARILYN.
Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks for DRIVE
Best Supporting Actress: Melissa McCarthy for BRIDESMAIDS. Jeannie Berlin: close second for MARGARET


New York Online Film Critics
BEST PICTURE: THE ARTIST
BEST DIRECTOR – MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS for The Artist

BEST ACTOR – MICHAEL SHANNON for Take Shelter

BEST ACTRESS – MERYL STREEP for “The Iron Lady”

BEST ENSEMBLE CAST – BRIDESMAIDS

AFI Top 10

The Descendants

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Help

J. Edgar

Hugo

Midnight in Paris

Moneyball

The Tree of Life

War Horse

Bridesmaids

LA Film Critics Awards

BEST PICTURE, Winner: The Descendants. Runner-Up: The Tree of Life.

BEST DIRECTOR, Winner: Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life. Runner-Up: Martin Scorsese, Hugo.

BEST ACTOR, Winner: Michael Fassbender, A Dangerous Method, Jane Eyre, Shame, X-Men: First Class. Runner-Up:  Michael Shannon, Take Shelter.

BEST ACTRESS, Winner: Yun Jung-hee, Poetry. Runner-Up: Kirsten Dunst,  Melancholia.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, Winner: Jessica Chastain, Coriolanus, The Debt, The Help,“Take Shelter, Texas Killing Fields, Tree of Life  Runner-Up: Janet McTeer,  Albert Nobbs.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, Winner: Christopher Plummer, Beginners. Runner-Up: Patton Oswalt,  Young Adult.

Detroit Film Critic Nominees

  BEST PICTURE

  THE ARTIST

  THE DESCENDANTS

   HUGO

   TAKE SHELTER

   THE TREE OF LIFE

   BEST DIRECTOR

   MICHEL HAZANAVICIUS – THE ARTIST

   TERRENCE MALICK – THE TREE OF LIFE

   JEFF NICHOLS – TAKE SHELTER

   MARTIN SCORSESE– HUGO

   NICHOLAS WINDING REFN – DRIVE

   BEST ACTOR

   GEORGE CLOONEY– THE DESCENDANTS

   JEAN DUJARDIN – THE ARTIST

   MICHAEL FASSBENDER – SHAME

   BRAD PITT – MONEYBALL

   MICHAEL SHANNON – TAKE SHELTER

BEST ACTRESS

VIOLA DAVIS – THE HELP

FELICITY JONES – LIKE CRAZY

MERYL STREEP – THE IRON LADY

CHARLIZE THERON – YOUNG ADULT

MICHELLE WILLIAMS – MY WEEK WITH MARILYN

San Francisco Film Critics Winners

Best Picture

The Tree of Life

Best Director
Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life

Best Original Screenplay
J.C. Chandor, “Margin Call”

Best Adapted Screenplay
Bridget O’Connor & Peter Straughan, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”

Best Actor
Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”                                                         
Best Actress
Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

 Best Supporting Actor
Albert Brooks, “Drive”

Best Supporting Actress
Vanessa Redgrave, “Coriolanus”

VISUAL EFFECTS SEMIFINALISTS

The Academy announced the 15 movies that will compete for a visual effect Oscar. In the beginning of January they will dwindle down the list to 10 before choosing the final 5 nominees. Here is a list of the 15 that are eligible:


Captain America: The First Avenger
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Mission Impossible — Ghost Protocol
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sucker Punch
Super 8
Thor
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
X-Men: First Class

In my opinion the final five will be:

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo

The Tree of Life

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE TRAILER

One movie that has yet to be seen which is keeping it out of many critics awards and Oscar hype is EXTREMELY LOUD AND INCREDIBLY CLOSE. There are a few "Word of Mouth" screenings this weekend.

Here is a new trailer just released trailer #2