Golden Globe Nominations Rundown

This morning's Golden Globes nominations came with the expected wattage of star power and some unexpected surprises due to this year's apparently weak crop of musical and comedy films.  In truth, there were plenty of great comedies this year, but the Hollywood Foreign Press Association apparently didn't see any of them.  Ignoring great films like Kick-Ass, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Please Give, the Best Picture - Musical/Comedy nominees include the horrific Burlesque (which also netted two nominations for Best Song) and the disappointing Alice in Wonderland, for which Johnny Depp earned one of his nominations for Best Actor - Musical/Comedy.

The strongest contender on that side of things is easily The Kids Are All Right, the only nominee that has any real Oscar prospects.  The film hasn't been performing as well as expected in the precursors, with Annette Bening failing to even be nominated in a few critics' groups, so the film's four nominations here are a healthy boost that should help propel it to the eventual Best Picture lineup at the Oscars.  The film even earned a nomination for its screenplay, which is well-deserved but surprising, as the Globes only have one category that includes both original and adapted works.  Bening should easily win the trophy here, beating out her costar Julianne Moore, Angelina Jolie for The Tourist, Anne Hathaway for Love & Other Drugs, and Emma Stone for Easy A.  It's great to see Stone recognized for her hilarious work, but it's too bad the film itself wasn't nominated over one of the less worthy nominees.

In the dramatic categories, things unfurled in fairly expected fashion.  The Best Picture - Drama nominees include five safe bets for the Oscars' biggest race, with The Fighter beating out 127 Hours and True Grit (which didn't receive a single nomination) for the fifth slot, joining front-runners The Social Network, Black Swan, Inception, and The King's Speech.  The Best Director lineup corresponded directly with the dramatic contenders.  The Best Actor race rounded out the three omnipresent nominees (Jesse Eisenberg, Colin Firth, and James Franco) with Ryan Gosling for Blue Valentine and Mark Wahlberg for The Fighter, marking one of his first major appearances this awards season.  He's largely been eclipsed by his costars thus far, and Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Melissa Leo were all nominated here, as well.

The Best Actress race also looks to be almost spot-on as an Oscar predictor, with the exception of Halle Berry for Frankie and Alice, whose spot will be taken by Bening.  It seems like a race between Jennifer Lawrence for Winter's Bone and Natalie Portman for Black Swan, though the HFPA loves it some megastars, so Berry or Nicole Kidman could realistically win, too.  The Globes are an awards show where it isn't about the best ________ winning, or even about the HFPA's favorites winning.  It's a celebration of Hollywood in the abstract: the dazzling blockbuster nature of cinema at its most successful (but not necessarily finest).  Just look at last year's big winners, Avatar and The Hangover.

Thus, it's not surprising that so many big names pop up that have largely been absent this awards season.  Michael Douglas is up for his supporting work in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps alongside more common nominees like Andrew Garfield for The Social Network and Geoffrey Rush for The King's Speech.  The Supporting Actress race is filled out by Helena Bonham Carter for The King's Speech, once considered a front-runner for the Oscar, now more of a bridesmaid than a bride; Mila Kunis, gaining some traction for her work in Black Swan and beating out costar Barbara Hershey; and Jacki Weaver, whose work in Animal Kingdom has been a hit with critics' groups and seems like she might make it all the way to the Oscars, despite her film barely registering on the radar.

All in all, this morning's nominees aren't very surprising.  The dramatic categories unfolded much as expected with a few doses of extra star-power, while the comedic categories did what they could to make up for a supposed lack of quality with celebrity.  It's a shame the HFPA decided to ignore so many quality films in lieu of jotting in a bunch of big names, but that's how this game works.  Otherwise, it wouldn't be Hollywood's biggest party.

Full list of nominees courtesy of Awards Daily:

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
BLACK SWAN
THE FIGHTER
INCEPTION
THE KING’S SPEECH
THE SOCIAL NETWORK

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Halle Berry, FRANKIE AND ALICE
Nicole Kidman, RABBIT HOLE
Jennifer Lawrence, WINTER’S BONE
Natalie Portman, BLACK SWAN
Michelle Williams, BLUE VALENTINE

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Jesse Eisenberg, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Colin Firth, THE KING’S SPEECH
James Franco, 127 HOURS
Ryan Gosling, BLUE VALENTINE
Mark Wahlberg, THE FIGHTER

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY 
ALICE IN WONDERLAND
BURLESQUE
THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
RED
THE TOURIST

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Annette Bening, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Anne Hathaway, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
Angelina Jolie, THE TOURIST
Julianne Moore, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Emma Stone, EASY A

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE -MUSICAL OR COMEDY 
Johnny Depp, ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Johnny Depp, THE TOURIST
Paul Giamatti, BARNEY’S VERSION
Jake Gyllenhaal, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
Kevin Spacey, CASINO JACK

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, BLACK SWAN
David Fincher, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Tom Hooper, THE KING’S SPEECH
Christopher Nolan, INCEPTION
David O. Russell, THE FIGHTER

BEST SCREENPLAY
Danny Boyle, 127 HOURS
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Hart, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
Christopher Nolan, INCEPTION
David Seidler, THE KING’S SPEECH
Aaron Sorkin, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexander Desplat, THE KING’S SPEECH
Danny Elfman, ALICE IN WONDERLAND
A.R. Rahman, 127 HOURS
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Hans Zimmer, INCEPTION

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM 
BIUTIFUL
THE CONCERT
THE EDGE
I AM LOVE
IN A BETTER WORLD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Amy Adams, THE FIGHTER
Helena Bonham Carter, THE KING’S SPEECH
Mila Kunis, BLACK SWAN
Melissa Leo, THE FIGHTER
Jacki Weaver, ANIMAL KINGDOM

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Christian Bale, THE FIGHTER
Michael Douglas, WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS
Andrew Garfield, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
Jeremy Renner, THE TOWN
Geoffrey Rush, THE KING’S SPEECH

BEST ANIMATED FILM
DESPICABLE ME
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
THE ILLUSIONIST
TANGLED
TOY STORY

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE 
“Bound to You” – BURLESQUE
“Coming Home” – COUNTRY STRONG
“I See the Light” – TANGLED
“There’s a Place for Us” – THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE DAWN TREADER
“You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me” – BURLESQUE