Highs and Lows: The Golden Globe Nominations

This morning's Golden Globe nominations arrived with some surprises, some of which are easier to accept than others.

Highs
- Though it only started screening recently, Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained received multiple nominations, including dual nominations in the Best Supporting Actor category for Leonardo DiCaprio and Christoph Waltz.  Some had been questioning the film's Oscar prospects due to a lack of recognition from other precursors (such as yesterday's SAG nominations), but most of the slights are due to a lack of screeners being sent out on time.  Tarantino even made it into the crowded Best Director race over Tom Hooper for Les Miserables.

- Richard Gere received a nomination for Best Actor - Drama for Arbitrage, and rightfully so.  It's the most impressive performance of Gere's career.  Known for playing romantic leads, it's a dark turn for the actor, and I feared that the film wasn't seen by enough people for Gere to make it into the category.  While it's doubtful he'll make it all the way to the Oscars, I'm glad he at least received this recognition for such a fine performance.  If he does manage to register with the Academy (somehow, he's never been nominated before), I will be thrilled.

- Though I predicted he would receive a nomination, I was still pleased to hear Jack Black's name read for Best Actor - Musical/Comedy for Bernie.  It's an unusual turn for Black, who gets to show off his dramatic chops and his beautiful singing voice.  While the race is between Hugh Jackman and Bradley Cooper, Black is fully deserving of his nomination, and would be a worthy winner, too.

- Though Cloud Atlas failed to garner any major nominations (not that anyone expected it to), it did receive a well-deserved nomination for Best Original Score.

Lows
- Magic Mike was totally shut out, a strange move by the HFPA, which normally likes to recognize fun, popular movies.  It's especially strange that Matthew McConaughey failed to get a nomination; maybe the actor isn't destined for the Oscars after all.

- Of all the animated movies to come out this year, the HFPA somehow found room to nominate Hotel Transylvania, the bland monster mash-up that cleaned up at the box office.

- Taking Magic Mike's spot in the Best Picture - Comedy/Musical race?  Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, one of the year's most forgettable movies.  Based on a true story of an attempt to - you guessed it - introduce salmon fishing into the Yemen, the film is a harmless snooze fest save for when the wonderful Kristin Scott Thomas is on screen.  The film also snagged nominations for its leads, Ewan McGregor (who must've been confused; he seemed a more likely contender for The Impossible) and Emily Blunt.

- Other glaring omissions: Beasts of the Southern Wild in all categories; The Master for Best Picture and Director; Ann Dowd for Best Supporting Actress; "Learn Me Right" from Brave for Best Original Song; and ParaNorman for Best Animated Feature.