The Golden Globe nominees were announced today. I was reluctant to report on them, but we received a lot of outside pressure from influential readers… you’ll soon understand my hesitation.
BEST PICTURE (Drama):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (not yet released)
Frost/Nixon (still in limited release)
The Reader (opens in limited release tomorrow)
Revolutionary Road (not yet released)
Slumdog Millionaire (in limited release)
–Analysis: Well, that was interesting. Five movies NO ONE has seen yet. Two of them are from directors I love (Fincher and Boyle), one is from a crackling stage play, and the other two have Kate Winslet, who’s always interesting. I’m looking forward to most of them, but it’s hard to get excited about an entire set of movies you can’t talk to anyone about. I’m honestly a little surprised not to see The Dark Knight, partly because of its massive commercial AND critical success, and partly because it’s just really, really good. Also maybe a little surprised not to see Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, but maybe they figured giving an actor nod to Mickey Rourke was good enough. And where’s Milk?
BEST PICTURE (Comedy/Musical):
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Happy-Go-Lucky is getting a ton of good press, and Mike Leigh movies are always always always worth watching. I hope to see that one soon. As much as I liked Burn After Reading and In Bruges, the rest of the movies on the list are just place-holders.
BEST ACTOR (Drama):
Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Sean Penn (Milk)
Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)
Analysis: I think the Pitt nomination is interesting. Obviously, I haven’t seen the movie yet, but I know that a good part of it was constructed by digitally grafting Pitt’s face onto other actors’ bodies, so this brings up questions about what, exactly, constitutes an acting performance. Or maybe he’s just so good in the role that he forces his way onto the list. Langella has really kicked his game up a notch over the last couple of years, so I’m glad he’s getting recognized. Sean Penn is the best actor alive, Milk comes here this weekend, so I’m excited to see him. And who doesn’t love Mickey Rourke? Not that I’ve seen The Wrestler, either.
BEST ACTRESS (Drama):
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Kristin Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long)
Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)
Analysis: Even though I wasn’t a big fan of the movie she was in, Anne Hathaway was very good (so was the rest of the cast… my problems with Rachel weren’t related to the acting). Not surprisingly, I haven’t seen any of the others. I don’t really have an excuse for Jolie, but the rest of them, shockingly, aren’t in wide release.
See why this wasn’t going to work? There’s a reason no one gives a damn about the Golden Globes this year, and it’s only partly because of their “press conference” debacle last year during the writers’ strike. You can look at the rest of the nominees yourself, I’ll just run through some highlights here:
Sally Hawkins will almost certainly win Best Actress in a Comedy for Happy-Go-Lucky. She’s taking every critics award out there. Shoot, anyone in a Mike Leigh movie should win any award possible (if you know how he works, you know what I mean). Glad to see both Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson get nominated for In Bruges. In fact, I’m happy that movie is getting some recognition. You probably haven’t seen it, go rent it.
Happy to see Viola Davis get nominated for Doubt, not because I know if she’s any good in it, but because she’s been doing incredible work for a number of years and hardly anyone has noticed. She should be making so much money by now, I hope she gets more jobs because of this. Also glad to see Marisa Tomei get nominated, because that means we get to see more of Marisa Tomei.
Downey and Cruise in from Tropic Thunder. Can’t argue with those, both hilarious. I would say Downey would be a lock to win… but he’s going up against Heath Ledger, who not only will win, but deserves to win, and would probably win in any year in recent memory. Hype aside, he really is that good, his Joker is one of the great performances in movie history.
Director nominees match Best Drama nominees (boring). I’m pulling for Fincher or Boyle. Even though I haven’t seen the movies.
TV STUFF:
The Best TV Drama nominees are atrocious. Not that they’re not good, but is this really the best you could come up with? The obvious omission is The Wire, which closed out its run this year. Where’s Lost? I only watched about a quarter of In Treatment, but is it really better than either of those two? True Blood? Really?
Best Comedy is reasonable. 30 Rock and The Office are both there, so I’m satisfied. Honestly, it looks like the other three are just there because they needed three more. Expect a 30 Rock win here. No arguments. Alec Baldwin vs. Steve Carell for Best Comedic Actor? Fun. Somehow they split the vote and Tony Shalhoub sneaks in for his eightieth consecutive win. It’s a gift… and a curse.
John Adams sweeps miniseries awards.
This will all be way more fun when we’re talking Oscars and we’ve actually seen these movies. Golden Globes are for pansies.
Fletch
Jeremy
Zack!
joshuastough
pfe115
vkoneonefive
Thank you. I was worried about your priorities.
The Golden Globes have become more interesting to me over the last few years because, I’ll admit, it’s just another chance for me to see glamour, excess, and pretty, sparkly gowns. This does not make me a pansy. Just superficial.
Also, I now have to live through you–the only other person I know who is as obsessed with awards season as I am. I don’t have a reliable babysitter and the last movie I saw in the theater was “Dark Knight.” Ok, I’m lying. The last movie I saw was “Twilight.” But I was with someone under 15 so I have an excuse. And man, do I have some choice words for that whole series/cultural explosion–but I digress.
My point is that I’m not going to get to the theater to see even half of the nominated films so I have to take your word on which are the best.
Finally, and most importantly, it is the exclusion of “Milk” which is indicative of my growing frustration with academy voters. I haven’t even seen the film but I know that it’s going to be fantastic. I don’t know if it’s the subject matter that’s still touchy or if the voters can’t possibly get through an awards season without nominating one or both halves of Brangelina. Or Meryl Streep. I mean, she’s fantastic, but come on! She’s going to give a great performance. If you cast her in High School Musical 4, she’ll give a great performance. Let’s admire some newcomers, or constantly overlooked oldcomers.
And Leonardo DiCaprio? argh. whatever.
I look to you for some insightful Hollywood reporting over the next few months. Or if you need a columnist to report on sparkly gowns or questionable cultural phenomena (ahem, Twilight), I’m your man. This blog needs more drivel.
Agreed about the dearth of drivel here. I’ve been trying my best to bring down the sophistication level of the site, but my cohorts insist on talking about “labor” and “human rights” and “ideals.” And I’m very susceptible to peer pressure, so here we are. Blech.
We won’t be Us Weekly or anything, but with awards season ramping up things should get a little more fun.
For the record, I like Leo, although I agree that he’s getting to be a boring nominee. I guess that’s my problem with the Golden Globes generally– they bore me. Or that’s what I seem to remember, at least. If I’m wrong, I don’t know the difference anyway, so that’s what I’m going with.
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Why did that comment show up above?
That’s what happens when other sites link us. Usually it shows an excerpt of what they say, but in this case I think what they said was just an excerpt of what our post said, so there’s not really any point. I probably could’ve just deleted it, but now we’re having a conversation about it, which is at least a little bit more fun, don’t you think?
So really what you’re saying is that someone linked to your site because they saw that I was here. No, don’t try to deny it. My presence on Terrace Agenda will bring you fame and wealth beyond your wildest dreams.
No one’s denying anything. You’re 100% right.
(In fact, you ARE 100% right, that site seems to link to all web articles including the term “Jeana.” I don’t really understand it.)
Guys! I just had my picture taken for the cover of Vanity Fair, and they gave me a check for one million dollars!
Thanks, Jeana! OMG!