Right about now is when awards season starts heating up. Various film critic circles and societies have given out their awards, with many more to come, and the Screen Actors Guild recently announced nominations. Earlier today, however, the season really began with the announcement of the nominees for the 71st Golden Globe Awards. As expected, films like 12 Years a Slave, Gravity, and Inside Llewyn Davis earned nominations. What was odd was some of the categories they were nominated in.
In fairness to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, I haven’t seen Inside Llewyn Davis, American Hustle, or Her, but none of those seem like comedies, and yet, they’re all placed firmly in the Musical or Comedy category (with the films themselves in the Best Motion Picture category, as well as all of their lead actors – Oscar Isaac, Christian Bale, and Joaquin Phoenix – nominated for their “comedic” performances). It’s a problem that the Golden Globes have always had, separating the films when many of them have varying amounts of a blend between comedy and drama. It seems almost as if the format exists as a way of circumventing the five-film standard that the Academy Awards used to employ; I can only assume that Inside Llewyn Davis was not one of the five most-picked drama films by the HFPA, and any justification possible was used to keep it on the nominees list somewhere. Perhaps, because it focuses on the life of a folk musician, it’s a musical? By that logic, would 8 Mile then be considered a musical? The notion certainly sounds silly.
Despite the fact that the nomination categories elicited the typical head turns and shoulder shrugs, there were plenty of pleasant surprises when it came to who was nominated. My favorite lead performance by a female this year is Greta Gerwig in Frances Ha, a performance that I knew would never get Oscar consideration. It’s nice, however, to see Gerwig’s work recognized with a Globe nomination, as inconsequential as that may be. Another surprise was the inclusion of Idris Elba for his performance as the late Nelson Mandela in the biopic Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. One omission of note is the lack of nominations for Lee Daniels’ The Butler, which I expected to be considered in the categories of Best Actor – Drama (Forest Whitaker) and Best Supporting Actress (Oprah Winfrey).
Of all of the pre-Oscar awards, the Golden Globes aren’t as good an indicator of the Oscars as awards by the Screen Actors Guild or Directors Guild of America, but expect to see big things at the Academy Awards from Golden Globe nominees like 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Gravity. The 71st Golden Globe Awards will be held on January 12, 2014.
We’ll leave you with a breakdown of all this year’s nominations:
FILM
Best actress, comedy or musical
Amy Adams, American Hustle
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Best supporting actor
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl, Rush
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Best score
All Is Lost
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Gravity
The Book Thief
12 Years a Slave
Best song
Atlas, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Let It Go, Frozen
Ordinary Love, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Please Mr Kennedy, Inside Llewyn Davis
Sweeter Than Fiction, One Chance
Best director
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
David O Russell, American Hustle
Best actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford, All Is Lost
Best supporting actress
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Best actress, drama
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr Banks
Kate Winslet, Labor Day
Best comedy or musical
American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street
Best drama
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Rush
Best actor, comedy or musical
Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Joaquin Phoenix, Her
Best animation
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Best screenplay
Spike Jonze, Her
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
Eric Warren Singer, David O Russell, American Hustle
Best foreign language film
Blue Is the Warmest Colour (France)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Wind Rises (Japan)
TELEVISION
Best series, drama
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
The Good Wife
House Of Cards
Masters Of Sex
Best actress, drama series
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Taylor Schilling, Orange Is The New Black
Kerry Washington, Scandal
Robin Wright, House Of Cards
Best actor, drama series
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
James Spader, The Blacklist
Best series, comedy or musical
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Girls
Modern Family
Parks & Recreation
Best actress, comedy or musical series
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks & Recreation
Best actor, comedy or musical series
Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Michael J Fox, The Michael J Fox Show
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Best mini-series or TV movie
American Horror Story: Coven
Behind The Candelabra
Dancing on the Edge
Top of the Lake
White Queen
Best actress, mini-series or TV movie
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
Rebecca Ferguson, White Queen
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake
Best actor, mini-series or TV movie
Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
Idris Elba, Luther
Al Pacino, Phil Spector
Best supporting actress
Jacqueline Bisset, Dancing on the Edge
Janet McTeer, White Queen
Hayden Panettiere , Nashville
Monica Potter, Parenthood
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Best supporting actor
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Corey Stoll, House of Cards
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
