It’s that time of year again.
The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards, to be hosted by Ricky Gervais Sunday, Jan. 15, will help ring in the New Year. Unlike the Oscars or the Emmys, the Globes bring together TV personalities and movie stars alike in a celebration of media entertainment. The nominations were announced Dec. 15.
It’s that time of year again.
The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards, to be hosted by Ricky Gervais Sunday, Jan. 15, will help ring in the New Year. Unlike the Oscars or the Emmys, the Globes bring together TV personalities and movie stars alike in a celebration of media entertainment. The nominations were announced Dec. 15.
Overall, 2011 was the year of George Clooney. Clooney starred in two of the movies nominated in the Best Drama category, The Descendants and The Ides of March. Clooney himself has been nominated for Best Actor in Descendants and Best Director and Best Screenplay for Ides.
Other movies nominated for the Best Drama category include Moneyball and War Horse, the Steven Spielberg epic based on the award-winning play and British children’s novel. The Help picked up four nominations. This perfect mix of drama and comedy pulled the heartstrings of critics and was a surprise box office success. Hugo, based on the best-selling book The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is Martin Scorsese’s first foray into family films and picked up two nominations, including Best Director.
Leonardo DiCaprio’s stellar performance in Clint Eastwood’s J. Edgar deserves to win after the unforgivable omission for his performance in 2010’s Inception. DiCaprio faces off against Brad Pitt for Moneyball, Clooney for The Descendants, Ryan Gosling for The Ides of March and Michael Fassbender for Shame.
Nominated for Best Comedy/Musical is 50/50, the cancer comedy starring Joseph Gordon-Levittand Seth Rogan. This film, while advertised as a comedy, also packs a dramatic punch. Other films nominated in this category are My Week with Marilyn, Midnight in Paris and The Artist.
Laurence Olivier would be pleased by Kenneth Branagh’s portrayal of him in My Week with Marilyn (incidentally, both actors once directed different film versions of Hamlet, casting themselves in the titular role). Albert Brooks (Drive), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method) and Jonah Hill (Moneyball) are also nominated in this category.
Bridesmaids picked up two nominations for Best Comedy and Best Actress for Kristin Wiig. The Artist is also a critical darling and an ace to win according to critics, and is nominated for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Comedy/Musical and Best Director.
The other leading ladies nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture are Glenn Close for Albert Nobbs, Viola Davis for The Help, Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and Tilda Swinton for We Need to Talk About Kevin.
In the TV realm, Modern Family has won the Best TV Comedy category the past two years. However, it’ll be a tough call for Best TV Drama for Game of Thrones and last year’s winner Boardwalk Empire. They face off against guilty pleasure American Horror Story, newcomer Boss and Homeland. The absence of Mad Men displeases me greatly.
Last year, Steve Buscemi took home the Golden Globe for Best Actor in the drama Boardwalk Empire, and he is looking to do it again but faces tough competition. Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Jeremy Irons (The Borgias) and Kelsey Grammer (Boss), alongside newcomer Damian Lewis (Homeland), are also nominated.
Best Actor in a TV Musical or Comedy is always a tough call. Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) faces off against David Duchovny (Californication), Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory), Thomas Jane (Hung) and Matt LeBlanc (Episodes). Sadly, this is Jane’s last chance to win for this particular role as the show recently was cancelled by the executives over at HBO.
The nominees for Best Actress in TV Drama are Claire Danes (Homeland), Mireille Enos (The Killing), Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife), Madeleine Stowe (Revenge) and Callie Thorne (Necessary Roughness).
For TV Comedy, Zooey Deschanel (New Girl) is the new blood in this category of veterans. Laura Dern (Enlightened), Tina Fey (30 Rock), Laura Linney (The Big C) and Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) are all nominated this year. Tina Fey has been in this category since 30 Rock debuted and has cemented her place ever since.
The Golden Globes this year looks to be a clash of titans, so mark your calendars folks and let the predictions commence.
