BEVERLY HILLS—Just a day after the SAG nominations were announced, the Golden Globe nominees were announced on Thursday, December 13. Actresses Jessica Alba and Megan Fox announced the nominees alongside actor Ed Helms. Leading the pack of all nominees was the picture “Lincoln” with a total of seven nominations, followed closely behind by “Django Unchained” and “Argo” with five nominations each.
Competing for Best Motion Picture-Drama are the films “Lincoln,’ “Django Unchained,” “Life of Pi,” “Argo” and “Zero Dark Thirty.” Films competing in the Best Motion Picture-Comedy or Musical are “Silver Linings Playbook,” “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” “Moonrise Kingdom,” “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen” and “Les Misérables.”
The race for Actress in a Motion Picture-Drama is a fierce one with nominees Jessica Chastain “Zero Dark Thirty,” Marion Cotillard “Rust and Bone,” Helen Mirren “Hitchcock,” Naomi Watts “The Impossible” and Rachel Weisz “The Deep Blue Sea.” Missing from the race is little Quvenzhane Wills for her work in “Beasts of the Southern Wild.” Her odds of being nominated for an Academy Award could be slim after being overlooked by SAG and the Golden Globes.
The race for Actor in a Motion Picture-Drama sees the usual suspects as Daniel Day-Lewis “Lincoln,” John Hawkes “The Sessions,” Joaquin Phoenix “The Master” and Denzel Washington “Flight” are all nominees. The curveball in this race is Richard Gere for his performance in “Arbitrage.”
Nominees for Best Director include Ben Affleck “Argo,” Kathryn Bigelow “Zero Dark Thirty,” Ang Lee “Life of Pi,” Steven Spielberg “Lincoln” and Quentin Tarantino “Django Unchained.” This is indeed one of the most competitive races this season as all nominees have an equal chance of winning. Missing from the race however is Tom Hooper for his work in “Les Misérables.”
In the Supporting Actor and Actress races a few surprises have made the awards season an interesting one. For Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture the contenders are Alan Arkin “Argo,” Leonardo DiCaprio “Django Unchained,” Phillip Seymour Hoffman “The Master,” Tommy Lee Jones “Lincoln” and Christoph Waltz “Django Unchained.” The surprise in this category is nominations for both Waltz and DiCaprio for their work in Tarantino’s buzzed about picture.
Nominees for Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture include Amy Adams “The Master,” Sally Field “Lincoln,” Helen Hunt “The Sessions,” Anne Hathaway “Les Misérables” and Nicole Kidman “The Paperboy.” Kidman is indeed appearing to be a dark horse in this category where I think she’ll go head-to-head with Hathaway this awards season. Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy include Jennifer Lawrence “Silver Linings Playbook,” Meryl Streep “Hope Springs,” Maggie Smith “Quartet,” Judi Dench “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and Emily Blunt “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.” Contenders for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy are Bradley Cooper “Silver Linings Playbook,” Hugh Jackman “Les Misérables,” Jack Black “Bernie,” Bill Murray “Hyde Park on Hudson” and Ewan McGregor “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.”
Best Animated Film nominees are “Brave,” “Hotel Transylvania,” “Rise of the Guardians,” “Wreck-It Ralph” and “Frankenweenie.”
On the television side competing in the Best Comedy or Musical category are “The Big Bang Theory,” “Episodes,” “Modern Family,” “Smash” and “Girls.” For Best Drama Series the nominees are “Breaking Bad,” “Homeland,” “The Newsroom,” “Downtown Abbey” and “Boardwalk Empire.” A surprising snub in this race is the AMC hit “Mad Men.”
The actors vying for the trophy for Best Actor in a Drama Series are Bryan Cranston “Breaking Bad,” Jon Hamm “Mad Men,” Damian Lewis “Homeland,” Jeff Daniels “The Newsroom” and Steve Buscemi “Boardwalk Empire.” The Best Actress race in a Drama Series is an interesting one with the inclusion of Connie Britton for her work in “Nashville.” She will face-off against Glenn Close “Damages,” Claire Danes “Homeland,” Julianna Margulies “The Good Wife” and Michelle Dockery “Downtown Abbey.”
Competing in the category for Actress in a Comedy Series or Musical are Zooey Deschanel “New Girl,” Tina Fey “30 Rock,” Amy Poehler “Parks and Recreation,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus “Veep” and Lena Dunham “Girls.” Nominees for Actor in a Comedy Series or Musical are Alec Baldwin “30 Rock,” Jim Parson “The Big Bang Theory,” Matt LeBlanc “Episodes,” Don Cheadle “House of Lies” and Louis C.K. “Louis.”
Actress Jodie Foster will be honored with the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the ceremony. The 70th Annual Golden Globes will be handed out on Sunday, January 13, 2013 at the famed Beverly Hilton Hotel. The awards will be televised live on NBC at 8 p.m. Actresses and comediennes Amy Poehler and Tina Fey will host the ceremony. This is looking to be an interesting awards season to say the least.
By LaDale Anderson
