One day of awards nominations wasn’t enough! There needed to be at least a second one. And, actually if I were to do the math, this week alone, we’re probably up to 15 awards nominations or wins announced already. After awhile it all just starts to look like one big haze. Something akin to what Dorothy must’ve felt after getting hit in the head by a window pane full of glass, that didn’t break, during a tornado, that didn’t demolish her family’s dinky little house. I’ve strayed from the path. Oh dear. This is awkward.
Today, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) announced its nominations for the 2016 Golden Globe Awards! And, like any year it seems, these nominations come with a bit of surprise, shock, and well, a certain level of predictability. Although I would never know as my damned live stream decided to act up and make it impossible to catch what was being said. It seriously makes me wonder why I woke up so freakishly early to begin with. The sun’s not even out yet. The better question is, as the associations credibility is in constant question of late, what does any of this mean? Will it have any major impact? Is it just pointing to how big a shift a lot of the major awards are going to have, and that no true frontrunners will ever emerge?
As with yesterday’s Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards nominations, I shall list what the nominees in each category are, and then provide some commentary, which hopefully isn’t just some repeat of what so many others have said. It could be for, it could be against. Anything can happen when it comes to nominees. Just ask the HFPA, who never seems to get it right enough for any majority.
The nominees are! (And this should be fun to discover, as again, I missed most of the nominations being announced. Seriously should’ve stayed asleep.)
Motion Pictures
Best Motion Picture- Drama
“Carol”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
“The Revenant”
“Room”
“Spotlight”
In all honesty, for this dramatic category, “Mad Max: Fury Road” is the only surprise, to some degree. It is a fantastic film, which I never thought possible. These other nominees, each deserving, are more or less, I believe, going to be the ones you see nominated for Oscars. Sure things could change, but because of this year’s vast selection, I wouldn’t be surprised if 10 films ended up nominated.
Best Motion Picture- Musical or Comedy
“The Big Short”
“Joy”
“The Martian”
“Spy”
“Trainwreck”
This is the beauty of the HFPA. Split categories for best films. At least this year we are in fact given two true comedies. Weighing how the campaign and the HFPA were leaning, it’s not surprising to see “The Martian” and certainly not “Joy”. I always had a feeling “Joy” would sneak in. “The Big Short” is proving to be a major player. Certainly one that needs to be checked out, and probably watched by a lot of people.
Best Director
Todd Haynes- “Carol”
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu- “The Revenant”
Tom McCarthy- “Spotlight”
George Miller- “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Ridley Scott- “The Martian”
Haynes, Inarritu, and McCarthy were basically locks, which also means they’ll probably appear later on as Oscar nominees. Miller, while deserving, is a pleasant surprise here, but could easily be swapped out for any other director when it comes to the Oscars. Granted, you could say that about any of the other nominees here. Scott was heavily favored to be, as “The Martian” is a fantastic film, never dull and certainly one of the best he’s done in years! I’m oddly not too disappointed in the choices, even though, yes, someone else was snubbed to make room for these five.
Best Actor- Motion Picture Drama
Bryan Cranston- “Trumbo”
Leonardo DiCaprio- “The Revenant”
Michael Fassbender- “Steve Jobs”
Eddie Redmayne- “The Danish Girl”
Will Smith- “Concussion”
Cranston is certainly riding a certain wave of late. Even when you look at critics choices and top 10 lists, and other things like that, his little film, is proving quite popular to some degree. He, like with Smith, are really the two that could easily be swapped. It’s pretty much assumed, which could be bad and embarrassing later, that DiCaprio, Fassbender, and Redmayne will get Oscar recognition, but even that could surprise us this year. I’m not sad about not seeing Johnny Depp, and can’t quite think of any other actor that deserved recognition today. Let me know who you think deserved something here!
Best Actor- Motion Picture Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale- “The Big Short”
Steve Carell- “The Big Short”
Matt Damon- “The Martian”
Al Pacino- “Danny Collins”
Mark Ruffalo- “Infinitely Polar Bear”
Some nominations aren’t bad per se, they’re just flat out surprising. Ruffalo and Pacino are the surprises. I haven’t seen either, and know that “Infinitely Polar Bear” is a true indie, so I’m surprised it snuck in. Ruffalo definitely won’t get nominated for this. And while I’m on the subject, with most of the Oscar nominations going to the Dramatic films, most likely, there won’t be much wiggle room with these performances. Again, we could be surprised. But back here, at the Golden Globes, I understand Damon’s nomination, even in a weird category placement such as this, and I believe I get Bale’s and Carell’s. I’ll have to wait until the film comes out to know for sure.
Best Actress- Motion Picture Drama
Cate Blanchett- “Carol”
Brie Larson- “Room”
Rooney Mara- “Carol”
Saoirse Ronan- “Brooklyn”
Alicia Vikander- “The Danish Girl”
Is it ever too early to call a categories nominees as the likely ones come Oscar time? Did that even make sense? Anyway, these five women, if the Academy voters follow the HFPA, will probably go on to compete for Oscar gold. I will say that if anyone is to be swapped, it would Ronan. I can’t see Larson not making it, nor Blanchett or Mara, even if Blanchett doesn’t win, which she probably won’t. Vikander, like I said yesterday, her performance just looks marvelous and will not be surprising if he is. Likely to win? Get back to me at a later time.
Best Actress- Motion picture Musical or Comedy
Jennifer Lawrence- “Joy”
Melissa McCarthy- “Spy”
Amy Schumer- “Trainwreck”
Maggie Smith- “The Lady in the Van”
Lily Tomlin- “Grandma”
This is definitely where the drama and comedy split is interesting. Things you’d never think of get nominated, and usually they’re welcome surprises. Tomlin and Smith, pleasant surprises, but I’ve also heard they’re great in their respective films. McCarthy and Schumer, obvious choices. I love Lawrence’s work, but I would’ve been okay with not seeing her name. However, and I called it, you can check my Twitter feed, the HFPA wasn’t going to pass up Lawrence. They like her too much, and with a split, it’s fairly easy to predict who will get nominated. I consider it a bit easier to be nominated sometimes. Needless to say, it’s highly unlikely anyone but Lawrence could upset the Oscar Best Actress race, and even that’s probably not going to happen.
Best Supporting Actor- Motion Picture
Paul Dano- “Love & Mercy”
Idris Elba- “Beasts of No Nation”
Mark Rylance- “Bridge of Spies”
Michael Shannon- “99 Homes”
Sylvester Stallone- “Creed”
If you need an area to dislike the HFPA (I gotta stop writing the acronym), it’s here and in TV, with Supporting actors. They go out of their way to separate lead actors in drama and comedy, but just lump everyone together here. Why? Too many categories then? There’s already a lot, two more would not kill you, well, at least for theatrical films. Some aren’t surprising, espeically if you saw the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Awards nominees yesterday. Dano, Elba, Rylance, and Shannon each return. I think most people aren’t surprised, but are at the same time by Stallone. Apparently they like his performance. I’ll take their word for it. However, I don’t see it making the cut with Academy voters. Certainly not enough. I could go either way on Dano and I’m defintely out on Elba. These two could be swapped with anyone. There’s been little love for “Sicario”, which I’m just surprised by. Rylance and Shannon, I can’t say are locks, but they’re looking more and more like eventual nominees.
Best Supporting Actress- Motion Picture
Jane Fonda- “Youth”
Jennifer Jason Leigh- “The Hateful Eight”
Helen Mirren- “Trumbo”
Alicia Vikander- “Ex Machina”
Kate Winslet- “Steve Jobs”
Another category where it’s fun and welcome that lesser known films can be recognized. Fonda in “Youth”, which probably won’t go much further, except with other critics. Sorry, no gold there. And, this one I love a lot! A genre film! A very good one too, and it makes a double nominee out of Vikander! “Ex Machina” is a more than welcome surprise. Winselt certainly deserved her nomination for “Steve Jobs”, and with this nod and the SAG nods for the film, I’m hoping it can really pull through with Academy voters. Leigh and Mirren, are kind of unknown to me. I can only base my thoughts on what I’ve heard, or sort of heard, from critics. So, once more, surprises could be had come January.
Best Screenplay
Emma Donoghue- “Room”
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer- “Spotlight”
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay- “The Big Short”
Aaron Sorkin- “Steve Jobs”
Quentin Tarantino- “The Hateful Eight”<
Honestly, the only surprises are Donoghue and Randolph and McKay. They’ve been popping up lately, so it’s not like these were badly awarded, but I guess I never thought it possible. I’m most definitely excited to see Donoghue and “Room” get nominated and even more attention, as it shows so much about this film, and how good it is. Sorkin is also finally making some headway, hopefully. I do believe he stand a good chance. If he doesn’t get another Oscar nomination, people will be truly shocked. The other two, pretty much expected with “Spotlight” being a safe bet.
Best Original Score
Carter Burwell- “Carol”
Alexandre Desplat- “The Danish Girl”
Ennio Morricone- “The Hateful Eight”
Daniel Pemberton- “Steve Jobs”
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto- “The Revenant”
Score! Always a tough one to pin down. You always hope that so and so gets nominated, as the score crafted was probably amazing, but with so many out there, it’s tough to get right. I’m just glad to see Pemberton’s work for “Steve Jobs” recognized. It could be a good sign of things to come, but again, there’s some others that could come in. One I’m surprised isn’t here, is Johan Johansson’s work in “Sicario”, (totally shut out), which was even better than his score last year! Granted two different films, but it made “Sicario” what it ultimately became. Without that, the film couldn’t have been as good and enjoyable as it was. To learn more about what I thought on this film, go here. The score from Burwell isn’t too surprising as it’s absolutely gorgeous. I’ve listened to it a few times and it always gets to me. The others I can’t wait to hear, and in fact, as I type this, I’m trying to pull up Desplat’s score so I can listen to it. That alone will tell me loads about “The Danish Girl” and what to expect from it as a film.
Best Original Song
“Love Me Like You Do”, “Fifty Shades of Grey”
“One Kind of Love”, “Love & Mercy”
“See You Again”, “Furious 7”
“Simple Song #3”, “Youth”
“Writing’s on the Wall”, “Spectre”
I’m not even going to touch this category. This years crop actually doesn’t interest me in any way.
Best Foreign Language Film
“The Brand New Testament”- Belgium/France/Luxembourg
“The Club”- Chile
“The Fencer”- Finland/Germany/Estonia
“Mustang”- France
“Son of Saul”- Hungary
Another area I can’t really speak on. All I can say is I think “Son of Saul” is locked in for an Oscar nomination. Possibly “Mustang” as well.
Best Animated Film
“Inside Out”
“Shaun the Sheep Movie”
“The Good Dinosaur”
“The Peanuts Movie”
“Anomalisa”
Not a bad batch of nominees. Okay, maybe “The Good Dinosaur”, but I don’t know. I haven’t seen it. I’m usually without an opinion on this category as I just watch for trends. “Inside Out” and “Anomalisa” I’m banking on them showing up next month.
Cecil B. DeMille Award For Lifetime Achievement in Motion Pictures
Denzel Washington
Television
Let’s see how many of these I’ve seen and can thus comment on. Probably not many.
Best Drama Series
“Empire”
“Game of Thrones”
“Mr. Robot”
“Narcos”
“Outlander”
One of the reasons, for television, why it’s great that critics pick. The spotlight can shift from traditional, and over-nominated in some cases, fare. With the exception of “Game of Thrones”, I think each of these nominees are first time nominees. That alone is exciting.
Best Comedy Series
“Casual”
“Mozart in the Jungle”
“Orange is the New Black”
“Silicon Valley”
“Transparent”
“Veep”
As it appears, streaming platforms are a big hit with the HFPA this year! I’ve only seen “Orange is the New Black”, so I have nothing to say. It’s a big toss up!
Best Actor in a Television Drama Series
Jon Hamm- “Mad Men”
Rami Malek- “Mr. Robot”
Wagner Moura- “Narcos”
Bob Odenkirk- “Better Call Saul”
Live Schreiber- “Ray Donovan”
New people! Hamm’s on his way out, so maybe they’ll give it to him. However, the half of season one I’ve seen of “Mr. Robot”, does present Malek as a bit of a threat.
Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series
Aziz Ansari- “Master of None”
Gael Garcia Bernal- “Mozart in the Jungle”
Rob Lowe- “The Grinder”
Patrick Stewart- “Blunt Talk”
Jeffrey Tambor- “Transparent”
More streaming! Yeah, haven’t seen any of this. Lowe’s show, coz it looks stupid.
Best Actress in a Television Drama Series
Catriona Balfe- “Outlander”
Viola Davis- “How to Get Away with Murder”
Eva Green- “Penny Dreadful”
Taraji P. Henson- “Empire”
Robin Wright- “House of Cards”
Some new additions I believe. At least this year makes it a bit more of a guessing game.
Best Actress in a Television Comedy Series
Rachel Bloom- “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”
Jamie Lee Curtis- “Scream Queens”
Julia Louis-Dreyfus- “Veep”
Gina Rodriguez- “Jane the Virgin”
Lily Tomlin- “Grace and Frankie”
Bloom was nominated! Rodriguez was again! This is another good step for The CW! Here’s hoping maybe an Emmy nomination will be in the networks future. But seriously, I’m glad Bloom’s included as the show is quite good and she does a wonderful job with her character. Curtis, I’m half and half on this. I haven’t finished the season. However, she really was the only thing I enjoyed about the episodes I did watch. With this one, Tomlin is also a double nominee. I like this one a lot as the show is another good one for Netflix. Her character is so cooky, but likable. Perfect for Tomlin!
Best Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television
“American Crime”
“American Horror Story: Hotel”
“Fargo”
“Flesh & Bone”
“Wolf Hall”
I really need to get better at my television watching. “Hotel” I haven’t finished and the others I just haven’t seen. I’m sure I’m missing out on a lot of good television, and not simply because the HFPA said so.
Best Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Oscar Isaac- “Show Me a Hero”
Patrick Wilson- “Fargo”
Idris Elba- “Luther”
David Oyelowo- “Nightingale”
Mark Rylance- “Wolf Hall”
Seriously. I suck at this TV watching. I’ve seen a grand total of none of these performances.
Best Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Queen Latifah- “Bessie”
Felicity Huffman- ‘American Crime”
Lady Gaga- “American Horror Story: Hotel”
Sarah Hay- “Flesh & Bone”
Kirsten Dunst- “Fargo”
I’m just gonna stop commenting now. But, on the plus side, it could mean that there’s some hope for the HFPA when it comes to picking shows and actors to recognize.
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television
Damian Lewis- “Wolf Hall”
Christian Slater- “Mr. Robot”
Alan Cumming- “The Good Wife”
Ben Mendelsohn- “Bloodline”
Tobias Menzies- “Outlander”
Thank god for Cumming and “The Good Wife”! I have seen this completely! Everyone else, save Mendelsohn, now that I look at it again, I haven’t.
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Regina King- “American Crime”
Uzo Aduba- “Orange is the New Black”
Joanne Froggatt- “Downton Abbey”
Maura Tierney- “The Affair”
Judith Light- “Transparent”
The worst part is that I don’t remember Froggatt’s performance well enough. Love seeing some new faces, but, as is a big theme for me, I haven’t seen them. Aduba could win, but then again, so could King.
The winners of the 2016 Golden Globe Awards will be announced on Jan. 10, 2016 on NBC and will be hosted by Ricky Gervais.
...Everything in Between 