Awards Season - Golden Globe Nominations are Up in the Air

December 16, 2009

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced their nominations this week, but looking over the list of films chosen, it is hard to declare any one film as the big winner. Up in the Air did pick up six Golden Globe nominations, including several of the most prestigious nominations, but it is far from the only major player.

The categories and nominations are...

BEST FEATURE - DRAMA

BEST FEATURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST SCREENPLAY

ACTRESS - DRAMA

ACTOR - DRAMA

ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

ACTRESS - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

SUPPORTING ACTOR

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

BEST SCORE

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Notes and Reactions...

  • Up in the Air picked up six nominations, including Best Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and three acting awards. With Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick competing against each other, it will be impossible for the movie to win all six awards, but it's probably the favorite to pick up two or three of them, which could be enough to be the big winner. There really is no one film that looks like it could sweep and dominate award night. This is probably for the best, as the close competition will breed interest.
  • The second most nominations went to Nine with five. However, its Tomatometer score is currently at an abysmal 26% positive. That's a massive disconnect between critics and award voters that is nearly impossible to explain. My initial reaction is that these nominations were based on expectations and not the quality of the actual film. It's the only big musical of the year, therefore it has to earn nominations in the appropriate categories.
  • Avatar earned four nominations, which should boost its box office chances when it opens this Friday. However, none of these nominations were for acting. One gets the impression that the technology might be a bigger factor in the film's success than the actors in it. Then again, one got that impression just watching the trailers.
  • Inglourious Basterds also picked up four, including two for Quentin Tarantino (Directing and Screenplay). This is the first time in 15 years he was nominated for a Golden Globe. In fact, he earned both of these nominations for Pulp Fiction and won for his Screenplay.
  • A few actors picked up multiple nods, including Sandra Bullock, Matt Damon, and Meryl Streep. In all three cases, vote splitting could result in the actors winning neither award, while it will be impossible for Meryl Streep to win both, as they are in the same category.
  • It's Complicated earned three nominations, including one for Best Comedy or Musical; however, its early reviews have been less than award-worthy.
  • Kathryn Bigelow picked up her first Golden Globe nomination for The Hurt Locker and was the only woman who managed that feat this year.
  • I suspect the Oscar nominations for Best Feature-Length Animated Film will be identical to the five chosen here, while Up remains the favorite to win, since it was the only animated film to earn a second nomination.
  • There were not a lot of crossover between the Golden Globe nominations and the Independent Spirit Awards, but Precious did well in both, while (500) Days of Summer, Crazy Heart, and The Last Station all earned multiple nominations in both.

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Filed under: Awards Season, Up, The Hangover, The Proposal, District 9, Inglourious Basterds, Julie & Julia, Coraline, Duplicity, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, (500) Days of Summer, The Informant!, The Hurt Locker, Los abrazos rotos, The Last Station, Everybody's Fine, The Young Victoria, Where the Wild Things Are, An Education, Up in the Air, Das Weisse Band: Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte, Brothers, A Single Man, The Blind Side, Precious (Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire), Invictus, Nine, Fantastic Mr. Fox, It’s Complicated, The Messenger, Avatar, The Princess and the Frog, A Serious Man, The Lovely Bones, Sherlock Holmes, Baarìa, La Nana, Crazy Heart