Golden Globes Picks Fail to Shine (Again)
The awards season has returned and it seems yet again the Hollywood Foreign Press has failed to restore the public’s faith in its credibility with this year’s list of nominations. It isn’t that the Golden Globes nominees are so bad that they’re beginning to mirror the Razzies; there do seem to be plenty of good picks. However, there are many oversights and head-scratchers.
Now, I’ve only seen 5 of the 35 films nominated, but I’ve also seen over 50 of 2011’s films, so take my thoughts however you like.
Here are the nominees for 2011:
Best Drama:
- The Descendants
- The Help
- Hugo
- The Ides of March
- Moneyball
- War Horse
Best Comedy or Musical:
- 50/50
- The Artist
- Bridesmaids
- Midnight in Paris
- My Week with Marilyn
Best Animated Film:
- The Adventures of Tintin
- Arthur Christmas
- Cars 2
- Puss in Boots
- Rango
Best Foreign Film:
- The Flowers of War
- In the Land of Blood and Honey
- A Kid with a Bike
- A Separation
- The Skin I Live In
Best Director:
- Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
- George Clooney (The Ides of March)
- Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
- Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
- Martin Scorsese (Hugo)
Best Actor, Drama:
- George Clooney (The Descendants)
- Leonardo DiCaprio (J. Edgar)
- Michael Fassbender (Shame)
- Ryan Gosling (The Ides of March)
- Brad Pitt (Moneyball)
Best Actress, Drama:
- Glenn Close (Albert Nobbs)
- Viola Davis (The Help)
- Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
- Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady)
- Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin)
Best Actor, Comedy:
- Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
- Brendan Gleeson (The Guard)
- Joseph Gordon-Levitt (50/50)
- Ryan Gosling (Crazy, Stupid, Love.)
- Owen Wilson (Midnight in Paris)
Best Actress, Comedy or Musical:
- Jodie Foster (Carnage)
- Charlize Theron (Young Adult)
- Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids)
- Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
- Kate Winslet (Carnage)
Best Supporting Actor:
- Kenneth Branaugh (My Week with Marilyn)
- Albert Brooks (Drive)
- Jonah Hill (Moneyball)
- Viggo Mortensen (A Dangerous Method)
- Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
Best Supporting Actress:
- Berenice Bejo (The Artist)
- Jessica Chastain (The Help)
- Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
- Octavia Spencer (The Help)
- Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
Best Screenplay:
- Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
- Nat Paxon, Alexander Payne, Jim Rash (The Descendants)
- George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon (The Ides of March)
- Woody Allen (Midnight in Paris)
- Aaron Sorkin, Steve Zaillian (Moneyball)
Best Score:
- Ludovic Bource (The Artist)
- Abel Korzeniowski (W.E.)
- Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo)
- Howard Shore (Hugo)
- John Williams (War Horse)
In case you weren't keeping count:
6 – The Artist
5 – The Descendants
4 –The Help, Ides of March, Midnight in Paris, Moneyball
3 – Hugo, My Week with Marilyn
So what’s the problem? Well, let’s start with the forced entry of My Week with Marilyn into the Comedy category. Not only was the film widely considered to be merely acceptable, but I looked the film up on IMDB and nowhere is the word ‘comedy’ to be found. I agree Michelle Williams probably deserves kudos; she was widely noted as the best thing about the film – and if she didn’t deserve it for the biopic then why not for the Oregon Trail drama Meek’s Cutoff?
Also, why is the much-maligned Cars 2 favored over the much-loved Kung Fu Panda 2?
Here’s another puzzler: I understand why the French film The Artist is not nominated for best foreign language film (it's in English), but why not the Japanese masterpiece 13 Assassins?
If Christopher Plummer is going to be nominated for Beginners, than Ewan McGregor should also be included for giving what may be the best performance of his career. Huge over-sight!
If Ryan Gosling is going to be nominated for two different performances, why not as the stoic protector in Drive?
Other major over-sights:
This has been a fantastic year for female performances. We’ve got Melissa McCarthy in Bridesmaids, Anne Heche in Cedar Rapids, Cate Blanchett in Hanna, Saoirse Ronan in Hanna, Jennifer Aniston in Horrible Bosses, Chloe Moretz in Hugo, Mia Wasikowska in Jane Eyre, Elizabeth Olson in Martha Macy May Marlene, Elle Fanning in Super 8, and Melanie Lynsky in Win Win. All of these have been snubbed (some more surprising than others) by the HFPA.
Speaking of Win Win, one of the year’s best comedies was surprisingly left out in the cold completely!
Jessica Chastain starred in no less than five films this year. Is her performance in The Help really the best one?
Other best-of-the-year titles shoved aside include Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows, Part 2, which I still feel is the 2nd-best film of the year and The Tree of Life, not one I’d pick, yet was one of the most highly-regarded films of the year.
While being a great year for female performances, 2011 has also been a great year for film scores. Source Code, Hanna, X-Men: First Class, Super 8, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, The Adjustment Bureau all had really great scores to my memory – and all were snubbed.
Obviously, there’s only so much room in each category so not all of these could possibly be nominated. The question then becomes who is more deserving than those that were nominated? Again, unless you’ve seen all 30+ films nominated, it can be difficult to say. Several of the nominees hadn’t opened until recently (The Descendents) or were only seen in select cities (Carnage) or festivals (Albert Nobbs). Until then I can’t say for sure that Gosling’s performance in Crazy, Stupid, Love wasn’t better that of Drive. Or that Winslet deserves a nod more than Foster for Carnage (if at all). What can be said, with credibility, is limited at the moment.
On the other hand, the Golden Globes are proof that being a part of an international association of journalists doesn't bring one much credibility either.
What are your thoughts on this year’s nominations? Do you disagree with any of the issues I raised? What are your picks?