‘Up In The Air’ & ‘Nine’ Lead The 2009 Golden Globe Nominees

Is it just us, or does the awards season get so predictable ever year, you basically lose interest? The Golden Globes just announced their nominations this morning and unless you’re “Precious” or the kid from “The Blind Side,” you’ll notice they are almost exactly the same as the BFCA’s nominations announced yesterday.

Most of the categories have at least 4 if not all 5 of the films the Critic’s noms included, and if we were to bet, we’d say the Oscar noms won’t be much different. The biggest question is still “Avatar.” We got an early tip that the Hollywood Foreign Press went ga-ga over it after they saw a screening, so its inclusion here wasn’t much of a surprise. But we still don’t know what the Academy will think. They are quite a bit older mind you and we don’t think the 3D glasses come in bifocals. If anything, you should watch the Golden Globes to see the hilarious Ricky Gervais host. We’re sure he’ll offend at least half the audience there.

Leading the pack at the Globes was Jason Reitman’s “Up In The Air” with 6 nominations and Rob Marshall’s “Nine” with 5 nominations, both of them scoring Best Picture, but only Reitman getting a Best Director nod.

Motion Picture, Drama
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”

Three of these were completely expected, and while we were tipped off early that “Avatar” was going to get some love from the Globes, it’s still weird to see it in actual print next to the other films. “Inglourious Basterds” was the other one we weren’t quite sure of, but it has managed to sustain its popularity throughout the awards season and actually seems to be picking up steam. The snub here is “Invictus” (and to a lesser extent, “The Lovely Bones”) with “Precious” taking its spot. They kind of seem interchangeable to us anyway, so whatever.

Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical
“500 Days of Summer”
“The Hangover”
“It’s Complicated”
“Julie & Julia”
“Nine”

“The Hangover” is nominated for Best Picture! Hope it’s not to late to put that on the Blu-Ray package.

Actress, Drama
Emily Blunt, “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabby Sidibe, “Precious”

We noticed Emily Blunt’s name come up more and more the closer we got to the end of the year, and now it seems she’s officially a contender. The same goes for Carey Mulligan who is the only thing here representing “An Education.” Of course, “Precious,” er…we mean Gabby Sidibe is here too, and since it’s made so much money, how about Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side?”

Actor, Drama
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Tobey Maguire, “Brothers”

Looks like Tobey Maguire’s overacting paid off, while Morgan Freeman’s underacting seemed to benefit him for a change. But we all know this is a three way race right now between Firth, Clooney and Bridges. Firth is the dark horse, and should be happy just to be nomed, while Clooney and Bridges will have to battle it out like Penn and Rourke did last year. Remember Rourke won the Globe but then Penn won the Oscar. But we would be remiss if we didn’t ask: where the hell is Jeremy Renner? While we’re glad that “The Hurt Locker” got some love in some of the big categories, not to recognize Renner’s electric performance that powered the film is a major snub. Here’s hoping this isn’t indicative of what the Oscar five will look like.

Actor Comedy/Musical
Matt Damon, “The Informant”
Daniel Day Lewis, “Nine”
Robert Downey Jr., “Sherlock Holmes”
Joe Gordon Levitt, “500 Days of Summer”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”

Because the Globes divides their awards between Drama and Comedy, it’s always hard to determine if the actors nominated for a Comedy or Musical will also be nomed for an Oscar when pitted up against the serious guys. And such is the case this year with Matt Damon and Daniel Day-Lewis. If only one of them gets it, we feel it should be Damon, as his performance is one of those comedic ones that breaks the boundaries and begs to be recognized (like Johnny Depp’s Ed Wood for example). The other thing the separation of categories does is afford some lesser rewarded actors and performances you can’t take too seriously to get some recognition. Here we have Robert Downey Jr. (“Sherlock Holfmes”) filling in for Johnny Depp (“Pirates of the Caribbean”), and Joseph Gordon Levitt slowly creeping his way into leading man territory. But best of all is newcomer, Michael Stuhlbarg, nabbing the 5th slot. If it wasn’t for Damon, we wouldn’t mind if he won the award, and can’t wait to see him in more films.

Actress, Comedy
Sandra Bullock, “The Proposal”
Marion Cotillard, “Nine”
Julia Roberts, “Duplicity”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Meryl Streep, “It’s Complicated”

So Julia Roberts name came out of nowhere (wonder if she’ll even show up?), and someone should tell the Hollywood Foreign Press just because they nominated Sandra Bullock in the drama field, doesn’t mean they had to for the comedy. Unless of course, they are poising her to pull a Kate Winslet and win both…yeah…right. And then up against herself is good old reliable Meryl Streep who has become a staple at the Globes ceremony, and more than likely will win again.

Director
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Clint Eastwood, “Invictus”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Almost the exact same as the Best Picture nominees, the only change is Clint Eastwood stepping in to represent “Invictus” instead of the inexperienced Lee Daniels for “Precious.” Again, Tarantino and Cameron might be lucky to be on this list while the award will go to either Reitman of Bigelow.

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’nique, “Precious”
Julianne Moore, “A Single Man”

It kind of sucks that the two actresses in “Up in the Air” are vying for the same award as both are good in the film. Farmiga is the veteran in this case, so we’ll give her the edge, but it probably won’t matter since Mo’nique has been swiping up this award so far.

Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

What a year for Matt Damon as he scored his second nom of the day, and congrats to Woody Harrelson for sneaking into the competition as well. So that leaves the over-the-top evil doers, but as underrated as Stanley Tucci is, he doesn’t stand a chance to Colonel Landa. Nor does anyone?

Screenplay
Neill Blomkampt & Terri Tatchell, “District 9”
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Nancy Meyers, “It’s Complicated”
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

We’re actually surprised and kind of angry to see Nancy Meyers name on the list because that is one less nomination for somebody who actually deserves it. Also, despite “District 9” being quite original, we’re not sure if it belongs here as well. Even though we’re not advocating it, we’re surprised “Precious” didn’t make the cut. With that the case, the winner will be either “Up in the Air” or “Inglourious Basterds.”

Original Score
Michael Giacchino, “Up”
Marvin Hamlisch, “The Informant”
James Horner, “Avatar”
Abel Krozeniowski, “A Single Man”
Karen O. and Carter Burwell, “Where the Wild Things Are”

We’re glad previous awards lists set the stage for Giacchino’s infectious score and Hamlisch’s peculiar one, as both deserve their spots. And while we’re also happy to see “Where the Wild Things” got some love for its music, we can’t help but think Carter Burwell’s score for “A Serious Man” was better. It’s much like last year when his terrific score for “In Bruges” was overlooked by everyone.

Foreign Language Film
“Baria”
“Broken Embraces”
“The Maid”
“Un Prophete”
“The White Ribbon”
None of these picks are surprising and all of them deserve to be here. Haneke’s “White Ribbon” won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and Jacques Audiard’s “Un Prophete” took the runner-up prize. The Oscar Foreign nominations will look much the same aside from Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces” which which was not picked by Spain to represent the country at the Oscars. We hope this makes room for Bong Joon-Ho’s deliriously good murder mystery, “Mother.”

Original Song
“Cinema Italiano,” “Nine”
“I Want To Come Home,” “Everybody’s Fine”
“I See You,” “Avatar”
“The Weary Kind,” “Crazy Heart”
“Winter,” “Brothers”

Here’s hoping “Crazy Heart” wins this award because if not, we just might never watch the Globes again. Actually, you can’t blame them because they were the ones who actually picked the right song last year with “The Wrestler,” but still, it better win. To everyone’s surprise, “The Princess and the Frog,” a film that was filled with original songs wasn’t nomed for any. But we’re sure Randy Newman will do better with the Academy, he always does. Paul McCartney is here and fits his film perfectly (we’ll let you decide if that’s a compliment or an insult), and U2 managed to sneak in for a song we don’t even remember hearing in the movie. “Nine” is obviously present as well and probably has the second best shot.