UPDATED: 1/16/2014 – The Golden Globe awards have been handed out. I have bolded the names of who won in the below list of nominees.
- Hosts: Tina Fey & Amy Poehler
- Air Date: January 12, 2014
- Channel: NBC (in the US at least)
Before the Golden Globe nominations were announced this morning, it would have been very easy to joke that the only thing we needed to know about the Golden Globes was who’s hosting and how much booze will be available to loosen lips for some memorable acceptance speeches. This is, after all, an award which appears to have among the least credibility among all major film and TV awards. They are handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press, an odd cabal of maybe 70 European writers who are just as likely to be mocked as they are thanked in an acceptance speech (See Christian Bale’s acceptance of Best Actor for The Fighter). Plus, they regularly nominate performers and films/shows presumably just because it would give then an excuse to get to hang out with (for example) Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp from The Tourist. Beyond that, they heavily contributed to the ever-increasing narcissism that is Ricky Gervais by inviting him back as host multiple times for him to needlessly promote his atheism and submit the collected actors/writers/producers to a roast they didn’t realize they had signed up for (that all being said, come on, Gervais was sometimes pretty funny).
That’s what makes it so remarkably strange that the latest batch of Golden Globe nominations are actually somewhat respectable. Yes, there are the expected batch of snubs (nothing for Lee Daniels’ The Butler on the film side, nor for Mad Men, Homeland, or Boardwalk Empire on the TV side). Yes, there are a couple of European-leaning films (Rush, Philomena) which are over-represented in these nominations than they have been by other awards bodies so far. However, there is no real Tourist-like joke in this bunch, and repeatedly where they could have given into old ways and award star power like the actors from Prisoners (Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal) they instead nominated more in line with how the Oscars are expected to go next year.
Here’s the thing: this past summer, the Golden Globes elected Theo Kingma as the new President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). Kingma had previously been the Executive Secretary for the HFPA, with his professional background coming as a film projectionist, production assistant on multiple films, and journalist for over 20 years. There were whispers that Kingma meant to bring a new legitimacy to the HFPA and, by extension, the Golden Globes. You don’t want to sacrifice the fun of the awards show, which is increasingly inebriated film stars hobnobbing it with increasingly inebriated TV stars. However, you also can’t let it all become an embarrassing joke.
Where they continue to vex is on the TV side of things where Mad Men was completely shut out, and the many foreign-leaning shows (Broadchurch, The Returned, Moone Boy) the HFPA would have traditionally gone for also went mostly ignored. You could argue their TV nominations this year were Emmys-style boring, slightly robbing this year of the signature fun from the Golden Globes
Without further adieu, here are the nominees:
Best Motion Picture, Drama
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Rush
Notable Snubs: Lee Daniels’ The Butler, August: Osage County, Saving Mr. Banks
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Chiwetel Ejiofor,12 Years a Slave
Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford, All Is Lost
Notable Snubs: Forrest Whitaker (The Butler), Hugh Jackman (Prisoners), Michael B. Jordan (Fuitvale Station)
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock, Gravity
Judi Dench, Philomena
Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks
Kate Winslet, Labor Day
Best Director – Motion Picture
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity
Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne, Nebraska
David O. Russell, American Hustle
Notable Snubs: The Coen Brothers (Inside Llewyn Davis), Martin Scorsese (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Spike Jonze, Her
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer, American Hustle
Notable Snubs: Woody Allen (Blue Jasmine), The Coen Bros. (Inside Llewyn Davis)
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street
Notable Snubs: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams, American Hustle
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said
Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Notable Snubs: Since these are the Gold Globes, Sandra Bullock/Melissa McCarthy were both considered candidates for The Heat
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale, American Hustle
Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Joaquin Phoenix, Her
Best Animated Feature Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Notable Snubs: Monsters University, The Wind Rises
Best Foreign Language Film
Blue Is the Warmest Color (France)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)
The Past (Iran)
The Wind Rises (Japan)
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts, August: Osage County
June Squibb, Nebraska
Notable Snubs: Oprah Winfrey (The Butler), Octavia Spencer (Fruitvale Station)
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Daniel Bruhl, Rush
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Notable Snubs: James Gandolfini (Enough Said), Steve Coogan (Philomena), Jake Gyllenhaal (Prisoners), Tom Hanks (Saving Mr. Banks), Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alex Ebert, All Is Lost
Alex Heffes, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Steven Price, Gravity
John Williams, The Book Thief
Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Atlas,” The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
“Let It Go,” Frozen
“Ordinary Love,” Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
“Please Mr. Kennedy,” Inside Llewyn Davis
“Sweeter Than Fiction” One Chance
Sidenote: Actually, the song from Inside Llewyn Davis is a cover, not an original.
Best TV series, Drama
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
The Good Wife
House of Cards
Masters of Sex
Notable Snubs: Broadchurch, The Returned, Mad Men, Orphan Black, Orange is the New Black, The Americans, Rectify, Homeland, Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire
Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black
Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black
Kerry Washington, Scandal
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Notable Snubs: Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad), Lizzy Caplan (Masters of Sex), Olivia Colman (Broadchurch)
Best Actor in a TV series, Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
James Spader, The Blacklist
Notable Snub: Jon Hamm (Mad Men)
Best TV Series, Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Girls
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Notable Snubs: Moone Boy, Veep, Arrested Development
Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Lena Dunham, Girls
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy
Jason Bateman, Arrested Development
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Michael J. Fox, The Michael J. Fox Show
Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Best TV Miniseries or Movie
American Horror Story: Coven
Behind the Candelabra
Dancing on the Edge
Top of the Lake
White Queen
Best Actress in a Miniseries or TV Movie
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Coven
Helena Bonham Carter, Burton and Taylor
Rebecca Ferguson, The White Queen
Helen Mirren, Phil Spector
Elisabeth Moss, Top of the Lake
Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie
Matt Damon, Behind the Candelabra
Michael Douglas, Behind the Candelabra
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Dancing on the Edge
Idris Elba, Luther
Al Pacino, Phil Spector
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries, or TV Movie
Jacqueline Bisset, Dancing on the Edge
Janet McTeer, The White Queen
Hayden Panettiere, Nashville
Monica Potter, Parenthood
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Notable Snub: Anyone else from Modern Family beside Sofia Vergara, anyone at all from Mad Men
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
Josh Charles, The Good Wife
Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra
Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad
Corey Stoll, House of Cards
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
Notable Snub: Anyone from Modern Family or Mad Men
—
Overall, American Hustle and 12 Years A Slave tied for the lead with most nominations among the films at 7 a piece. On the TV side, Breaking Bad tops the list, along with Downton Abbey and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. They certainly liked Rush and Philomena more than other awards bodies have thus far, but if you didn’t realize it Rush actually has an 88% approval rating on RottenTomotes and Philomena has 92%. These are not bad movies.
So, basically, for your holiday movie-going needs the HFPA has now given you a shortlist of movies you really should rush out to see: American Hustle, Philomena, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, and The Wolf of Wall Street. As far as they’re concerned, you can skip Saving Mr. Banks and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty.
The 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards will air on NBC on January 12, 2014.
We Minored in Film 
So happy with the nominations this year and for 12 Years A Slave. Great movie. I do think that The Butler was snubbed though. I personally thought it was a great film and Oprah’s performance was outstanding.
That The Butler would be snubbed in a couple of categories by the Golden Globes was not really stunning. That type of thing happens, and The Butler is really more of a tweener movie where not everyone actually agrees if it is merely good or awards-caliber good. However, that the Globes completely shut it out was very surprising. Come time for the Oscar nominations I could easily see some of those nominations the Globes threw the way of Rush going back over to The Butler.
It was a little nerve-wracking for 12 Years a Slave until the very end. They just kept losing every single category in which they had a nomination. But then, boom, Best Picture. In a year of no clear front-runner, it’s the closest we’ve got.