In their continuing quest to rob us of reasons to make fun of them, Golden Globe voters on Thursday revealed that they’re pretty much in the mainstream when it comes to recognizing the best films of 2014.
The 80-odd members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association went for “Birdman” and “Boyhood,” for “The Imitation Game” and “The Theory of Everything,” for Eddie Redmayne and Michael Keaton, Julianne Moore and Reese Witherspoon, J.K. Simmons and Edward Norton, Patricia Arquette and Meryl Streep.
If there was a takeaway from the nominations, it was that this year you can’t accuse the HFPA of simply nominating people they want to see show up at their awards show — if that had been a priority, it’s hard to imagine that Angelina Jolie‘s film “Unbroken” would have been shut out, or that longtime Globe favorite Clint Eastwood‘s “American Sniper” would have met the same fate.
Even in the much-maligned Comedy or Musical categories, often the province of the most blatant star-searching, voters opted for pretty sensible choices.
If one is to go by the nominations alone, the drama race is now between “Boyhood” and “Selma,” the comedy race dominated by “Birdman” — though it could be time to stop underestimating Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” whose three nominations included a surprising one for Best Director.
Also on the stop-underestimating-me list: Jake Gyllenhaal (“Nightcrawler”) and Jennifer Aniston (“Cake”), whose Globe nominations on top of Wednesday’s SAG noms suggest that they may no longer deserve to be considered longshots in the acting categories. (Warning: Oscar voters may beg to differ.)
Anecdotal evidence suggesting that Globe voters didn’t really care for “Foxcatcher” was contradicted by the fact that they gave Bennett Miller’s drama three nominations, including a key one in the Best Film, Drama category, where it got in ahead of “Unbroken,” “Sniper” or “Gone Girl.”
But “Gone Girl” director David Fincher landed a key nod in the Best Director category, reinforcing how evenly the voters spread the wealth.
Those with reason to be disappointed include Chris Rock, whose “Top Five” didn’t get any traction with Globes voters. Neither did “Begin Again,” which once seemed a natural for comedy/musical. (It had Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo and it was backed by Harvey Weinstein, who had to be content with a strong showing for “The Imitation Game,” two for “St. Vincent” and a trio of noms for “Big Eyes”).
And Laura Dern lost out on a supporting nomination for “Wild” for the second morning in a row; after Naomi Watts landed a shocking nomination for “St. Vincent” on Wednesday, the spot went to the far less unexpected Jessica Chastain for “A Most Violent Year” on Thursday.
In the best song category, where the Globes always seem to look for stars, they’ve got Lana Del Rey (the title track from “Big Eyes”), John Legend and Common (“Glory” from “Selma”) and Lorde (“Yellow Flicker Bird” from “The Hunger Games: Mockingay Part One”), plus a new song from “Annie” and, in what could be a delightful bit of incongruity on the red carpet, legendary punk priestess Patti Smith for “Mercy Is” from “Noah.”
A small Estonian film, “Tangerines,” snuck into the foreign-language category alongside the expected entries from Sweden, Israel, Poland and Russia. From a broad and deep field of 53, voters opted for a strong but fairly conservative slate, bypassing high-profile but challenging films from Canada (Xavier Dolan’s “Mommy”), Argentina (“Wild Tales”), Turkey (“Wild Tales”), Belgium (“Two Days, One Night”), Mauritania (“Timbuktu”) and Hungary (“White God”).
Overall, though, the quirks were few and the opportunities to mock the HFPA even fewer. Heck, this is a year in which the Hollywood Foreign Press nominated “Nightcrawler” and “Foxcatcher” and “A Most Violent Year” and “Leviathan,” and even freaking Patti Smith.
If that’s not enough to give them a pass from the usual mockery, I don’t know what is.
Golden Globes 2015: The Nominees (Photos)
Best Motion Picture -- Drama: "Boyhood" (pictured), "Foxcatcher," "The Imitation Game," "Selma," "The Theory of Everything"
Best Director -- Motion Picture: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; Eva DuVernay, "Selma"; David Fincher, "Gone Girl"; Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu, "Birdman"; Richard Linklater (pictured), "Boyhood"
Best Screenplay -- Motion Picture: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; Gillian Flynn (pictured), "Gone Girl"; Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone,Alexander Dinelaris & Armando Bo, "Birdman"; Richard Linklater, "Boyhood"; Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game"
Best Performances by an Actor in a Motion Picture -- Drama: Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher"; Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game"; Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler"; David Oyelowo (pictured), "Selma"; Eddie Redmayne, "The Theory of Everything"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama: Jennifer Aniston (pictured), "Cake"; Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything"; Julianne Moore, "Still Alice"; Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl"; Reese Witherspoon, "Wild"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Patricia Arquette, "Boyhood"; Jessica Chastain (pictured), "A Most Violent Year"; Keira Knightley, "The Imitation Game"; Emma Stone, "Birdman"; Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Robert Duvall, "The Judge"; Ethan Hawke, "Boyhood"; Edward Norton, "Birdman"; Mark Ruffalo (pictured), "Foxcatcher"; J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash"
Best Motion Picture -- Comedy or Musical: "Birdman" (pictured), "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Into the Woods," "Pride," "St. Vincent"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical: Ray Fiennes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; Michael Keaton, "Birdman"; Bill Murray (pictured), "St. Vincent"; Joaquin Phoenix, "Inherent Vice"; Christoph Waltz, "Big Eyes"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -- Comedy or Musical: Amy Adams (pictured), "Big Eyes"; Emily Blunt, "Into the Woods"; Helen Mirren, "The Hundred-Foot Journey"; Julianne Moore, "Maps to the Stars"; Quvenzhané Wallis, "Annie"
Best Animated Feature: “Big Hero 6," "Book of Life," "Boxtrolls," "How to Train Your Dragon 2," "The Lego Movie" (pictured)
Best Foreign Language Film: "Force Majeure Turist" (Sweden), "Gett: The Trival of Viviane" (Israel), "Ida" (Poland/Denmark), "Leviathan" (Russia, pictured), "Tangerines" (Estonia)
Best Original Song – Motion Picture: “Big Eyes” – “Big Eyes”; “Glory” – “Selma”; “Mercy Is” – “Noah”; “Opportunity” – “Annie”; “Yellow Flicker Beat” – “The Hunger Games, Mockingjay – Part 1” (pictured)
Best Original Score – Motion Picture: Alexander Desplat, “The Imitation Game”; Yohan Yohanson, “The Theory of Everything”; Trent Reznor (pictured), “Gone Girl”; Anthoy Sanchez, “Birdman”; Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”
Best Television Series -- Drama: "The Affair," "Downton Abbey," "Game of Thrones," "The Good Wife," House of Cards" (pictured)
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Drama: Claire Danes, "Homeland"; Viola Davis (pictured), "How to Get Away with Murder"; Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"; Ruth Wilson, "The Affair"; Robin Wright, "House of Cards"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- Drama: Clive Owen, "The Knick"; Liev Schreider, "Ray Donovan"; Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards"; James Spader, "The Blacklist"; Dominic West (pictured), "The Affair"
Best Television Series -- Comedy or Musical: "Girls," "Transparent" (pictured) "Jane the Virgin," "Orange Is the New Black," "Silicon Valley"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Comedy or Musical: Lena Dunham, "Girls"; Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie"; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep"; Gina Rodriguez (pictured), "Jane the Virgin"; Taylor Schilling, "Orange Is the New Black"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- Comedy or Musical: Louis C.K., "Louie"; Don Cheadle (pictured), "House of Lies"; Ricky Gervais, "Derek"; William H. Macy, "Shameless"; Jeffrey Tambor, "Transparent"
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: "Fargo," "The Missing," "The Normal Heart," "True Detective" (pictured), "Olive Kitteridge"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Maggie Gyllenhaal (pictured), "The Honorable Woman"; Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story: Freak Show," Frances McDormand, "Olive Kitteridge"; Frances O'Connor, "The Missing"; Allison Tolman, "Fargo"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Martin Freeman (pictured), "Fargo"; Woody Harrelson, "True Detective"; Matthew McConaughey, "True Detective"; Mark Ruffalo, "The Normal Heart"; Billy Bob Thornton, "Fargo"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Uzo Aduba (pictured), "Orange Is the New Black"; Kathy Bates, "American Horror Story: Freak Show"; Joanne Froggatt, "Downton Abbey"; Allison Janney, "Mom"; Michelle Monaghan, "True Detective"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Matt Bomer (pictured), "The Normal Heart"; Alan Cumming, "The Good Wife"; Colin Hanks, "Fargo"; Bill Murray, "Olive Kitteridge"; Jon Voight, "Ray Donovan"
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Take a look at the stars who might be accepting a Golden Globe when the annual ceremony thrown by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association airs on Jan. 11
Best Motion Picture -- Drama: "Boyhood" (pictured), "Foxcatcher," "The Imitation Game," "Selma," "The Theory of Everything"
