I can’t believe we’re going into our THIRD awards season as a blog, you guys. Time flies when you’re consuming pop culture! Awards Season kicked off in earnest this week (even though Critics have been announcing their awards since Thanksgiving) with both the Screen Actors Guild and the Golden Globes announcing their nominations. The Golden Globes is consistently our favorite awards show, thanks to the free-flowing champagne, the TV and Film Worlds colliding, and (for the past 2 years) hosts and queens of the Universe Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Tina and Amy will be returning as hosts again this year AND George Clooney is getting the DeMille, so the night is already shaping up to be a good one (WHAT WILL AMAL WEAR???). Let’s get right to discussing the nominees, as I have a lot of feelings.
Best Motion Picture, Drama
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
I’ve seen Foxcatcher and The Theory of Everything. While I enjoyed both movies (Theory especially), neither of them EXCITED me in the way that movies like The Social Network, Up In The Air, and 12 Years a Slave have in the past. Neither of them screamed BEST PICTURE. They were both more acting showcases. I clearly have a lot of catching up to do. Boyhood has been a big player in the critics awards, so it has to be the one to beat here. But don’t count out Theory and Imitation…this IS the Foreign Press we’re talking about here.
The biggest snub to me in this category is Wild, which has been one of my favorites of the year. Earlier this week Nathaniel Rogers of The Film Experience (one of the most pro-Actress sites out there) pondered if Wild wasn’t catching on (other than for Witherspoon) because it’s a lady fronted film. I think he’s right, especially when you look at the accolades racked up by similar male-led films like 127 Hours and Into the Wild.
WOMEN! Amirite?
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Birdman
Into the Woods
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Pride
St. Vincent
This category seems tailor-made for a big glossy musical like Into the Woods (IS IT CHRISTMAS DAY YET?), but with 7 total nominations, Birdman is the obvious favorite here. Confession time. I HATED Birdman. I admired a lot about it, but as a whole, the movie just left me with a “WHY??” feeling. So if it continues to win all the things, it’s going to be a VERY long awards season for me. People were very excited this morning to see Pride on this list, so it has bumped to the top of my must see list.
I would have loved to have seen Begin Again in this category but it’s summer release is probably playing against it (and all the Once comparisons). One movie I am THRILLED to NOT see here is the atrocious remake of Annie. Guys. It’s SO BAD.
Best Animated Motion Picture
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie is one of the biggest commercial hits of the year AND it was critically adored. Game Over, me thinks.
Best Director
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
This is a super exciting category! I was thrilled to see David Fincher included. Also, I’m counting Linklater’s nomination as retroactive love for the Before Trilogy.
And Interstellar has to be dead in the water now, as far as major awards, right? I’m sure it will get a slew of tech nominations, but better luck next time, Chris Nolan.
Best Actor, Drama
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
These five men, along with Birdman‘s Michael Keaton, are the ones fighting for the Oscar nominations. 6 men, 5 slots. WHO MISSES OUT?
This one is hard to predict for me. Eddie Redmayne is PHENOMENAL but is he famous enough (he’s also SUPER young)? This is my one hesitation with him. Yeah, yeah, people keep throwing Adrien Brody at me when I say that. But Brody is the exception to the rule when it comes to awards. Can it just be a three-way tie with Redmayne, Carell, and Benny Batch? Eddie and Benny can share custody of the trophy since they are besties.
Best Actress, Drama
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Wild is the best work of Reese’s career, hands down. I love Julianne and Jenn, but I’m super annoyed that their films are only doing awards qualifying runs, meaning that the fact I live in NYC probably means that *I* will be able to see them before the awards, but the general public will not. Such a disservice. Don’t count out Pike, who turned in one of the most chilling performances of the year in Gone Girl.
Best Actor, Musical or Comedy
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz, Big Eyes
This should be a cakewalk for Batman…erm…Birdman. Super sad not to see James Corden here. Don’t worry, Craig. You’re still number one in our hearts.
Best Actress, Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
Helen Mirren, The Hundred-Foot Journey
Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars
Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie
Guys, I don’t want to hate on a child, but it is a TRAVESTY they nominated Wallis. Annie is horrendous and she essentially sleepwalks through the movie. You NEED to have a belter for Annie and a belter she is not. She’s also not good at lip-synching and all the charm and promise she showed in Beasts of the Southern Wild is missing here. (Perhaps this is the fault of the director? It’s just bad.) The Hundred Foot Journey was one of the most purely enjoyable movies of the year, but I expect its memory is too distant for the voters. Moore will PROBABLY win in drama. So it comes down to Blunt and Adams. Amy is wonderful in Big Eyes, but Blunt’s role is showier and the most traditional musical/comedy performance here (as honestly, I don’t know what Big Eyes is doing in comedy). I give the edge to Mrs. Krasinski.
(The fifth slot SHOULD have gone to Keira Knightley for Begin Again)
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods
The big snub here is Laura Dern, who is absolutely luminous as Reese Witherspoon’s mother in Wild. I don’t understand how this performance is not getting traction. What I also don’t really get is how Emma Stone IS getting awards traction, other than riding on the coattails of all the Birdman love. Don’t get me wrong, Emma is great in the movie, it just didn’t feel like an awards type of performance. Meryl surely has the most attention grabbing role, but I suspect that if Blunt wins in Leading Actress, they may go in a different direction with this category. Patricia Arquette has been getting all the critical love, so if she wins here, her road to Oscar looks pretty golden.
Best Supporting Actor
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
While we were waiting in line for our screening of The Hobbit last night, my friend Shannon and I were talking about the Oscar Race. When we got to supporting actor, she immediately threw her support behind Edward Norton. “Have you SEEN Whiplash,” I asked. She said no. “Talk to me about Supporting Actor after you’ve seen J.K. Simmons,” I replied. Simmons is extraordinary in Whiplash. He’s also a career character actor who people perpetually refer to as “that guy” and now he’s getting his turn in the spotlight. It’s an Awards Season Cinderella story waiting to happen.
Best TV Drama
The Affair
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
House of Cards
The Globes LOVE lauding a new drama as the next big thing. They were the first to recognize Mad Men (WHICH HEY BY THE WAY ISN’T NOMINATED WHICH IS RIDICULOUS), so I suspect they may go with The Affair here. How Downton continues to get the series nomination is BEYOND ME. The Good Wife really should get the prize for being the most consistently bold and excellent network drama for the past 5 and a half years.
Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy
Girls
Orange Is the New Black
Transparent
Silicon Valley
Jane the Virgin
The executives over at the CW must be pooping their pants over the nomination for Jane the Virgin, especially since it is the ONLY network comedy represented. That’s right. In some sort of Christmas Miracle, both Modern Family AND The Big Bang Theory didn’t make the cut this year. May the Emmys follow suit. A girl can dream.
I don’t see how Orange is the New Black doesn’t win here.
Best Actress, TV Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Ruth Wilson, The Affair
Robin Wright, House of Cards
Viola Davis certainly has one of the most talked about performances in the buzziest new show of the year. She’s also a movie star doing network television. Wright, Danes, and Margulies are previous winners. So the only thing standing in Viola’s way is JUST HOW MUCH the HFPA loves The Affair.
Best Actor, TV Drama
Clive Owen, The Knick
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
James Spader, The Blacklist
Dominic West, The Affair
With Bryan Cranston out-of-the-way, I imagine this is going to go to Kevin Spacey for House of Cards. But never count out how much awards bodies love James Spader.
NO JON HAMM?? How dare these shows deny me HammBone in a tux?!
Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical
Louis C.K., Louie
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Ricky Gervais, Derek
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
SUCH a strange list, with naught a star from a network comedy…even Jim Parsons. I don’t watch ANY of these shows, but I can’t imagine this going to anyone but Jeffrey Tambor, a beloved actor playing a transgendered man finally opening up to his family about identifying as a woman. It’s the stuff awards are made of.
Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Taylor Schilling, Orange Is the New Black
Not nominating REIGNING winner and host, Amy Poehler? This category is declared invalid. Next!
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Uzo Aduba, Orange Is the New Black
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Allison Janney, Mom
Michelle Monaghan, True Detective
First of all, it’s time for my requisite bitching about how the Globes combine supporting performances for comedy, drama, AND mini-series or movie. I suppose it’s better than how the SAGs do it, which is to combine ALL series performances into either comedy or drama (which is why you have a supporting actor like Peter Dinklage going up against Kevin Spacey). Supporting work is IMPORTANT and should be recognized as such. Supporting characters are what make a television show’s tapestry brilliant and richly colored. They are not “smaller” parts and less worthy of recognition. #CharacterActorsDeserveBetter
Crazy Eyes FTW.
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Mini-Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Colin Hanks, Fargo
Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
With no Martin Freeman in this category to steal his thunder like he did at the Emmys, I expect Matt Bomer to take the prize for his BRILLIANT work as Felix in The Normal Heart.
Best TV Movie or Mini-series
The Normal Heart
True Detective
Olive Kitteridge
Fargo
The Missing
First of all, I DO want to applaud the HFPA for putting True Detective where it BELONGS: Mini-Series. This is an EXTREMELY tough race between Fargo, The Normal Heart, and True Detective. I do expect True Detective to win though.
Best Actress in a TV Movie or Mini-series
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Freak Show
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Frances O’Connor, The Missing
Allison Tolman, Fargo
How much do I love that Allison Tolman is nominated in the same category as Frances McDormand, who won an Academy Award for playing a similar role in the film of Fargo? I love it a LOT. It feels very Circle of Life to me. I love an unknown actress coming in and stealing the award from all the more famous women in her category, so obviously, I would love to see Allison win here. Jessica Lange has been unstoppable in this category though. Are the voters tired of American Horror Story yet?
Best Actor in a TV Movie or Mini-series
Martin Freeman, Fargo
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew McConaughey, True Detective
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo
The question in this category is if the True Detective boys and the Fargo boys cancel themselves out, opening the door for Mark Ruffalo to win for his extraordinary work in The Normal Heart. Ruffalo is having a banner year and he’s constantly one of the most underrated and under-awarded actors in the industry. Time to start giving him the trophies he deserves, people.
And those are our nominees! Join us on January 11th where Sage and I will be live-blogging the red carpet and the ceremony as we drink oodles of red wine. It’s always a fun time! We’ll also be having fashion analysis by our lovely and snarky friend Maggie all awards season! Until then, leave your thoughts in the comments! Who was snubbed? Who is your pick to win?
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