2010 Golden Globe Nominees Announced

By our guest blogger, Matt Jussim

Awards season is now in full swing, and there’s no turning back.

Released early this morning were the 2010 Golden Globe nominations, and like every year there are surprises, well-deserved nominees and, of course, snubs. Voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press, the awards usually are a good barometer for predicting the Academy Awards, but can sometimes miss out on some well-received performances.

The Best Picture for Drama category is solid, with "Avatar," "The Hurt Locker," "Inglourious Basterds," "Precious" and "Up in the Air" receiving nominations, but I find a few snubs here a bit glaring. I was hoping to see a film like “District 9” or “A Single Man” slide in for a nomination, but that spot seemed to have been taken by “Avatar.” “The Hurt Locker" has some momentum coming off its victories of the New York and L.A. film critics in recent days, but any of the other films could win this award.

In Best Picture for Musical/Comedy, I’m surprised the Coen brothers’ "A Serious Man" was left out, but it's wonderful to see “The Hangover” nominated. Say what you will about the film, but I think it’s one of the freshest, funniest comedies to come out of Hollywood in recent memory. Also great to see "(500) Days of Summer" nominated. The quirky romantic comedy was original, and had some great acting performances by Joseph-Gordon Levitt and Zooey Deschanel.

The Best Actor (Drama) race appears to be a close contest between Jeff Bridges ("Crazy Heart") and George Clooney ("Up in the Air"). There's an outside chance we could see an upset by Colin Firth ("A Single Man") or Morgan Freeman ("Invictus"), but Tobey Maguire ("Brothers") is out of it. Two of the year’s finest acting performances were left out, Viggo Mortensen in "The Road" and Jeremy Renner for "The Hurt Locker." Both actors give the performances of a lifetime, and it’s crazy that neither got nominated.

One of the most interesting races is in the Best Director category, which finds James Cameron (“Avatar”) and his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”), vying for the same award. The two are nominated along with Clint Eastwood (“Invictus”), Jason Reitman (“Up in the Air”), and Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”). Female directors are far and few between in Hollywood, especially in action films. I’ll be pulling for Bigelow, who did an amazing job with “The Hurt Locker.”

There are so many categories, I could argue about them all day, so here are some snippets about a few of the other major categories:

It’s great that Robert Downey Jr. was nominated for Best Actor (Musical/Comedy) for “Sherlock Holmes," but if he got a nom, where’s Bradley Cooper's for “The Hangover”?

Best Screenplay has full list of quality nominees, including Neill Blomkamp (“District 9”), Mark Boal (“The Hurt Locker”), and Quentin Tarantino (“Inglourious Basterds”). I loved Tarantino’s script, but I’m hoping Blomkamp gets some award love for his inventive science-fiction script.

On the television side of things, “Modern Family” picked up a nomination for Best Comedy, helping solidify it as one of the best new shows on television. But “Entourage”? I love that show, but this season wasn’t good enough, in my opinion, to warrant a nomination over shows such as “The Big Bang Theory” and “How I Met Your Mother.” Thankfully, “The Office” scored yet another nomination, as did lead actor Steve Carell, who is nothing short of genius on the show.

One thing awards do is spark debate, so what did you think? Who were the biggest snubs? Who are the favorites? We’ll find out the answers on January 17, 2010, when the Golden Globes will be awarded.

Follow is the full list of nominees:

Film:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 Ma

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

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

Best Score
Up
The Informant!
Avatar
A Single Man
Where the Wild Things Are

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

Best Animated Film
Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess & The Frog
Up

Best Foreign Language Film
Baria
Broken Embraces
The Maid
A Prophet
The White Ribbon

Television:

Best Television Series, Drama
Big Love (HBO)
Dexter (Showtime)
House (Fox)
Mad Men (AMC)
True Blood (HBO)

Best Television Series, Comedy or Musical
30 Rock (NBC)
Entourage (HBO)
Glee (FOX)
Modern Family (ABC)
The Office (NBC)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama
Simon Baker, The Mentalist
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
Bill Paxton, Big Love

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Drama
Glenn Close, Damages
January Jones, Mad Men
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Anna Paquin, True Blood
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Comedy or Musical
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
David Duchovny, Californication
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee

Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series, Comedy or MusicalToni Collette, United States of Tara
Courteney Cox, Cougar Town
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Lea Michele, Glee

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Michael Emerson, Lost
Neil Patrick Harris, How I Met Your Mother
William Hurt, Damages
John Lithgow, Dexter
Jeremy Piven, Entourage

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television Jane Adams, Hung
Rose Byrne, Damages
Jane Lynch, Glee
Janet McTeer, Into the Storm
Chloe Sevigny, Big Love

Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Georgia O’Keefe (Lifetime)
Grey Gardens (HBO)
Into the Storm (HBO)
Little Dorrit (PBS)
Taking Chance (HBO)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Kevin Bacon, Taking Chance
Kenneth Branagh, Wallander: One Step Behind
Chiwetel Ejiofor, Endgame
Brendan Gleeson, Into the Storm
Jeremy Irons, Georgia O’Keefe

Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TelevisionJoan Allen, Georgia O’Keefe
Drew Barrymore, Grey Gardens
Jessica Lange, Grey Gardens
Anna Paquin, The Courageous Heart of Irena
Sendler
Sigourney Weaver, Prayers for Bobby