Winners of 69th Golden Globes

GOLDEN GLOBES 2011  The 69th Golden Globe Awards - Sunday, January 15, 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT, NBC. Morgan Freeman, recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award WINNERs       Best Picture, Drama:  The Descendants  The Help Hugo The Ides of March Moneyball War Horse Best Picture, Comedy/Musical: The Artist Bridesmaids Midnight in Paris My Week With Marilyn 50/50    Best Actress, Drama:  Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady  Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs Viola Davis, The Help Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin Best Actor, Drama:  George Clooney, The Descendants Brad Pitt, Moneyball Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March Michael Fassbender, Shame Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar    Best Actress, Comedy:     Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn Jodie Foster, Carnage Charlize Theron, Young Adult Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids Kate Winslet, Carnage  Best Actor, Comedy:  Jean Dujardin, The Artist Brendan Gleeson, The Guard Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50 Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris   Best Director, Motion Picture:    Martin Scorsese, Hugo Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris George Clooney, The Ides of March Michael Hazavicius, The Artist Alexander Payne, The Descendants  Best Screenplay, Motion Pictures:     Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Moneyball Best Supporting Actor, Drama:  Christopher Plummer, Beginners Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn Albert Brooks, Drive Jonah Hill, Moneyball Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method  Best Supporting Actress, Drama:   Octavia Spencer, The Help Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs Berenice Bejo, The Artist Jessica Chastain, The Help Shailene Woodley, The Descendants Best Animated Motion Picture:    The Adventures of Tintin Puss and Boots Winnie the Pooh Arthur Christmas Rango Best Foreign Language Motion Picture:                      A Separation (Iran)  The Flowers of War (China) In the Land of Blood and Honey (USA) The Kid with Bike (Belgium) The Skin I Live In (Spain) Best Score, Motion Picture: Ludovic Bource, The Artist Abel Korzeniowski, W.E. Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo Howard Shore, Hugo John Williams, War Horse Best Original Song, Motion Picture: "Masterpiece" (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), W.E. "Hello Hello" (music by Elton John, lyrics by Bernie Taupin), Gnomeo & Juliet "The Keeper" (music and lyrics by Chris Cornell), Machine Gun Preacher "Lay Your Head Down" (music by Brian Byrne, lyrics by Glenn Close), Albert Nobbs "The Living Proof" (music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr., lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas), The Help Best Mini-series, TV: Downton Abbey (PBS) Cinema Verite (HBO) The Hour (BBC America) Mildred Pierce (HBO) Too Big to Fail (HBO)   Best TV Series, Drama: American Horror Story Boardwalk Empire Boss Game of Thrones Homeland    Best TV Series, Comedy: Enlightened (HBO) Episodes (Showtime) Glee (FOX) Modern Family (ABC) New Girl (FOX)  Best Actor, TV Drama: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad Kelsey Grammer, Boss Jeremy Irons, The Borgias Damian Lewis, Homeland   Best Actress, TV Drama: Claire Danes, Homeland Mireille Enos, The Killing Julianna Margulies, Good Wife Madeleine Stowe, Revenge Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness   Best Actor, TV Comedy: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock David Duchovny, Californication Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory Thomas Jane, Hung Matt LeBlanc, Episodes  Best Actress, TV Comedy: Laura Dern, Enlightened Zooey Deschanel, New Girl Tina Fey, 30 Rock  Laira Linney, The Big C Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation Best Supporting Actor, TV: Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family     Best Supporting Actress, TV: Jessica Lange, American Horror Story Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey Sofia Vergara, Modern Family Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

‘The Artist’ tops 69th Golden Globe Nominations

The Golden Globe nominations were announced the middle of last week. In the race for best motion picture The Artist, a silent black-and-white movie about an actor at the time of the transition to talkies, led the pack with six Golden Globe nominations. It is nominated for best picture in the musical or comedy category.

 

George Clooney's two movies each received a nod for best picture, drama. The Descendants seems to be favored over The Ides of March. The former received five nominations, including best feature movie in the drama category, and a best actor nomination for Clooney.

But Ides of March was not slighted by the HFPA. Clooney, Heslov, and Beau Willimon are nominated for best screenplay and Clooney has a best director nomination.

Not nominated? The Tree of Life. Not enough "T and A" in the movie, perhaps, or was the Cannes winner's Transcendental premise over their heads? There is more about the actual nominations but, first, a digression.

I caution you, dear reader, to be aware where the Oscar race is concerned that the Golden Globe Awards are sponsored and the recipients chosen by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA). That is the association of credentialed reporters, etc., from outside the USA, who follow and report on the American entertainment industry. Some live here, some don't. The Globes give awards to both the movie and television industries.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the sponsor of the Academy Awards (Oscars). The membership of the Academy (AMPAS) consists of people who work in the movie industry, and who are card caring members of an industry guild. Every member must be invited to join. Only members of the Academy can nominate and vote, and awards are only given to the motion picture industry.

I know some people still call these awards, and festivals, "film," but it is a misnomer now because movies are not photographed on film and projectors don't project film, they are all digital in the USA. So, now we should call them the best picture, best motion picture, best movie, best feature, best short motion picture, etc. Technically there is no longer a best film in any category.

Besides, when I was in cinema school, I was taught that film is the medium whereby motion pictures, sometimes called by their shortened slang name, movies, are made. Motion Pictures are the products, one product medium that comprises The Media. Get the picture? If so, enjoy the motion picture festivals and watch lots of movies at your local picture show, as they were originall called. Of course today they are shown in a movie theater, or cinema!

But, quick, amend that. We don't even need to go out to see a movie anymore. We can get it on demand from a provider server There's TV, cable, satellite, or watch it on our computer. On demand, when we want it. Wow! The method of delivering  movies has come a long way, indeed.

Many critics and writers will indicate that the Globe winners predict the Oscars. They do not. What they do is bring the movies before the general public, and probably do cause some Academy members to consider, or reconsider, some movie they have either previously overlooked or dismissed.

For instance, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences last chose the same best picture in 2009, when director Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire won both.  I picked that movie for best picture in October when it won best picture at the Toronto Festival. After I saw it, I knew I had made the best choice.

Not only do the Globes honor television shows and actors, but they have two categories for best picture: musical or comedy, and drama, as well as the same two categories for best and supporting actors and actresses. The Academy makes the same distinction for actors and actresses, but there is only one best picture, and comedy usually gets the short piece of the wishbone when it comes to the Academy Awards.

The 69th annual Golden Globe Awards ceremony will be held Sunday, January 15th, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, and broadcast live on NBC. Ricky Gervaise will host them again this year.

The Oscar nominations will be announced January 24th at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences,  Beverly Hills.The 84th Academy Awards gala will be broadcast by ABC February 26th, and Billy Crystal will host.

NOMINATIONS FOR BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

The Descendants, starring George Clooney.
The Ides of March - George Clooney wrote, directed and stars in the Ides of March. To me, it is basically Clooney's take on politics. Of course, it is a liberal-progressive one, so I like that. Tagline: An idealistic staffer for a newbie presidential candidate gets a crash course on dirty politics during his stint on the campaign trail.

 The Help, received nine nominations. Three actresses in the movie were nominated, but not Emma Stone who played Skeeter. These were: Viola Davis (Aibileen) for best actress, Jessica Chastain (Celia) and Octavia Spencer (Minny) for an actress in a supporting role. 


Hugo (Paramount), Martin Scorsese's animated movie is not nominated in the animation category, but for best motion picture. The other Paramount animated movie, Rango, is nominated in the animation category.

 Moneyball, an excellent baseball movie starring Brad Pitt, and costarring Jonah Hill, is for those who love the allure of baseball statistics, and a baseball movie that is all heart, at the same time. Pitt received a best actor nomination for his role as real-life manager Billy Beane, but Jonah Hill did not receive a best-supporting nod.

 War Horse, the latest horse opera. This one is set in World War One, and is directed by Steven Spielberg. Take Kleenex.

Click the title of this post to see the full list of nominations, and much more, on the HFPA's Official Site. Please come back here after the first of the year for some more unique takes on the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards.

Screen Actors Guild's Surprise Best Actor SAG Nomination, and Mary Tyler Moore

Demián Bichir

18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards honoring the Years outstanding performances will be simulcast live on TNT and TBS,  Sunday, January 29, 2012, from the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition Center. Of all the industry guilds, the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) has the most voting members of any guild in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Van Dyke and Moore

Actress Mary Tyler Moore will receive the SAG Life Achievement Award. Dick Van Dyke, Moore's former co-star on The Dick Van Dyke Show, will present her with the award next month.

Moore's breakout role was on The Dick Van Dyke Show in 1961. For that role, she won two Emmy Awards. Next, she played Mary as star of her own show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, co-starring the likes of Ed Asner and Betty White. The show won 29 Emmys during its seven-year run (1970 - 1977).

She was nominated for an Oscar in 1980 for her role as Beth Jarrett in Robert Redford's directorial debut Ordinary People.

When the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) announces its annual nominations in movies and television, those in the industries, and fans take serious note. When it comes to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and (AMPAS), SAG members comprise the biggest voting block in AMPAS. Therefore, it natually follows that the SAG Awards are often predictors of Oscar winners.

There was one nomination for 2012 that took me most by surprise, and that was the best actor actor nomination of actor Demián Bichir (Che, part 2, 2008, and Weeds on TV), for his role in the independent movie, A Better Life,  directed by Chris Weitz, (Twilight: New Moon, 2009, and About a Boy, 2002).

Bichir plays Carlos Galindo, a hardworking undocumented worker in East Los Angles, who works as a gardener and landscaper for another undocumented immigrant. Carlos is raising his 15-year-old, American-born son Luis alone, because the mother left the family. Luis (Jose Julian) is wrestling with joining a gang to gain respect among his peers while showing little respect for his hard-working father, who comes home sweaty and exhausted every day of the week.

The movie is available for instant view now, or buy DVD, either for $3.99, from Amazon Instant Video. Support independent movies, click graphic:

The other actors nominated with Bichir for outstanding performance by a male actor in a leading role, are:

GEORGE CLOONEY / Matt King - The Descendants
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / J. Edgar Hoover - J. Edgar
JEAN DUJARDIN / George - The Artist
BRAD PITT / Billy Beane - Moneyball

The entire nomination list is long, so access it by clicking the title of this post. Remember, SAG does not nominate "Best Picture," or "Best TV Show," because for them it is all about the acting! I'll work in more about the SAG member's nomination choices in upcoming posts.