Clint Eastwood once said that the western, jazz and blues are art forms that are truly original to America. Westerns were a staple of Hollywood, in both film and TV, from the 1930s-1970s, but as the years go by we’re lucky if we get two western films a year. Apparently the Hollywood Foreign Press isn’t keen on such an art form, despite Sergio Leone’s influence on the genre, as the voting body did not give the Coen brothers’ True Grit a single nomination. That doesn’t surprise me: the year No Country for Old Men won the Oscar for best picture, the HFPA went with Atonement in the drama category at the Golden Globes.
The Hollywood Foreign Press is an interesting bunch in that it thinks The Tourist and Alice in Wonderland are comedies. Was this year just devoid of comedies not worthy of award consideration? At the very least the organization could have been bold and nominated Jackass 3-D or Get Him to the Greek. I would have even accepted Easy A (thankfully Emma Stone got noticed for her star-making turn in the comedy).
And to ensure that Johnny Depp is there at the awards ceremony they nominated him twice in the comedy category. What kind of insane stunt does Johnny Knoxville have to do to get recognized for his contributions to cinema?
Looking at the acting nominations it’s a cross of “ooh this actor/actress was in a movie this year let’s nominate him/her” and those who actually worked hard in their performances to deserve recognition. We have Halle Berry who hasn’t done anything of note since she won her Oscar for Monster’s Ball – unless you count her impurrfect performance as Catwoman – getting nominated for Frankie and Alice. The stars of Blue Valentine, Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams, get some love despite playing a pair of doomed lovers. The Supporting actress race looks highly competitive with Mila Kunis (Black Swan) and Jackie Weaver (Animal Kingdom) receiving their first Globes nominations.
Overall, The King’s Speech leads all films with seven nominations followed by The Social Network with six. But if you think this is a two-horse race, look out because coming on strong is The Fighter with six nominations as well. Besides Best Picture and Director, it is also nominated in three different acting categories (Actor – Drama, Supporting Actress [x2], and Supporting Actor).
I can’t see Wahlberg getting a Best Actor Oscar nod over the likes of Jeff Bridges, who was overlooked by the HFPA for True Grit, but Christian Bale is about as close as a sure thing as you can get if you’re planning an Oscar pool.
As for who will win at this year’s Globes. The safe bet is on The King’s Speech since it’s, um, British, but audiences love crowdpleasers, so The Fighter might pull off the upset. The Kids Are All Right is a venerable lock for Comedy, and I’ll be doing a fist pump in the air if Emma Stone shocks the world and wins over Annette Bening.
