So: the Golden Globes nominations are in, and they are meaningless, frankly. It’s a lot of fun, but basically the SAG Awards are the best indicator of Oscar because SAG members comprise a huge voting block at the Academy. The Globes are voted by 80 or so very odd people who require an immense amount of feeding, watering, and petting. Even then, it’s hard to imagine what’s crossing their minds other than getting their pictures taken with stars.
This year, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association made some big errors. Other than Jon Hamm, “Mad Men” was cut out of the show. “Mad Men” had an amazing season. Its last five or six episodes were wonderful. Hamm, Christina Hendicks, Jon Slattery and the entire cast excelled. So what went wrong? In all likelihood, since the show is older, they didn’t put the time into entertaining the HFPA.
The group also ignored Robert DeNiro’s best performance in 20 years in “Silver Linings Playbook.” He will get his Oscar nod, and could win. It’s beautiful work. DeNiro has the best line in a fantastic movie–“When life reaches out with a moment like this it’s a sin if you don’t reach back.” That should be the line of the year in movie advertising. DeNiro is sensational.
The HFPA also snubbed “Silver Linings” director David O. Russell and “Les Miserables” director Tom Hooper. I don’t know who they would have taken out. But it seems to me that Ang Lee is vulnerable; “Life of Pi” is a technical achievement. Both Hooper and Russell should be in the Oscar mix.
Ditto Paul Thomas Anderson. How could the three actors from “The Master” be nominated but not the director? They didn’t do it by themselves.
There are others certainly. And it must be no small joke to Tina Fey that she’s nominated but not “30 Rock” or anyone else from the show. Ouch! Ditto Amy Poehler. They’ll have a lot of jokes for the night they host the show.
