Many insiders have called the Motion Picture Academy's decision to move its
own nominations to Jan. 10 an attempt to hurt the Golden Globes, but it's hard
to imagine many Oscar voters using Thursday's nominations as a guide to their
own decisions.
Case in point: The exhilarating, scrappy independent film "Beasts of the Southern Wild" wasn't
eligible for this year's Screen Actors Guild Awards, because its amateur cast
didn't work under union contracts. But it might as well have not been eligible
for the Golden Globes, either -- not because of any guild rules, but because the
80-odd voters in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association only like their scrappy
indies if they've got big stars in them.
How else to explain the way the Globes voters ignored "Beasts" but nominated
Nicole Kidman for the laughably trashy
"The Paperboy?"
And not only did they go for Kidman in that potboiler, but they gave her a
second nomination for her performance in the TV movie "Hemingway &
Gellhorn."
Then they threw in a nom for her husband, Keith Urban, who wrote the song
"For You" for the little-seen movie "Act of Valor."
Congratulations, HFPA members -- you've probably guaranteed that Mr. and Mrs.
Kidman will attend your shindig on Jan. 13.
You've also guaranteed that your awards show will continue to be what it has
always been: odd, peripheral, usually by-the-numbers, occasionally perplexing
and entirely irrelevant to the real business of honoring the best in cinema.
Yes, the Globes get lots of stars to show up, and they draw decent ratings,
and they're an obligatory campaign stop on the road to Oscar.
And nine-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis from "Beasts," who'd certainly be a lot
more uninhibited and entertaining on the red carpet than Kidman, was
conspicuously missing.
Was "Beasts" too rough and raw for Globes voters? Quite possibly -- and maybe
Judd Apatow's well-reviewed "This Is 40" was too raunchy, since
that film was shut out as well.
But if the HFPA has such delicate sensibilities, how do you explain its
wholehearted embrace of Quentin Tarantino's jokey, messy and unbelievably,
cartoonishly violent "Django Unchained?"
"Django" has a superstar director who knows how to rock an HFPA press
conference, plus delicious performances by DiCaprio and Waltz -- that's how you
explain it.
Certainly, Oscar voters will opt for many of the same films: By separating
the picture and lead acting categories into separate drama and musical or comedy
genres, the HFPA guarantees a bigger, broader and less discriminating group of
nominees that is bound to include lots of Oscar contenders without having any
real influence over AMPAS members.
Still, Globes voters were generous and inclusive, particularly in the
subdivided lead acting categories. They were able to fit Oscar longshot Richard Gere into the drama actor
category, making room for him because Bradley Cooper and Hugh Jackman were safely ensconced in
the comedy or musical category.
So, strangely, was Bill Murray for "Hyde Park on Hudson," which struck
most people as a tepid drama about power and infidelity but apparently qualifies
under the Globes' generous definition of comedy. (If it stars somebody who
started out on "Saturday Night Live," it must be a comedy.)
Two significant casualties of the drama/comedy or musical split were "Les
Miz" director Tom Hooper and "Silver Linings Playbook" director David O.
Russell, neither of whom were able to break into the Best Director category.
The category wasn't meant to be drama only, but turned to to be that way this
year: Steven Spielberg for "Lincoln," Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty," Ben Affleck for "Argo," Ang Lee for
"Life of Pi" and Tarantino for "Django" which, if truth be told, is probably
more of a comedy than "Hyde Park on Hudson."
But hey, at least the Globes didn't have to try to sell the notion that an
action film like "Red" is a comedy, as they did two years ago.
And at least they didn't nominate any movies as howlingly bad as "The
Tourist" or "Burlesque" for one of their top awards.
I'd hardly say Act of Valor was little-seen. It opened #1 at the box office and grossed almost $80 million, which is more than most of the nominated movies.
Keith Urban most certainly did deserve to be nominated for writing "For You". As usual the writer obviously did not listen to the lyrics. It is extremely moving and speaks volumes about the men and women who defend our country.
Keith Urban was talented long before he married Nicole Kidman. I don't understand why someone cannot write a review without bringing someones spouse into the picture.
We examine this year's head-scratching nominations
including Nicole Kidman for "The Paperboy" and more. MSN Entertainment's guide
to the 2013 Golden Globes is your go-to resource for full coverage of the awards
with predictions, red-carpet coverage, nominees, winners, videos, photos,
highlights and more.
Red, Nude, and Black Gowns Dominate the Golden ...
The 2013 Golden Globes red carpet was filled with gorgeous colors, but there were three in particular that dominated last night. Gorgeous red dresses were spotted on last night's big winners like Jennifer Lawrence and Claire Danes, but not everyone opted to go bold. Another popular choice were nude hues, worn by celebrities like Amy Adams, Isla Fisher, and Kerry Washington. And leave it to Kate Hudson and Nicole Kidman to wow us in sleek black gowns by Alexander McQueen. Catch all the details in our color trend report from the Golden Globes!
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Red, Nude, and Black Gowns Dominate the Golden Globes Red Carpet
The 2013 Golden Globes red carpet was filled with gorgeous colors, but there were three in particular that dominated last night. Gorgeous red dresses w...
More
The 2013 Golden Globes red carpet was filled with gorgeous colors, but there were three in particular that dominated last night. Gorgeous red dresses were spotted on last night's big winners like Jennifer Lawrence and Claire Danes, but not everyone opted to go bold. Another popular choice were nude hues, worn by celebrities like Amy Adams, Isla Fisher, and Kerry Washington. And leave it to Kate Hudson and Nicole Kidman to wow us in sleek black gowns by Alexander McQueen. Catch all the details in our color trend report from the Golden Globes!
Red, Nude, and Black Gowns Dominate the Golden Globes Red Carpet
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Description:
The 2013 Golden Globes red carpet was filled with gorgeous colors, but there were three in particular that dominated last night. Gorgeous red dresses were spotted on last night's big winners like Jennifer Lawrence and Claire Danes, but not everyone opted to go bold. Another popular choice were nude hues, worn by celebrities like Amy Adams, Isla Fisher, and Kerry Washington. And leave it to Kate Hudson and Nicole Kidman to wow us in sleek black gowns by Alexander McQueen. Catch all the details in our color trend report from the Golden Globes!
Access Hollywood:Jessica Lange Will Return for 'American Horror Story' Season 3
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Jessica talks about "American Horror Story's" great new season at the Golden Globe Awards. Also, she explains that she will be returning to the FX series for one more season.
