"BABEL" leads the Golden Globe nominations

[rbs3676]

"Babel," the intertwined, cross-cultural story of desperate people in three far-flung parts of the world, led all films in nominations for the 64th Golden Globes, picking up seven nods Wednesday.

"The Departed" also received strong support, earning nods for best drama, best director (Martin Scorsese), best actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), best supporting actor (Jack Nicholson) and best screenplay.

Other films nominated for best drama are "Bobby," "Little Children" and "The Queen."

The Globes have separate categories for drama and comedy or musical. The nominees in the latter category are "Borat," "The Devil Wears Prada," "Dreamgirls," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "Thank You for Smoking."

Several performers received multiple nominations. DiCaprio was nominated for best actor for both "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond." Helen Mirren earned nominations for her performances in the theatrical film "The Queen," the TV miniseries "Elizabeth I" and the show "Prime Suspect." Collette earned nominations for "Little Miss Sunshine" and the TV program "Tsunami: The Aftermath."

But the Globe nominations were sometimes a study in contradiction.

Clint Eastwood received two nominations for best director -- for his films "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" -- but neither film earned a best drama nod.

The ensemble drama "Bobby" earned just two nominations, but one of them was in one of the most important categories -- best drama. (The other was for best song.)

"Little Miss Sunshine" was nominated for best comedy or musical and best actress in a comedy or musical (Toni Collette), but its screenplay -- widely hailed as one of the best of the year -- failed to earn a nomination.

Moreover, best foreign-language film had an American tint to it, with both "Mel Gibson's Apocalypto" (spoken in a Mayan dialect) and Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima" (almost entirely in Japanese) both in the running.

The nominations also were striking for what wasn't nominated, given the rush of high-profile films coming out.

"The Good German," Steven Soderbergh's film set just after World War II, was overlooked, as was Robert De Niro's "The Good Shepherd," Alfonso Cuaron's "Children of Men" and Paul Greengrass' "United 93."

"Cars," "Happy Feet" and "Monster House" all earned nominations for best animated film.

Nominees a diverse lot
Joining DiCaprio for best actor in a drama are Peter O'Toole ("Venus"), Will Smith ("The Pursuit of Happyness") and Forest Whitaker ("The Last King of Scotland").

Along with Mirren, best actress in a drama nominees are Penelope Cruz ("Volver"), Judi Dench ("Notes on a Scandal"), Maggie Gyllenhaal ("Sherrybaby") and Kate Winslet ("Little Children").

The nominees for best actor in a comedy or musical are Sasha Baron Cohen ("Borat"), Johnny Depp ("Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest"), Aaron Eckhart ("Thank You for Smoking"), Chiwetel Ejiofor ("Kinky Boots") and Will Ferrell ("Stranger Than Fiction").

The nominees for best actress in a comedy or musical are Annette Bening ("Running With Scissors"), Toni Collette ("Little Miss Sunshine"), Beyonce Knowles ("Dreamgirls"), Meryl Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada") and Renee Zellweger ("Miss Potter").

The best director nominees -- aside from Eastwood -- all had their films nominated for best drama. They are Stephen Frears ("The Queen"), Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu ("Babel") and Scorsese ("The Departed").

The Globes also nominate in the medium of television. Best drama nominees are "24," "Big Love," "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes" and "Lost"; best comedy nominees include "Desperate Housewives," "Entourage," "The Office," "Ugly Betty" and "Weeds."

"Grey's" also earned nominations for performers Patrick Dempsey and Ellen Pompeo. "Housewives' " Marcia Cross and Felicity Huffman were both nominated for best actress in a TV comedy.

"The Sopranos," long a Globe favorite, failed to receive a nomination for best drama, though star Edie Falco earned a nod for best actress in a TV drama.

The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony, scheduled for January 15.

[Rickypt]

Oh dear, I need to comment on this, but have to get offline. How on earth could Half Nelson and Ryan Gosling not get nominated? And the girl who co-starred with him, whose name I am blanking on.

[SuzeQuze]

I'm going to be rooting for my boy DiCaprio, woot!

[hayley]

I'm pleased as punch to see Will Ferrell nominated for Stranger Than Fiction- he deserves it. I'm sure he'll be shunned by the Oscars, but I'm glad he got this recognition.

I'm also excited to see that Heroes was nominated for Best TV Drama, as well as the recognition for Ugly Betty & America Ferrera- but am still baffled that the best show on television, Battlestar Galactica, was yet again passed over in favor of shows like Grey's Anatomy and Lost.

I'll unashamedly flap my dork flag for BSG. It's the most intelligent, well-written, tense, well-acted show on TV. The parallels between the show and what's going on in the world today are frighteningly accurate.

[PsychCat]

Originally Posted by hayley

I'm pleased as punch to see Will Ferrell nominated for Stranger Than Fiction- he deserves it.

I'm under the personal belief that the nomination was directed more at his performance in "Talladega Nights"... I'm just saying.

[sasja]

Little Miss Sunshine was SOOOO well done, I hope it gets some recognition, even if the fantastic script wasn't nominated....

So many films I still want to see.... It's hard with a toddler though, and one on the way. But I can always hope

Sasja

[gldstwmn]

Originally Posted by rbs3676

"The Sopranos," long a Globe favorite, failed to receive a nomination for best drama, though star Edie Falco earned a nod for best actress in a TV drama.

I don't think the writing was very strong last year. I do think it's the set up for a wild ending though. I'm still trying to figure out what the whole beacon of light thing means.

[DavidMn]

I'm sure The Departed will be nominated for both best picture and best director at the oscars now.

[ontheEdgeof17]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

I'm going to be rooting for my boy DiCaprio, woot!

And how fair is it that he gets nominated twice in the same category? Not even.


I hope Beyonce loses and J. Hudson kicks some Globe ass!

[Rickypt]

Okay, I saw Babel this afternoon and left totally unimpressed. The whole non-linear, interconnecting stories thing has been done (and done well), but didn't work for me in this one. I would have preferred an entire movie about the Mexican nanny's story--that one really moved me.

I do, however, think the Japanese actress who played the deaf-mute was phenomenal and I see she is nominated for supporting actress. We all know Jennifer Hudson will win that one, though.

[wondergirl9847]

Prison Break and in particular, Robert Knepper or Wentworth Miller for that matter were not nominated for anything. PFFTT!

Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives can kiss my a$$.

The Office better win Best Comedy.

[Brwn_eyes0511]

I'm praying that Emily Blunt gets best supporting actress!!!!

[elie]

Originally Posted by Rickypt

Okay, I saw Babel this afternoon and left totally unimpressed.
.

I was going to write pretty much the same. There were some strong moments (personally I prefered the Japanese story, which was, IMO, the most depressing one, even though in a not so obvious way as the others).
And I agree with you that this sort of filming has been done before and been done much better.
I felt it was a very good example of a "patronizing" (sp?) film. It was filmed in a way that it was impossible not to make you unconfortable or depressed even after a while and I really can't take seriously directors who don't leave you the choise to decide what you feel about the story and try so hard to impress (the mexican story is "inexcusable" in that way- what was the problem? she did a stupid thing and suffered the consequences.Why did the director have to film the final scenes in the desert in such an obviously tragic and emotionally charged way if not but to make you feel sorry for her?)
I apologise for the ranting, but I get people telling me all the time what a great film Babel was and it 's seriously irritating.

It just seems to me that nowadays, any movie that does not star dragons or elves is considered a serious movie and thus, eligible to run at the Oscars.

[Rickypt]

Originally Posted by elie

and I really can't take seriously directors who don't leave you the choise to decide what you feel about the story and try so hard to impress :

Bingo. That was my problem with "Crash". These movies are so heavy-handed. You make a good point about the scene in the desert. Although I think it was more than she did a stupid thing; this woman was completely under the control of "the man"--the one who told her she couldn't go to her son's wedding, the ones who assumed she was a criminal, the one who was in control of the wheel. I would have loved a more fleshed-out telling of that story.

But the more I reflect on the movie, the more I realize that I was quite intrigued by the Japanese story. That one just didn't feel connected to the film and was more like a short film attached to the movie. It was definitely the most subtle of the stories.

I'd rather have a movie like Quinceanara or Half Nelson, which subtly portray an extremely moving story and have fully developed characters.

[gypsysoul]

Originally Posted by SuzeQuze

I'm going to be rooting for my boy DiCaprio, woot!

You and me both SuzeQuze!

I saw Blood Diamond on Friday and he is awesome in that, even better than in the Departed.
I would say he is a shoo in for the oscar too except that apparently Forest Whittaker's turn as Idi Amin is suposed to be phenomenal and I think our boy might be pipped at the post again as he was for the the Aviator.
Good news is I cover many of these awards events and his nominations will give me a chance to stalk, I mean interview him again