With all the year-end countdowns and best-of lists flying around these days, one could easily get overwhelmed with trying to sort out what was worth your time this year. Thankfully, there’s an elite group of like 17 random foreign journalists who put on a little awards show every year called the Golden Globes, perhaps you’ve heard of them? Well, they announced the nominations this morning, and hey, they decided to include seven movies in the “Best Motion Picture – Drama” category. Boy are you pissed if you were choice #8, huh:
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
No Into the Wild, thank God, but jeez, that’s a lot of blood, there, Globes. Remind me to put more murderous violence in my DJ sets so I can win some awards. The not-so-violent Atonement actually led the pack in terms of total nominations, with seven, including some acting nods, director and screenplay. The book was good but I hear the movie is “meh.” Next up, “Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy,” and the nominees are:
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson’s War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeney Todd
Sorry, Knocked Up! Too sexy! Other items of note include the terrible “Californication” sneaking in for “Best Comedy/Musical TV Series,” and the respectable (and smoke-filled) “Mad Men” getting a nod in “Best TV Series – Drama.” Generally, the trend of broadcast networks becoming less and less relevant continues: only four of the eleven TV series nominees might come through your antenna.
On a random note, BBC America’s government-shakedown thriller “The State Within,” up for “Best Miniseries,” created a fictional country called “Tyrgyzan” as part of its labyrinthine plot. Is that next to Kerblakistan? So that’s where all these journalists are from.