THE 2015 GOLDEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS!

No one can ever say the Golden Globes are predictable. Phew. I'm so glad we have getting stranded in the middle of space and the 2008 financial crisis to laugh at because APPARENTLY these are two of the best comedies 2015 had to offer. Remarkable. Also I learned valuable lessons, like you can't always bank on Meryl Streep (and if you do, then bank on Maggie Smith, who over the years has just become one hilariously cranky awards statue from all of her wins), not to underestimate the power of Alicia Vikander, and to always remember the movies that came before the November-December Oscar season (sorry for leaving you out Danny Collins!) Without further ado, here are the major film category nominations for the Globes, and ones I missed/left out are in red. The list is notable for having completely gotten one field wrong, and another entirely correct! What can I say, it's the week before exams.

DRAMA

FILM: 

• Spotlight
• Carol
• The Revenant
• Mad Max: Fury Road (I could explode into a fire-shooting guitar riff I'm so excited over this nomination for one of the year's best films! I understand the lack of love from the SAGs yesterday; the focus of this movie wasn't on its cast. But this bodes extremely well for the Academy Awards, and the Critic's Choice Awards nominations coming up Monday. I've never been happier to've been wrong).
• Room

ACTOR: (I guess Bryan Cranston really can just sneeze and get an award! Trumbo, the review of which will be up shortly, is an actor's movie. That's why it got so much SAG attention. I don't know if this will translate into Oscar nods for Best Picture, but Cranston and Helen Mirren seem like locks now).

• Eddie Redmayne- The Danish Girl
• Michael Fassbender- Steve Jobs
• Leonardo DiCaprio- The Revenant
• Bryan Cranston- Trumbo
• Will Smith- Concussion

ACTRESS: (Non-awards junkies won't care, but the Globes made Vikander and Mara, who got SAG nods for supporting yesterday, compete in the lead because, oh shucks, they are the leads in their respective films. I like that the Globes are getting backbone, they even defied God himself (Harvey Weinstein) when he tried to tell them Tarantino's Hateful Eight was a comedy. Though it's up for three Globes, see it anywhere in the major categories? Just saying). 

• Cate Blanchett- Carol
• Brie Larson- Room
• Saoirse Ronan- Brooklyn
• Rooney Mara- Carol
• Alicia Vikander- The Danish Girl

COMEDY/MUSICAL

FILM: (I've already talked about my displeasure with two of these. Adam McKay is a renowned comedy director, but IMDb solely lists his Big Short as a drama. Love and Mercy was also left out, and absolutely no love for Compton in anything!)

• Trainwreck
• Joy
• Spy
• The Martian
• The Big Short

ACTOR: (Well, this is embarrassing. But what a random list, isn't it? I suppose if I would've dug back deep enough I could've remembered Pacino's turn as the titular Collins, which didn't make much of a dent upon its release. But who would've thunk it?) 

• Steve Carrell- The Big Short
• Christian Bale- The Big Short
• Mark Ruffalo- Infinitely Polar Bear
• Matt Damon- The Martian
• Al Pacino- Danny Collins

ACTRESS: (Even though it was expected, it's great to see Tomlin and Schumer on here, both great comedians on the extreme opposites of the career spectrum. McCarthy was a close cut that I should've stuck with while selecting my list. I remember seeing the trailer to Lady in the Van, and it looked like a cute little BBC made-for-TV movie. Smith has proved me wrong.)

• Amy Schumer- Trainwreck
• Jennifer Lawrence- Joy
• Lily Tomlin- Grandma
• Melissa McCarthy- Spy
• Maggie Smith- The Lady in the Van

EVERYTHING ELSE

SUPPORTING ACTOR: (I'm glad Sly was able to get some traction here after being left out yesterday. This goes to show Michael Shannon and Idris Elba are forces I hadn't even considered to be reckoned with. I'll be watching Beasts before the year ends so it can qualify for my best-of if I like it that much. 99 Homes made no money in its limited release, but I had been hearing raves about Shannon's role as a conniving businessman.)

• Sylvester Stallone- Creed
• Mark Rylance- Bridge of Spies
• Paul Dano- Love and Mercy
• Michael Shannon- 99 Homes
• Idris Elba- Beasts of No Nation

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: 

• Alicia Vikander- Ex Machina (Right actress, wrong movie. I rolled my eyes at Vikander getting two nominations; there's so many other people to choose from!!! But if it was going to be for this movie, I'm so glad. She was robotic grace as Ava the A.I., and even though I know this little indie was released too early for the old men at the Academy to remember, I'm happy it got this attention, so more people can go see it!)
• Kate Winslet- Steve Jobs
• Jennifer Jason Leigh- The Hateful Eight
• Jane Fonda- Youth
• Helen Mirren- Trumbo (Mirren's turn as the despicable Hedda Hopper was memorable and wicked, but not award-worthy. It looks like she's on her way to her fifth Oscar recognition.)

DIRECTOR:

• George Miller- Mad Max: Fury Road (My gutsy choice of Miller paid off! This surely has to redeem Happy Feet Two, right?)
• Tom McCarthy- Spotlight
• Todd Haynes- Carol
• Ridley Scott- The Martian
• Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu- The Revenant (Inarritu lost this same award last year to Richard Linklater for (sighs) Boyhood. Revenant has been getting stellar reviews: could he go all the way to the Oscars AGAIN?)

SCREENPLAY: 

• Spotlight
• The Hateful Eight
• Steve Jobs
• The Big Short
• Room (After reading the little flap in the back of Emma Donaghue's book that said she was helping "Room" get from the page to the screen, there is nothing more satisfying than seeing one of my favorite novels of all time get made into a potential Oscar winner.)

ANIMATED FILM: (Finally a 100%! It only took me 10 races, but when it comes to kid's movies, and one dark middle-life crisis, I'm your man.) 

• Inside Out
• Shaun the Sheep Movie
• The Peanuts Movie
• Anomolisa
• The Good Dinosaur

PREDICTIONS RIGHT: 32.5/55