2008 Golden Globe Nominations (films only)

It has arrived! The 2008 Golden Globe Nominations for year ending Dec 31, 2008 has landed. It feels like every day there is a new 2008 film list be it a top ten, nominations or winners but for me The Globes hit them home. It feels like the strongest precursor to the Oscars and this list I treat as a shopping list of films to see through and after the holidays. I no longer will go see films I'm not interested in at all but list serves as a reminder to the ones that may have been slowly drifting of my list of films to see.

Although there isn't a clear lead film with top nominations capping out at 5 a piece going to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt and Frost/Nixon, the big excitement is for both Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet who both picked up two acting nominations a piece.

One of the biggest surprized is not one but two acting nominations for Tropic Thunder with Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise up for best supporting role. How ironic is it that Robert Downey Jr. is nominated for playing a character that was known for being awards-centric? The fanboys can have that one but not that much more. The Dark Knight is up for just one nomination which I'm sure will be no surprize that it is for Heath Ledger in supporting role. The film does sit at a disadvantage here considering the Golden Globes have no tech categories. I do find it to be a surprize that Wall-E has settled into just the traditional animated film categories picking up just 2 nominations: Best Animated Film and Best Song.

The only film on the list that came out of nowhere is Last Chance Harvey, it was not released here in Toronto theatrically or in a festival setting. I'll have to keep an eye out for that one.

I've been looking forward to catching The Wrestler once it hits theatres and now looking at this list as a whole it's clear that taking in Frost/Nixon, Revolutionary Road, Happy-Go-Lucky, I've Loved You So Long, The Curious Case of Benjaming Button and The Reader are all homework for the weeks ahead.

The 66th Golden Globes Awards will be presented January 11th, 2009 at 8pm EST live on NBC.

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The
Frost/Nixon
Reader, The
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie in Changeling
Meryl Streep in Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas in I've Loved You So Long / Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn in Milk
Brad Pit in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Rebecca Hall in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand in Burn After Reading
Merly Streep in Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson in Last Chance Harvey

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Javier Bardem in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell in In Bruges
James Franco in Pineapple Express
Brendan Gleeson in In Bruges
Dustin Hoffman in Last Chance Harvey

Best Animated Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
Wall-E

Best Foreign Language Film
Baader Meinhof Complex, The / Der Badder Meinhof Komplex
Everlasting Moments / Maria Larssons Eviga Ögonblick
Gomorrah / Gomorra
I've Loved You So Long / Il y a longtemps que je t'aime
Waltz with Bashir

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams in Doubt
Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis in Doubt
Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler
Kate Winslet in The Reader

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder
Ralph Fiennes in The Duchess
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Best Director - Motion Picture
Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry for The Reader
David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Ron Howard for Frost/ Nixon
Sam Mendes for Revolutionary Road

Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare for The Reader
Peter Morgan for Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley for Doubt

Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Clint Eastwood for Changeling
James Newton Howard for Defiance
A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer for Frost/Nixon

Best Original Song - Motion Picture

"Down to Earth” from Wall-E
Music by: Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman
Lyrics by: Peter Gabriel

"Gran Torino"" from Gran Torino
Music by: Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens
Lyrics by: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens

"I Thought I Lost You"" from Bolt
Music & Lyrics by: Miley Cyrus, Jeffrey Steele

"Once in a Lifetime"" from Cadillac Records
Music & Lyrics by: Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, James Dring, Jody Street

"The Wrestler"" from The Wrestler
Music & Lyrics by: Bruce Springsteen

Number of Nominations per Film:
5 nominations for: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Frost/Nixon
4 nominations for: The Reader, Revolutionary Road, Slumdog Millionaire, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
3 nominations for: In Bruges, The Wrestler
2 nominations for: Bolt, Burn After Reading, Changeling, Happy-Go-Lucky, I've Loved You So Long / Il y a longtemps que je t'aime, Last Chance Harvey, Mamma Mia!, Tropic Thunder, Wall-E
1 nomination for: The Baader Meinhof Complex/ Der Badder Meinhof Komplex, Cadillac Records, The Dark Knight, Defiance, The Duchess, Everlasting Moments / Maria Larssons Eviga Ögonblick, Gomorrah / Gomorra, Gran Torino, Kung Fu Panda, Milk, Pineapple Express, Rachel Getting Married, Waltz with Bashir