Film
Who Scored
In the category of Best Motion Picture–Drama, the South African-set spy thriller The Constant Gardener and director David Cronenberg’s compellingly pulpy A History of Violence joined Brokeback Mountain, Good Night, and Good Luck and Match Point.
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s uncanny turn as true crime author Truman Capote in Capote was on par with Heath Ledger’s intensely conflicted gay ranch hand in Brokeback Mountain among the most talked-about performances of the year, and both landed in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture Drama crop, alongside Russell Crowe’s Depression-era boxer for Cinderella Man, Terrence Howard’s pimp-turned-aspiring-hip-hop artist for Hustle & Flow and David Strathairn’s ethical broadcaster Edward R. Murrow in Good Night, and Good Luck.
Joining Transamerica’s gender-bending Felicity Huffman in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture–Drama category were Maria Bello as the wife shocked by her husband’s secret past in A History of Violence, Charlize Theron as the sexually harassed coal miner in North Country, Ziyi Zhang as the emerging geisha in Memoirs of a Geisha and, in a bit of surprise, Gwyneth Paltrow for her strong turn as the daughter of a math genius who fears she’s inherited his madness in Proof, a film that otherwise made little impact critically or commercially.
Unlike other major awards galas like the Academy Awards which have a single top-tier field, the Golden Globe Awards also offers a second Musical or Comedy category, though the distinctions often seem a little odd. For Best Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy. The Producers was a natural fit either way, as was the wartime burlesque film Mrs. Henderson Presents, and the light-as-air nature of Pride & Prejudice made it an appropriate choice, but shoehorning in the very fiery and dramatic biopic Walk the Line because of all the Johnny Cash music seems a stretch, as does the also otherwise deserving The Squid and the Whale, which is more heartbreaking than gut-busting.
Joaquin Phoenix’s blistering interpretation of country legend Cash placed him in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy, joining Nathan Lane as the blustery blowhard Max Bialystock of The Producers, Johnny Depp’s wildly weird Willie Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Jeff Daniels’ divorced author-academic in The Squid and the Whale, alongside two surprise choices: Pierce Brosnan’s eccentric assassin in The Matador and Cillian Murphy’s soft-spoken transvestite in Neil Jordan’s widely panned Breakfast on Pluto.
It seems impossible not to nominate Judi Dench each year, and she scored in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy crowd for Mrs. Henderson Presents, joined by her Pride & Prejudice co-star Keira Knightley, Walk the Line’s Reese Witherspoon, The Family Stone’s Sarah Jessica Parker and The Squid and the Whale’s Laura Linney.
Dramatic, comedic and musical performances merge again in the supporting actor fields. Among the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role contenders, Syriana’s George Clooney was joined by Crash’s Matt Dillon, The Producers’ Will Ferrell, Cinderella Man’s Paul Giamatti and Mrs. Henderson Presents’ Bob Hoskins. A wide spectrum of age ranges was represented in the category of Best Performance by an Actress, with nominations for Match Point’s Scarlett Johansson, Brokeback Mountain’s Michelle Williams, The Constant Gardener’s Rachel Weisz, North Country’s Frances McDormand and In Her Shoes‘ Shirley MacLaine.
Finally, King Kong powerhouse Peter Jackson joined Woody Allen, Clooney, Ang Lee in the Best Director field (which also encompasses all genres) which, with the inclusion of The Constant Gardener’s Fernando Meirelles and Munich’s Steven Spielberg, is one of the hottest competitions to watch this year.
Who Was Ignored
You can’t throw an awards show without some surprising–and in some cases, head-scratching–omissions. This year the elephant in the room (actually, make that giant gorilla) has to be King Kong. Sure, Peter Jackson got his expected directorial acknowledgement, but it’s stunning to see the film absent in the Best Picture category. Even more egregious is the absence of Naomi Watts, whose utterly convincing performance fuels the film’s emotional core–particularly in a year notably lacking in strong roles for leading ladies.
It seems a shock that no nominations turned up for Match Point’s Jonathan Rhys-Meyers (though he did score one for his turn in the TV miniseries Elvis), A History of Violence’s Viggo Mortensenand The Constant Gardener’s Ralph Fiennes, each of whom is critical to the success of their nominated films. Jake Gyllenhaal, already getting the short end of the stick for his brilliant work in Jarhead, was truly left out on the cold side of Brokeback Mountain, un-nominated as either a leading or supporting actor. And how do you nominate Nathan Lane without the two-part harmony of his Producers partner Matthew Broderick? On the supporting player side, Mickey Rourkeand Benicio Del Toro both gave brilliant, unrecognizable performances through layers of prosthetics in Sin City, while Catherine Keener and Renee Zellweger gave soul to their roles in Capote and Cinderella Man, respectively.
Directors also came up surprisingly empty-handed: though their films were each roundly hailed, Walk the Line’s James Mangold, Cinderella Man’s Ron Howard, Mrs. Henderson Presents’ Stephen Frears and A History of Violence’s David Cronenberg failed to score one nomination among them.
And considering there are entire categories devoted to comedy, it seems, well, funny that not a single nomination was given to either of the two most-talked about (and laughed-at) comedies of the year, Wedding Crashers and The 40 Year-Old Virgin.
TV
Who Scored
For the past several years, it seems the TV categories have been overwhelmed by long-running shows that just had to be included, but the current crop is populated by a fresh group of whippersnappers, making it anyone’s Golden Globe to win this year.
Among the Best Television Series–Drama contenders, the sophomore sensation Lost is joined by a quartet of rookies: Commander In Chief, Grey’s Anatomy, Prison Break and Rome. The Best Actor–Drama crowd consists of Patrick Dempsey (Grey’s Anatomy), Matthew Fox (Lost), Hugh Laurie (House), Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) and category stalwart Kiefer Sutherland (24), while the Best Actress–Drama nominees include Patricia Arquette (Medium), Glenn Close (The Shield), Geena Davis (Commander In Chief), Kyra Sedgwick (The Closer) and Polly Walker (Rome).
For Best Television Series–Musical or Comedy, the contenders are equally fresh, with perennial Curb Your Enthusism and the unavoidable Desperate Housewives joined by Entourage, Everybody Hates Chris, My Name Is Earl and Weeds. Joining Steve Carell (The Office) in the Best Actor–Musical or Comedy field are Zach Braff (Scrubs), Larry David (Curb Your Enthusiasm), Jason Lee (My Name Is Earl) and Charlie Sheen (Two and a Half Men), while Weeds’ Mary-Louise Parker is the sole non-resident of Wisteria Lane joining Marcia Cross, Felicity Huffman, Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoriain the crop nominated for Best Actress–Musical or Comedy.
The supporting fields continue to be an odd jumble, with mini-series names like Paul Newman (Empire Falls) and Randy Quaid (Elvis) up against comedy and drama series players Jeremy Piven (Entourage), Naveen Andrews (Lost) and Donald Sutherland (Commander In Chief). The same is true for the ladies, with Joanne Woodward (Empire Falls) and Camryn Manheim(Elvis) contending with Sandra Oh (Grey’s Anatomy), Candice Bergen (Boston Legal) and Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds).
Who Was Ignored
Last year the HFPA had no love for Eva Longoria (reportedly because she skipped out on a meet-and-greet with the notoriously autograph and photo-op craving members—to be with a dying relative, it should be noted). This year, Nicolette Sheridan came up sans Globe nom. We can only wonder was she must have done.
As for the rest, there’s so much good TV, and so little time – we’ll just throw you a list: The Shield, Rescue Me, Battlestar Galactica, Scrubs, Gilmore Girls, Arrested Development, The Shield’s Michael Chiklis and Anthony Anderson, Rescue Me‘s Denis Leary, The West Wing‘s Jimmy Smits, Grey’s Anatomy‘s Ellen Pompeo and Kate Walsh, Lost‘s Evangeline Lilly, Gilmore Girls‘ Lauren Graham, My Name Is Earl‘s Jaime Pressly, Entourage‘s Kevin Dillon, The Office‘s Rainn Wilson, Scrubs‘ John C. McGinley, etc., etc. And as nice as it is to welcome so many new faces, did the superlative final season of Six Feet Under really rank zero nominations?
