Gerard Butler, Rashida Jones (who must have been a last minute addition, for some reason), Sofia Vergara and Woody Harrelson all got up (along with their various assistants, stylists and handlers I'm sure) at some ungodly hour to schlep down to the Beverly Hilton to read off the nominations for the 2012 Golden Globe Awards. I hope they had intravenous Starbucks in the Green Room.

Well, now the full list of nominations is out and, as I’m sure by now you’ve guessed, I’m a little disappointed.  (Apparently I wasn’t the only one, as Woody Harrelson obviously, fully expected to be nominated. And why wouldn’t he? He’s another that’s been practically anointed since TIFF, for his role in Rampart. I absolutely loved his spontaneous plug for his movie though.) I’m disappointed on behalf of a lot of actors and their films, to be honest. At least the egregious wrong perpetrated on Michael Fassbender by the Screen Actors Guild was righted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association – even if the Golden Globes are far less relevant.  ( On the tv side of things, I am, however, happy that Damian Lewis , Claire Danes and “Homeland”,  Idris Elba for ”Luther”, as well as Dominic West, Romola Garai and “The Hour” were all recognized.)

*And Machine Gun Preacher did get one nomination: Best Original Song- “The Keeper” written by Chris Cornell!! (Hey, I take my victories where I can find them!! If nothing else it means that they can put “Golden Globe Nominee”- possibly winner- on the dvd case.)*

Is this the year that trends are bucked; the year that anyone who’s been called a “lock” or a “frontrunner” doesn’t even get a mention?  For instance, where is Vanessa Redgrave’s name on the list of Best Supporting Actresses (for Ralph Fiennes’ Coriolanus)? After the SAG snub, this does not bode well.

Of course, there are the safe choices that everyone presumed would be made, like Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady and Glen Close for Albert Nobbs. (I suppose it will come down to whose studio &/or distributor shelled out the most ducats to the HFPA.) I was surprised that they recognized Rooney Mara for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (although she apparently acted all by herself and on her own in some sort of vacuum since neither her costar nor director or even the film were mentioned.) In fact, quite a few of the acting nominations are stand alone.

I don’t get how they come up with these things anyway. How can you have sixteen films (total) nominated for Best Picture (Drama, Musical/Comedy or Animated categories) and only five directing nominations? Did the other eleven direct themselves? (eg: Steven Spielberg has two films nominated for Best Picture in their categories – Best Drama War Horse, Best Animated Feature The Adventures of Tintin, but HE was overlooked.)

**On what planet is The Ides of March a freakin’ COMEDY?? Ryan Gosling, who was not nominated for the superior Drive, was nominated for the former in the Best Actor Musical/Comedy category. I need this explained to me.

edit- Ryan Gosling was nominated in the Best Actor Musical/Comedy category for Crazy Stupid Love, and not, as was erroneously reported (by the NY Times, no less-silly me for not fact checking the "Newspaper of Record"-they've since corrected their report as well) for the Ides of March. He was nominated for that film in the Drama category. Gosling still should have been nominated for Drive and not for playing the Clooney doppleganger in Ides of March

It was great to see Brendan Gleeson recognized for The Guard, but then they singled out Owen Wilson for  Midnight in Paris so that cancels that out.

Frankly, all of the nominations were all over the map. All I can take away from this is that once again I have to say that this year is going to be nearly impossible to call.

Nominations for the 68^th Annual Golden Globe Awards:

FILM Categories:

Best Drama
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Best Comedy/Musical
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn

Best Actress in a Drama
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Best Actor in a Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo Dicaprio, J. Edgar

Michael Fassbender , Shame

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Brendan Gleeson, The Guard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Ryan Gosling , Crazy Stupid Love

Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Best Supporting Actress

Berenice Bejo, The Artist

Jessica Chastain, The Help

Janet McTeer , Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer , The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Animated Film
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Rango
Puss in Boots
The Adventures of Tintin

Best Foreign Language Film

A Separation (Iran)

The Flowers Of War (China)

The Kid With the Bike (Belgium)

In The Land Of Blood and Honey (USA)

The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Best Screenplay

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist

George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March

Steve Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin , Moneyball

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash , The Descendants

Best Director
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Television Categories:

BEST TV SERIES, DRAMA
American Horror Story, FX
Boardwalk Empire, HBO
Boss, Starz
Game of Thrones, HBO
Homeland, Showtime

BEST TV SERIES, COMEDY
Enlightened, HBO
Episodes, Showtime
Glee, Fox
Modern Family, ABC
New Girl, Fox

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Brian Crantson, Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer, Boss
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Damian Lewis, Homeland

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Madeleine Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

BEST ACTOR, COMEDY
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY
Laura Dern, Enlightenment
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

BEST MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Cinema Verite, HBO
Downton Abbey, Masterpiece PBS
The Hour, BBC America
Mildred Pierce, HBO
Too Big To Fail, HBO

BEST ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey, Masterpiece
Idris Elba, Luther
WIlliam Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, The Hour

BEST ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Romola Garai, The Hour
Diane Lane, Cinema Lane
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR TV MOVIE
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

The 2012 Golden Globes will air Sunday, January 15th on NBC. Of course I'll be watching. I love a good train wreck…(especially in black tie!)