Awards season is heating up. Yesterday, the Screen Actors Guild announced their nominees and this morning we heard from the Golden Globes. Both are considered early indicators of the Oscars, but for different reasons. SAG is the actors voting for other actors and since the same people vote for the acting awards at the Oscars, they tend to come out the same way. The Golden Globes voters, a mysterious secret group of “foreign press” no one hears from except at awards time. Because they give out separate awards for drama and comedy and for television and movies, they cover a lot of territory, which (1) makes a lot of stars happy, (2) insures a lot of stars will appear at the ceremony and a lot of people will watch the show, and (3) just as a matter of statistics, gives them a good chance of covering all the Academy Award nominees. (Plus, the show is a lot of fun because it does not take itself too seriously.)

I was particularly happy to see the Golden Globes acknowledge “Selma,” my favorite film of the year, as it did not get a single nomination from SAG. Indeed, SAG did not nominate any actor of color in any of its categories, truly shameful in a year that included brilliant work by dozens of actors including the casts of “Selma,” “Beyond the Lights,” “Belle,” “Get on Up,” and more. Reportedly, the nominators did not see “Selma” in time to consider it. If that’s true, it is the fault of the studio.

Another disappointment was the omission of “Unbroken” as a Best Picture nominee and Angelina Jolie as Best Director. If it were up to me, I’d have nominated star Jack O’Connell over Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher.” But it was wonderful to see the Globes nomination for “Selma” director Ava DuVernay, the first ever for a black woman, and the nomination for “Pride,” an overlooked gem that will be on my best of the year list.  And cheers to SAG for giving their lifetime achievement award to Debbie Reynolds!

Golden Globes nominations 2014

Best Motion Picture, Drama
Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Into the Woods
Pride
St. Vincent

Best Director, Motion Picture
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava Duvernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

Best TV Series, Drama
The Affair
Downton Abbey
Game of Thrones
The Good Wife
House of Cards

Best Comedy Series
Girls
Jane the Virgin
Orange Is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Transparent

Best TV Movie or Miniseries
Fargo
The Missing
The Normal Heart
Olive Kitteridge
True Detective

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
Julianne Moore, Map to the Stars
Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie
Helen Mirren, Hundred Foot Journey

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz, Big Eyes

Best Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K, Simmons, Whiplash

Best Performance by an Actress in TV Series, Drama
Claire Danes, Homeland
Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Ruth Wilson, The Affair
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Clive Owen, The Knick
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan
Kevin Spacey, House of Cards
James Spader, The Blacklist
Dominic West, The Affair

Best Performance by an Actress in TV Series, Comedy
Lena Dunham, Girls
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black

Best Performance by an Actor in TV Series, Comedy
Louis C.K., Louie
Don Cheadle, House of Lies
Ricky Gervais, Derek
William H. Macy, Shameless
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Best Screenplay, Motion Picture
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
Alejandro González Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game

Best Performance by an Actress in a TV Movie or Miniseries
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Honorable Woman
Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Frances McDormand, Olive Kitteridge
Frances O’Connor, The Missing
Allison Tolman, Fargo

Best Performance by a Supporting Actor in TV
Matt Bomer, The Normal Heart
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Colin Hanks, Fargo
Bill Murray, Olive Kitteridge
Jon Voight, Ray Donovan

Best Performance by Supporting Actress in TV
Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Kathy Bates, American Horror Story
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Allison Janney, Mom
Michelle Monaghan, True Detective

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Miniseries or Movie
Martin Freeman, Fargo
Woody Harrelson, True Detective
Matthew Mcconaughey, True Detective
Mark Ruffalo, The Normal Heart
Billy Bob Thornton, Fargo

Best Foreign film
Force Majeure (Sweden)
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (France)
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)

Animated Feature Film
Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

Best Original Song in Motion Picture
“Big Eyes,” Big Eyes, Lana Del Rey
“Glory,” Selma, John Legend and Common
“Mercy Is,” Noah, Patty Smith and Lenny K
“Opportunity,” Annie
“Yellow Flicker Beat,” The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I, Lorde

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture
The Imitation Game
The Theory of Everything
Gone Girl
Birdman
Interstellar

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