By now many of you have no doubt seen the list of nominees for this year’s Golden Globe Awards. A lot of people could care less about the Golden Globes, and while they pale in importance compared to the Oscars, they are still somewhat interesting if only because they recognize comedies as well as dramas, and also TV shows. The first thing that struck me about this year’s list is the fact that there are 7 nominees for Best Picture in the Drama category. What’s up with that? Granted, it is a very strong year for film in general, but why can they arbitrarily decide to nominate 7 films instead of 5? I guess they can do whatever they want (some of the TV categories had 6 nominees too). The other thing is that comedies are almost completely shut out by musicals (who knows why musical and comedy belong in the same category). One thing’s for sure… it’s shaping up to be a tight race between Atonement and No Country for Old Men at the Oscars this year. Here’s the complete list of nominees:

Best Motion Picture, Drama:
– “American Gangster”
– “Atonement”
– “Eastern Promises”
– “The Great Debaters”
– “Michael Clayton”
– “No Country for Old Men”
– “There Will Be Blood”

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:
– “Across the Universe”
– “Charlie Wilson’s War”
– “Hairspray”
– “Juno”
– “Sweeney Todd”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama:
– Cate Blanchett, “Elizabeth: The Golden Age”
– Julie Christie, “Away From Her”
– Jodie Foster, “The Brave One”
– Angelina Jolie, “A Mighty Heart”
– Kiera Knightley, “Atonement”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama:
– George Clooney, “Michael Clayton”
– Daniel Day-Lewis, “There Will Be Blood”
– James McAvoy, “Atonement”
– Viggo Mortensen, “Eastern Promises”
– Denzel Washington, “American Gangster”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:
– Amy Adams, “Enchanted”
– Nikki Blonsky, “Hairspray”
– Helena Bonham Carter, “Sweeney Todd”
– Marion Cotillard, “La Vie En Rose”
– Ellen Page, “Juno”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:
– Johnny Depp, “Sweeney Todd”
– Ryan Gosling, “Lars and the Real Girl”
– Tom Hanks, “Charlie Wilson’s War”;
– Philip Seymour Hoffman, “The Savages”
– John C. Reilly, “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”

Best Performance by an Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture:
– Cate Blanchett, “I’m Not There”
– Julia Roberts, “Charlie Wilson’s War”
– Saoirse Ronan, “Atonement”
– Amy Ryan, “Gone Baby Gone”
– Tilda Swinton, “Michael Clayton”

Best Performance by an Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture:
– Casey Affleck, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”
– Javier Bardem, “No Country for Old Men”
– Philip Seymour Hoffman, “Charlie Wilson’s War”
– John Travolta, “Hairspray”
– Tom Wilkinson, “Michael Clayton”

Best Director:
– Tim Burton, “Sweeney Todd”
– Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
– Julian Schnabel, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
– Ridley Scott, “American Gangster”
– Joe Wright, “Atonement.”

Best Screenplay:
– Diablo Cody, “Juno”
– Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, “No Country for Old Men”
– Christopher Hampton, “Atonement”
– Ronald Harwood, “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”
– Aaron Sorkin, “Charlie Wilson’s War”

Best Foreign Language Film:
– “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” Romania
– “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” France and U.S.
– “The Kite Runner,” U.S.
– “Lust, Caution,” Taiwan
– “Persepolis,” France

Best Animated Film:
– “Bee Movie,”
– “Ratatouille,”
– “The Simpsons Movie.”

Best Original Score:
– Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder, “Into the Wild”
– Clint Eastwood, “Grace Is Gone”
– Alberto Iglesias, “The Kite Runner”
– Dario Marianelli, “Atonement”
– Howard Shore, “Eastern Promises.

Best Original Song:
– “Despedida” from “Love in the Time of Cholera”
– “Grace Is Gone” from “Grace Is Gone”
– “Guaranteed” from “Into the Wild”
– “That’s How You Know” from “Enchanted”
– “Walk Hard” from “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story”

TELEVISION:

Best Series, Drama:
– “Big Love,” HBO
– “Damages,” FX Networks
– “Grey’s Anatomy,” ABC
– “House,” Fox
– “Mad Men,” AMC
– “The Tudors,” Showtime

Series, Musical or Comedy:
– “30 Rock,” NBC
– “Californication,” Showtime
– “Entourage,” HBO
– “Extras,” HBO
– “Pushing Daisies,” ABC

Actress, Drama:
– Patricia Arquette, “Medium”
– Glenn Close, “Damages”
– Minnie Driver, “The Riches”
– Edie Falco, “The Sopranos”
– Sally Field, “Brothers & Sisters”
– Holly Hunter, “Saving Grace”
– Kyra Sedgwick, “The Closer”

Actor, Drama:
– Michael C. Hall, “Dexter”
– Jon Hamm, “Mad Men”
– Hugh Laurie, “House”
– Jonathan Rhys Meyers, “The Tudors”
– Bill Paxton, “Big Love”

Actress, Musical or Comedy:
– Christina Applegate, “Samantha Who?”
– America Ferrera, “Ugly Betty”
– Tina Fey, “30 Rock”
– Anna Friel, “Pushing Daisies”
– Mary-Louise Parker, “Weeds”

Actor, Musical or Comedy:
– Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock”
– Steve Carell, “The Office”
– David Duchovny, “Californication”
– Ricky Gervais, “Extras”
– Lee Pace, “Pushing Daisies”

Miniseries or Movie:
– “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” HBO
– “The Company,” TNT
– “Five Days,” HBO
– “Longford,” HBO
– “The State Within,” BBC America

Actress, Miniseries or Movie:
– Bryce Dallas Howard, “As You Like It”
– Debra Messing, “The Starter Wife”
– Queen Latifah, “Life Support”
– Sissy Spacek, “Pictures of Hollis Woods”
– Ruth Wilson, “Jane Eyre (Masterpiece Theatre)”

Actor, Miniseries or Movie:
– Adam Beach, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”
– Ernest Borgnine, “A Grandpa for Christmas”
– Jim Broadbent, “Longford”
– Jason Isaacs, “The State Within”
– James Nesbitt, “Jekyll”

Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie:
– Rose Byrne, “Damages”
– Rachel Griffiths, “Brothers & Sisters”
– Katherine Heigl, “Grey’s Anatomy”
– Samantha Morton, “Longford”
– Anna Paquin, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee”
– Jaime Pressly, “My Name Is Earl”

Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie:
– Ted Danson, “Damages”
– Kevin Dillon, “Entourage”
– Jeremy Piven, “Entourage”
– Andy Serkis, “Longford”
– William Shatner, “Boston Legal”
– Donald Sutherland, “Dirty Sexy Money”