2008 Golden Globe Nominees Announced

Posted by on December 11th, 2008   Filed under: Awards

The nominees for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards were announced this morning from The Beverly Hilton, and movie pundits are undoubtedly tweaking their Oscar predictions as we speak. One of the first things people will notice is that The Dark Knight didn’t manage to crack the line-up of December dramas that includes Sam Mendes’ Revolutionary Road, Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon, and Stephen Daldry’s The Reader. Heath Ledger did get a nod for best Supporting Actor, although does it really mean anything when you’re in the same category as Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise from Tropic Thunder??

I know a lot of people will be happy to see In Bruges getting some love, and the number of nominations for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button only heightens my anticipation for this flick. Are you happy with the list? Do you see any surprises? The truth is, most of us haven’t seen a lot of these films yet. The Golden Globe Awards telecast will air on Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at 8 pm EST on NBC. More nominees after the jump, or check out the full list via the link below.

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

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

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

Best Actress – Drama
Angelina Jolie (Changeling)
Anne Hathaway (Rachel Getting Married)
Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Kristin Scott Thomas (I’ve Loved You So Long)
Kate Winslet (Revolutionary Road)

Best Actor – Drama
Leonardo DiCaprio (Revolutionary Road)
Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon)
Sean Penn (Milk)
Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button)
Mickey Rourke (The Wrestler)

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical
Sally Hawkins (Happy-Go-Lucky)
Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading)
Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!)
Emma Thompson (Last Chance Harvey)
Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)

Best Actor – Comedy or Musical
Javier Bardem (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Colin Farrell (In Bruges)
James Franco (Pineapple Express)
Dustin Hoffman (Last Chance Harvey)
Brendan Gleeson (In Bruges)

Best Animated Film
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda
WALL-E

Best Foreign Language Film
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams (Doubt)
Penelope Cruz (Vicky Cristina Barcelona)
Viola Davis (Doubt)
Marisa Tomei (The Wrestler)
Kate Winslet (The Reader)

Best Supporting Actor
Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder)
Robert Downey Jr. (Tropic Thunder)
Philip Seymour Hoffman (Doubt)
Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight)
Ralph Fiennes (The Duchess)

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

Best TV Series – Drama
Dexter
House
In Treatment
Mad Men
True Blood

Best TV Series – Comedy or Musical
30 Rock
Californication
Entourage
The Office
Weeds

» Related Link: 2008 Golden Globe Nominees



  • Chaz

    I was surprised that the Wrestler wasn’t nominated. It’s gotten a lot of love, but maybe they see it more as a one man show, like There Will Be Blood.

  • Liz

    I feel incredibly underwhelmed by most of this but I’ve been hard pressed to think of better nominations.

  • Rourke and Tomei did get nominated for The Wrestler, although Aronofsky was overlooked. I guess it makes sense since it’s definitely more of a character piece, but I think Aronofsky’s subtlety is one of the things that made it so good.

    Hard to criticize a lot of the picks when we haven’t seen them, but they do seem a little too predictable.

  • I’m surprised by the Vicky Cristina Barcelona nomination. I thought all the critics savaged this movie or at least thought it was a typical nondescript Woody Allen movie despite the actors and the plot.

    I haven’t seen it yet, myself. Anybody reading this seen it? Comments?

  • If it’s subtle, it won’t get nominated. Which basically means none of my favourite movies will ever get nominated. I learned that lesson in the year of the Crash. Now I enjoy awards season on a strictly political and statistical basis. And for the gambling.

  • j brenden

    thrilled about the vicky christina barcelona best flick nod (not to mention 3 actor nods: cruz, bardem, hall) it was easily one of my favorite movies this year. burn after reading deserves it too but as it was more quirky and bizarre than truly funny, i think its a long shot. really surprised though about mamma mia getting nominated, while who doesnt love Streep this film was horrid…i walked out…i hate when musicals cast stars who just cant sing, i enjoyed the 2 live performances i’ve seen of it much better. yeah heath ledger, seems like a given! i happened to just see tropic of thunder this week, not a great film but it had some funny moments, but seriously….2 best supporting nods? WTF, can see how maybe they’d think of robert downey jr., but tom’s character was just annoying and not that well done. that said i think he will really be amazing in Valkyrie. I still find it odd that with GG’s often the films are nominated before even being released to the public… ah hollywood. Looks like its going to be an even better year for Brad, Angie and their six-pac. J

  • Ottobud

    Go Dexter! Tom Cruise being nominated is just crazy.

  • Alex

    I’m so glad In Bruges got some nominations. That is easily my best film of the year so far.

  • Mike

    GO DANNY BOYLE!! After Sunshine, this guy better win something.

  • MannyD

    I’m no film expert, but no matter what any critic says, Dark Knight made more money than ANY movie on this list. Even the ones that have yet to be released won’t match up to Dark Knight’s earnings. That has to be worth more than only a Best Supporting Actor nomination!

  • Boyle and Fincher both deserve to win something at some point in their lives based upon the Scorcese Doctrine.

  • Primal

    The Wire not nominated for Best TV series drama pisses me off.
    I really don’t get how Tom Cruise is nominated.
    I am glad that Penelope Cruz got nominated for best supporting actress. VCB wasn’t a great movie but Cruz was awesome in it.
    A pretty big surprise to see James Franco get nominated, but I love that he is.

  • Primal

    BTW I fucking hate the Golden Globes and award shows in general. I guess its fun when your a part of a circle-jerking party, but when I see it from the outside in, it annoys me to no end.

    I do, however, like the MTV movie awards sometimes.

  • In response to your comment MannyD, the critics loved Dark Knight as much as the general public did. By your criteria, I take it that you thought Sex and the City should have got some nominations as well. :-)

    The day a comic book film gets nominated for Best Film is the day SkyNet takes over.

    (BTW, I don’t understand why Christian Bale did the new Terminator movie. Did he get into acting for the money?)

  • Anupam

    Hi Clint Eastwood not nominated for his marvellous performance in Gran Torino! I think that was one bad miss… Also I personally loved Jullianne Moore’s performance in Blindness…. it should atleast have been nominated. lastly Meryl Streep should stop accepting awards now…. its high time she gives others a chance..