Golden Globe record holder Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia! (top) and in Doubt (bottom)
The biggest surprise in the 2008 Golden Globe nominations' list is that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association didn't dig a spot for Nicole Kidman in Australia (which was totally shut out), especially considering that Kidman's former husband Tom Cruise did garner a best supporting actor nod for Tropic Thunder. (Cruise's nomination, by the way, elicited laughter from journalists present at the Golden Globes announcement ceremony at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Laughter also greeted James Franco's nomination — not for Milk, mind you, but as best actor in a comedy or musical for Pineapple Express.)
Among other Golden Globe oddities was the fact that Milk and the highly popular The Dark Knight received only one nomination apiece, for, respectively, Sean Penn as best actor (drama) and Heath Ledger as best supporting actor. For the record, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's top films of 2008 were The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, and Frost/Nixon, each with five nominations. Critics' fave Slumdog Millionaire received four nods.
But if Cruise & Kidman didn't make it, there's Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie — for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Changeling (above), respectively (nothing for Jennifer Aniston, sigh) — and even Sam Mendes (Revolutionary Road, which has been mostly ignored by other award-giving organizations in the US) & Kate Winslet (twice, for both The Reader and Revolutionary Road).
The foreign-language nominees are all among the usual suspects. Four of the five will probably get Academy Award nods as well (I've Loved You So Long is ineligible in that Oscar category).
And if the revered Clint Eastwood failed to nab noms for best actor (Gran Torino) or best director (either Gran Torino or Changeling), the Hollywood Foreign Press made sure to have him somewhere: best original score (Changeling) and best song ("Gran Torino").
As so often happens at the Golden Globes, among the television nominees there are plenty of big-screen celebrities, including several past Academy Award winners and nominees, among them Sally Field, Susan Sarandon, Ralph Fiennes, Tom Wilkinson (in two categories), Judi Dench, Anna Paquin, Shirley MacLaine, Laura Linney, Kevin Spacey, and Catherine Keener.
And there are lots and lots of British talent. In addition to the aforementioned Ralph Fiennes, Tom Wilkinson, Judi Dench, Kate Winslet (above, with Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road), and Sam Mendes, also shortlisted were Emma Thompson, Sally Hawkins, David Hare, Stephen Daldry, Danny Boyle, Kristin Scott Thomas, and several others.
Missing in action: Josh Brolin (for either Milk or W.), Michael Sheen (for Frost/Nixon), Cate Blanchett (for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Rosemarie DeWitt and Debra Winger (for Rachel Getting Married), Gus Van Sant (for Milk), Christopher Nolan (for The Dark Knight), Melissa Leo (Frozen River), The Class, and Richard Jenkins (The Visitor).
As for double nominee Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!/Doubt), she has made Golden Globe history as the most nominated (23 times) performer ever. The previous Golden Globe record holder was Jack Lemmon, with 22 nods.