The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has spoken and nothing was Lost in Translation. Sofia Coppola's semi-autobiographical tale of jet-lagged travelers in Tokyo is a leading contender among the Golden Globe nominees announced early Thursday morning.
The movie racked up a total of five nods, including Best Picture, Comedy or Musical; Best Actor for Bill Murray; Best Actress for Scarlett Johansson; as well as bookend Screenplay and Director nominations for Francis' talented daughter.
Johansson solidifed her status as one of Tinseltown's brightest up-and-coming stars with dual noms--she's also up for Best Actress in a Drama for her work in the art film Girl with a Pearl Earring, an adaptation of Tracy Chevalier's bestselling novel. She competes in that category against Cate Blanchett for Veronica Guerin--a surprising nomination as most expected Blanchett to make the cut for The Missing. Also in the mix: Nicole Kidman for Cold Mountain, Charlize Theron for Monster, Uma Thurman for Kill Bill: Volume 1 and relative newcomer Evan Rachel Wood for Thirteen.
As for Coppola, she faces off against an A-list roster in the race for best helmer. Her competition includes Clint Eastwood for Mystic River, Peter Jackson for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Weir for Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Cold Mountain director Anthony Minghella, who was another double-nominee, having chalked up a nod for his screenplay, as well.
E!'s Ultimate Globes GuideRundown of noms and all our previous coverage.
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Laffers going against Lost include British soccer caper Bend It Like Beckham; Tim Burton's magical family tale Big Fish; Disney-Pixar's Finding Nemo and another British contender, the ensemble romantic comedy Love Actually.
On the dramatic side, the 90-strong members of the HFPA tipped their hats to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Peter Jackson's rendition of the final installment of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy; Miramax's epic Civil War love story Cold Mountain; Russell Crowe's high-seas adventure Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World; Eastwood's dramatic thriller Mystic River; and horse-race saga Seabiscuit.
In fact, Cold Mountain topped the list of Golden competitors with a total of eight nominations, including kudos for its stars Nicole Kidman, up for Best Actress; Jude Law for Best Actor; and Renée Zellweger for Best Supporting Actress.
In the mix with Law for Best Actor in a Drama are Crowe; The Last Samurai's Tom Cruise; Mystic River's Sean Penn and House of Sand and Fog's Ben Kingsley. William H. Macy, considered a strong bet for his work in The Cooler, was a no-show on the Best Actor list but he was compensated with a Best Supporting nod for his role in Seabiscuit.
Because the Globes split their favorite movies and TV shows into two categories: Drama and Comedy or Musical, separate Best Actor and Best Actress lists are required for the funnies. As such, Murray competes against the high-octane likes of Johnny Depp for Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Jack Nicholson for Something's Gotta Give and Billy Bob Thornton for Bad Santa, along with surprise nominee Jack Black, a well-known teacher at the School of Rock.
Meanwhile, Nicholson's costar, Diane Keaton, joins Johansson in the Best Actress category for her role in Something's Gotta Give. Other funny-lady nominees are Jamie Lee Curtis for Freaky Friday, Diane Lane for Under the Tuscan Sun and Helen Mirren for Calendar Girls. Mirren was a double-medium nominee, also scoring a nod for Best Actress in a Miniseries/TV Movie for The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.
When it comes to Best Supporting Actors and Actresses, the Globes don't break out dramatic or comedic contenders, narrowing the pool of potential entries. Making the cut among actors: Macy (Seabiscuit), Alec Baldwin (The Cooler), Albert Finney (Big Fish), Tim Robbins (Mystic River), Peter Sarsgaard (Shattered Glass) and Ken Watanabe (The Last Samurai).
Supporting Actress nominee Zellweger squares off against Maria Bello (The Cooler), Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April), Hope Davis (American Splendor) and Holly Hunter (Thirteen).
Davis is the only nominee representing Splendor, a quirky Sundance winner that's considered one of the year's best indies. Also feeling a chill is Jim Sheridan's semiautobiographical Irish-American family drama In America, which garnered only one nod, for Best Screenplay. In fact, other than the stong showing by Lost in Translation, indies were generally shut out of the Globes. The indie absence may reflect the impact of the screener ban (which was overturned late in the Globe balloting process), or may simply be an indication of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's typical infatuation with glitz.
As for the big-budget studio films, Seabiscuit, considered a front-runner going into the trophy season, failed to sweep all the major categories. And despite two acting nominations for Samurai, the movie was shut out of the Best Picture race, which could be a bad omen come Oscar time.
TOP CONTENDERSMotion Picture
Noms
Cold Mountain
8
Lost in Translation
5
Mystic River
5
Return of the King
4
Big Fish
4
TV Program
Noms
Angels in America
7
Sex and the City
5
Will & Grace
5
Monk
3
Normal
3
Soldier's Girl
3
And while The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King's cast went unmentioned, the Ring cycle is nonetheless trying for the Golden bling, in the races for Best Director, Original Score by Howard Shore and Original Song for "Into the West" by Shore, Fran Walsh and Annie Lennox.
Finally, the competing foreign-language are: The Barbarian Invasions (Canada), Good Bye, Lenin (Germany), Monsieur Ibrahim (France), Osama (Afghanistan) and The Return (Russia).
While the movie noms went pretty much as expected, there were some surprises on the television side. FX's buzz hit Nip/Tuck scored a (surgically enhanced) jaw-dropping nod for Best Drama Series and as well as an acting nod, for Joely Richardson (Best Actress in a Drama Series). Soap renegade Amber Tamblyn is up for Best Actress in a Drama Series for Joan of Arcadia. Fox's funnybone-tickling infant sitcom Arrested Development and BBC import The Office crashed the Best Comedy Series category, with the latter also scoring a nod for Best Actor in a Comedy for Ricky Gervais.
The Best Actress in a Comedy Series is really topsy-turvy, with usual suspects Sarah Jessica Parker and Debra Messing plus the following eyebrow-raisers: Bonnie Hunt (Life with Bonnie), Reba McEntire (Reba), Bitty Schram (Monk) and Alicia Silverstone (Miss Match). Perennial favorites not invited back include Jennifer Aniston (Friends) and Patricia Heaton (Everybody Loves Raymond).
HBO's Angels in America predictably dominated the TV-movie/miniseries categories, pulling in a grand total of seven nominations: Best Miniseries or TV Movie, Best Actor for Al Pacino, Best Actress for Meryl Streep and Best Supporting Actress for Mary-Louise Parker. Angels also controlled the Best Supporting Actor category thanks to Ben Shenkman, Patrick Wilson and the highly regarded Jeffrey Wright.
HBO topped the TV nominations with 20 nods. The next closest network was NBC with 10.
In a slap to CBS, the controversial miniseries The Reagans, which was banned by the Eye but eventually aired on sibling cable network Showtime, picked up Best Acting noms for "the Gipper," James Brolin, and First Lady impersonator Judy Davis.
Among the most notable tube snubs was NBC's Friends. Their swan song was worth only one nomination, for Matt LeBlanc as Best Actor, Comedy. Emmy favorite Everybody Loves Raymond was overlooked entirely.
There was some justice in the Supporting Actress category as Sex and the City's underappreciated Kristin Davis finally made the Globes cut, alongside much-nominated costars Kim Cattrall and Cynthia Nixon. Megan Mullally (Will & Grace) and (as mentioned) Mary-Louise Parker (Angels in America) face off against the City girls.
The one sure bet for Globes night is Michael Douglas, who has been tapped to recieve the Hollywood Foreign Press Association's highest honor, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, for his "outstanding contribution to the entertainment field."
The 61st Annual Golden Globes ceremony telecast airs live on NBC January 25, two days before the Oscar nominations are announced. Per usual, E! counts down the festivities with complete live red-carpet coverage.
Here's the complete list of contenders for the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards:
MOTION PICTURES
Best Motion Picture, Drama:
Cold Mountain
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Mystic River
Seabiscuit
Best Actress, Drama:
Cate Blanchett, Verionica Guerin
Nicole Kidman, Cold Mountain
Scarlett Johansson, Girl with a Pearl Earring
Charlize Theron, Monster
Uma Thurman, Kill Bill: Volume 1
Evan Rachel Wood, Thirteen
Best Actor, Drama:
Russell Crowe, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Tom Cruise, The Last Samurai
Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog
Jude Law, Cold Mountain
Sean Penn, Mystic River
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy:
Bend It Like Beckham
Big Fish
Finding Nemo
Lost in Translation
Love Actually
Best Actress, Musical or Comedy:
Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday
Scarlett Johansson, Lost in Translation
Diane Keaton, Something's Gotta Give
Diane Lane, Under the Tuscan Sun
Helen Mirren, Calendar Girls
Best Actor, Musical or Comedy:
Jack Black, School of Rock
Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
Jack Nicholson, Something's Gotta Give
Billy Bob Thornton, Bad Santa
Best Foreign-Language Film:
The Barbarian Invasions (French Canada)
Good Bye, Lenin (Germany)
Monsieur Ibrahim (France)
Osama (Afghanistan)
The Return (Russia)
Best Supporting Actress:
Maria Bello, The Cooler
Patrica Clarkson, Pieces of April
Hope Davis, American Splendor
Holly Hunter, Thirteen
Renée Zellweger, Cold Mountain
Best Supporting Actor:
Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Albert Finney, Big Fish
William H. Macy, Seabiscuit
Tim Robbins, Mystic River
Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass
Ken Watanabe, The Last Samurai
Best Director:
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Clint Eastwood, Mystic River
Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Anthony Minghella, Cold Mountain
Peter Weir, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World
Best Screenplay:
Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation
Richard Curtis, Love Actually
Brian Helgeland, Mystic River
Anthony Minghella, Cold Mou