Gripe all you want about the practices of the 90-odd (and we do mean odd) members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and their annual Bizarro World slate of Golden Globe nominations. We get it.
But deep down, we admit we harbor affection for this crazy uncle of the awards season and its ability to look beyond the same-old/same-old in ways that frequently irritate, yes, but also occasionally make us smile with appreciation.
Here are five takeaways:
1. Don't bite the hand that feeds you.
There are snubs, and then there are snubs. And Robert De Niro not being nominated for his supporting turn as the father in "Silver Linings Playbook," arguably his best acting work in more than a decade, ranks as the type of head-scratcher that, given the HFPA, implies there were other factors in play.
First, De Niro couldn't attend the all-important HFPA press conference for the film. And then, too, remember that De Niro firebombed Globes voters two years ago while accepting the honorary Cecil B. DeMille Award. Consider this De Niro's penance.
2. With humor, rueful works better than raunchy.
When you think back to the year's great comedies, do you remember how much fun you had watching "Ted" and "21 Jump Street"? Or do you remember the side-splitting antics of Judi Dench and Maggie Smith in "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel"? (Yes. It was a rhetorical question.)