May I have the envelope, please? Michael Stuhlbarg in "A Serious Man."
By Colin Covert
"A Serious Man" is doing tolerably well this awards season, with a best picture nomination by the Critics' Choice Awards, and slots on the American Film Institute and the National Board of Review Top 10 lists.
The latest salute for the Coen brothers' St. Louis Park opus is a best actor (comedy or musical) Golden Globe nomination for star Michael Stuhlbarg. Other than that, the ultra-Jewish comedy got passed over. Ba da bum.
"I am truly humbled and grateful," Stuhlbarg said, adding, "I am honored to share this with the Coen brothers," who were snubbed in the directing, screenwriting and best picture category.
Pixar's "Up," directed and co-written by Bloomington native Pete Docter, added a Globes nomination as best animated feature to its pocketful of honors. The high-flying cartoon is on the AFI, NBR and Time magazine top 10 lists, and earned three Grammy nominations. Docter called the Globe nomination "an incredible honor."
The Globes, handed out by the 90-member Hollywood Foreign Press Corps, a clubby politburo of junket weasels with "Borat" accents and eccentric tastes, are spotty predictors of Oscar odds. The organization chooses both a top drama and a best comedy/musical. In 15 of the last 22 years, one of those dual Globe winners went on to take the best picture Oscar. So, not exactly Nostradamus. This year, with the Oscars best picture field expanded to 10 contenders, who knows?
The 67th Golden Globes shindig airs on NBC Jan. 17.
