The Golden Globe nominations always have their quirks, and sometimes it seems they exist in their own private galaxy. This year's movie nominations, though, stuck close to expectations, and close to Earth: "Interstellar," Christopher Nolan's high-pedigree, extragalactic space epic, was shut out save a nod for its score. Yet more surprisingly, one of the stars in our own galaxy, Angelina Jolie, missed out on a director nod for the high-profile "Unbroken," which was totally shut out — as was Clint Eastwood's upcoming Christmas release "American Sniper" and its leading man, Bradley Cooper.
A closer look at this year's snubs and surprises at the Globe nominations:
"PRIDE" CAN BE PROUD:
This story about an unlikely alliance — British gay activists working to help miners during their long strike in the 1980s — had garnered much admiration but little awards buzz. In a welcome surprise, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gave the heartwarming film an unlikely nod for best picture, musical or comedy.
"UNBROKEN" AND UN-NOMINATED:
Jolie has always gotten a lot of love from the HFPA — she's been nominated seven times, even for the 2010 dud "The Tourist." This year, many expected she would be nominated for directing the well-received World War II drama "Unbroken." The movie's shutout was especially surprising since Jolie had scored a Globe nod for best foreign language film for her previous directing effort, "In the Land of Blood and Honey."
TIMOTHY SPALL'S CANVAS IS EMPTY:
This British veteran was named best actor at Cannes — and then by the New York Film critics — for his memorably gruff performance as the brilliant painter J.M.W. Turner in Mike Leigh's admired biopic "Mr. Turner." But his terrific work was ignored by the HFPA, in an admittedly packed best-actor field. Spall may have been edged out by the recently surging Jake Gyllenhaal, who gave a superbly creepy performance in "Nightcrawler."
