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2009 Golden Globe Awards Nominees - Benjamin Button, Doubt Lead

by Alex Billington
December 11, 2008
Source: HFPA

The nominations for the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards, the precursor to the Oscars, have been announced today. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominees this morning live from The Beverly Hilton. This year there are three films with five nominations: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, and Frost/Nixon. Considering those films already had quite a bit of awards buzz heading into the holiday season, this isn't too big of a surprise. What is a surprise, however, is that In Bruges earned three nominations and even Tom Cruise got one, too. As I certainly hope we all know, the Golden Globes aren't the most legitimate awards, but they're one of the biggest behind the Oscars.

The 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards will take place Sunday, January 11th, 2009 at The Beverly Hilton with a live telecast airing on NBC at 8 PM (EST). Read on for the full list of 2009 nominees.

BEST DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

ACTOR (DRAMA)
Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges

ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell - In Bruges
James Franco - Pineapple Express
Dustin Hoffman - Last Chance Harvey
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges

ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand - Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep - Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson - Last Chance Harvey
Rebecca Hall - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments

ANIMATED FILM
Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Ralph Fiennes - The Duchess

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

DIRECTOR
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes - Revolutionary Road

SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare - The Reader
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

ORIGINAL SCORE
James Newton Howard - Defiance
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer - Frost/Nixon
Clint Eastwood - Changeling

ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel / Thomas Newman - Wall-E
"Gran Torino" by Clint Eastwood / Kyle Eastwood - Gran Torino
"I Thought I'd Lost You" by Miley Cyrus - Bolt
"Once in a Lifetime" by Beyoncé Knowles - Cadillac Records
"The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen - The Wrestler

A taste of things to come in January with the Oscars? Or just another politically influenced awards show with the expected mainstream choices? What do you make of this year's Golden Globes nominations?

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Related categories: Awards News, Movie News, Opinions

-Peter-

In Bruges was great, and I think it deserves Best Comedy I want Down To Earth to win Original Song
Peloquin

Wow...I'm surprised TDK isn't up for best score...Zimmer and Howard really should be there...they better get a nod at the Oscars because their work was epic.
mikey

very happy with pitts nomination
Matt

Not bad. It's a shame to see Richard Jenkins get snubbed for best actor for The Visitor though. Might as well get used to it though, since he's going to get snubbed come Oscar season too (it's going to be Paul Giamatti in Sideways all over again).
Lolly

Matt, THANK YOU! The Vistor was an amazing movie and I wish people would talk about it more! It is such a forgotten gem!!
janet

I always find it odd when a film's actors all get nominations (Doubt) but then nothing for the director or film. It never makes sense to me...it's like saying 2+2=3.
http://www.myspace.com/kevjohnphotography kevjohn

Best Drama/Actor noms: haven't seen any of those films yet. WTF? Best Actor (Comedy): either of the guys from In Bruges, or Bardem from VCB. Great performances/films. Animated film: Kung Fu Panda for the upset! (yeah right) Don't really care all that much about awards shows to be honest. I know itr can mean a big deal when it comes to box office and DVD sales though. So hopefully a win or two from In Bruges and Vicky Christina might get more people to see them.
Everwen45

They nominated Heath Ledger and RDJ! I'm surprisde that "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" has so many nominations, considering that most reviews of it hasn't been all that good. I'm trying to figure out why Tom Cruise was nominated, I mean, he was okay, but, c'mon, it's not all that. Has anyone heard the song "Gran Torino", it's just... argh... how to put it, I mean, I love Clint Eastwood, but, seriously?
nelson

THe Shield was one of the best shows on tv this last season and goggins/chiklis/pounder/ all deserved nominations pure bullshit
leo

Why in the fickity fuck did Tom Cruise score a nod? Whatever happened to michael channon for revolutionary road? what about james franco for milk rather than pineapple express? Also, I was surprised Doubt did not get a best picture nod despite being one of the leads, all in acting categories.
Donkey-Spunk

No Synecdoche at all? It deserves a Best Screenplay nomination at the very least. I was expecting Winslet to be nominated for The Reader over RR, but it's pretty amazing that she's got two movies up for Best Picture. I still don't know about Benjamin Button - I'm kind of excited to see it, but all of this praise just doesn't seem right to me. I doubt it'll live up to it's expectations, at least for me.
Maxwell

I really don't get it! the dark Knight's score and screenplay deserved a nomination ... A best picture nomination (though deserved) might have seemed a little farfetched in the voters mind... but i really thought the screenplay and score were a lock... its not looking to sharp for the Oscars... On the other hand, In Bruges was a brilliant flick and i was pleasantly surprised to see it appear 3x. For those who havent seen it yet , check it out. Brilliant writing! Smart movie!
Taylor

And that is why i don't watch the golden globes. Most of the nominations obviously weren't thought about too hard. Its like if your movie buff brother in law had his own award show!
http://www.entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com entertainmenttodayandbeyond.com

Its starting to feel like the only big Oscar nomination for The Dark Knight will be a best supporting nod for Heath Ledger. After watching the film once again on DVD last night I really believe Nolan should get a best director Nomination. He did an amazing job. As for the film itself, I still feel its a brilliant movie up until the two hr mark but its last half hr feels somewhat bloated. That might hurt it in the eyes of the academy if there looking for perfection. Although very few films are really ever perfect! Chuck
Derek

It looks to me like they are doing the obvious and not nominating The Dark Knight, I mean not even the score was nominated? But I dont worry, Atonement won like waht 9 GG last year but didnt walk away with an academy award, this doesnt reflect what will happen in the Oscars.
Will S.

@6 I totally agree. Actors can't do it alone, and directors deserve credit where credit is due.
BahHumbug

Need some more Dark Knight and Milk but overall it was what I expected from the HFP.
Donkey-Spunk

12: Nolan deserves a Best Director nod over Best Screenplay. I was surprised he didn't get one actually. Agreed on the score though, it should have been at the very least nominated.
real talk

i'm lovin the nods to In Bruges, I thought for sure that this great little film was going to be lost amongst all the big dogs.
zach s

im so happy that in bruges is finally getting recognized. it was such a great movie that should have been seen by more people! great acting, great story, great movie!!
sumonesumtime

Usually the HFP gets it pretty dead-on. At least with the nominations if not the actual winners. Who new they didn't like the Gays though?! Maybe they just didn't see MILK and Sean Penn and Emile Hirsch.
Matt

Nelson, I completely agree about The Shield. It's always been snubbed for awards - but its really a travesty now because the final season was AMAZING. Walton Goggins especially was absolutely phenomenal. And Chiklis, Pounder, and Rees Snell all deserve some recognition as well. Anyone who missed this season missed some of the finest acting that has been on TV in a long, long time.
Jorge Leiner

and The Dark Knight was cpmpletely ignored. That's not good news. At least - besides of the obvious Ledger nomination - Christopher Nolan should have been nominated as best director and best script. Such a shame.
one

heath should take supporting actor by storm, in the oscars as well. over all...im not surprised and am happy with all the nominations. as a mater of fact, i agree with tom cruise's nomination...and In Bruges...one of the greatest dark comedies ever made.
Maxwell

#18 you are absolutely right about Nolan's best direction nomination, i just think a great film is always constructed around a strong script but there is no denying Nolan's incredible vision on the whole project! i honestly thought the movie was gonna have 6-7 nominations at least... well on the bright side, it looks like its gonna be an amazing movie lineup for the holidays....
Andrew

oh hells yes... In Bruges is finally getting some recognition for the brilliant comedy that it was
viral

bloody snobs! they snub TDK and then will probably award all their awards to the third film in the batman triology when nolan gets around to making it, like they did for LOTR meryl's got two!!! Meryl FTW!!!
Lars Madsen

Haha.. Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder WAS funny as hell. I know i laughed my ass off when he started dancing i the end scene Good stuff However.. Where the hell is TDK in best script? Hope the oscars do better.
Ferry

I think In Bruges was brlliant, so it's deserved some recognition and it should be the Best Comedy.
Peloquin

I can't believe Gran Torino only got a musical nod...that film was fantastic and Eastwood should have gotten more recognition. Hopefully the Academy will give credit where it's due.
Dos X

Benjamin Button sucked... it shouldn't have been nominated for anything... Slumdog Millionaire - I was under the impression that the young man who plays the main character, was nominated for the under 21 category, Does anyone know if that's correct? He certainly deserves the nomination and the award. Slumdog is shaping up to be the sleeper... but oh what a movie it is! Definitely best award for director, and best movie of the year (and it shall remain so for many years to come). Go Slumdog!!!
MBD

#31 How is Slumdog Millionaire a sleeper?
Dos X

#32 - A sleeper because it almost never made it to the theaters, a sleeper because it was afforded a very small advertising budget, a sleeper because the actors are unknown to Americans and there are sub-titles throughout, which is usually a turn off to a great deal of movie goers. However, in spite of all of the above mentioned, the flick has proven itself to be worthy of recognition and respect, from the director to the talented cast ensemble. It is a sleeper no more...
http://www.americancinematheque.com American Cinematheque

All of the Best Foreign Language Film nominees are screening at the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica, CA, January 7-9, with many of the filmmakers in person. More info about the screenings: http://www.americancinematheque.com/Aero/aeromastercalendar.htm Then, all the directors from these five films are appearing at a round table discussion at the Egyptian Theatre on January 10, where you can see them speak in Hollywood the day before the Golden Globe Award ceremony. Free admission and free parking! More about the free seminar: http://www.americancinematheque.com/mastercalendar.htm See you there!
candy

Come on!!! i mean HAVE ANYBODY SEEN "CHANGELING" IT'S AMAZING!!!! and it only have one nomination! i think that it deserve even more, Angelina was brilliant at the role of Christine Collin and Clint is amazing as a director, if u see that movie it change ur life!
alexandria

All the Oscar nominees who were in the movie Doubt deserve Oscars. I watched it about 10 times and the acting is superb.