'The Artist' Tops Golden Globe Nominations

Michel Hazanavicius' "The Artist" is nominated for four European Film Awards, including best film.

UPDATED: Oscar contenders "The Descendants" and "The Help" follow with the George Clooney-directed political thriller "Ides of March" receiving recognition.

Barely saying a word, The Artist swept the film nominations for the 69th annual Golden Globe Awards, taking a commanding six nominations, including one for best comedy or musical. A pair of American dramas, The Descendants and The Help, followed with five noms each.

It was a good morning for a wide variety of filmmakers, including George Clooney, whose political drama The Ides of March made an unexpectedly strong showing with four noms; Woody Allen, who earned multiple noms, including directing and writing, for his Midnight in Paris; Angelina Jolie, who was included among the best foreign-language nominees for her Bosnian War drama In the Land of Blood and Honey; Glenn Close, who in addition to a best actress nom for Albert Nobbs also earned a song-writing nomination for the lyrics she wrote for a tune in the movie; and Madonna, who also squeezed into the action with a song-writing nomination for W.E.

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On the TV side, the big winners were PBS/Masterpiece Theater’s upstairs/downstairs series Downton Abbey and HBO’s foray into hardboiled James M. Cain territory, Mildred Pierce, with both shows taking home four noms each.

The membership of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which votes the annual awards, which will be handed out at televised ceremonies hosted by Ricky Gervais on Jan. 15, named Descendants and Help as two of the best dramas of the year, along with Martin Scorsese’s 3D valentine to the history of moviemaking Hugo, Clooney’s Ides, Bennet Miller’s baseball drama Moneyball and Steven Spielberg’s World War I epic War Horse.

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In addition to an acting nom for Clooney, who plays a father whose life is unravelling, Descandants collected mentions for supporting actress Shailene Woodley, director Alexander Payne and its screenplay penned by Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash. Help earned its five nominations with the help of acting noms for actresses Viola Davis, Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer and a song nomination for "The Living Proof," by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr. and Damon Thomas.

Woody Harrelson, star of the upcoming cop drama Rampart, drew laughs at the early-morning announcement held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel when, before announcing the best drama nominees, he adlibbed, “Rampart opens Jan. 27, but I don’t see it on the list.”

On the lighter side, Artist topped the list of best comedy or musical nominees, where it was joined by 50/50, a comedy about a young man with cancer; the bawdy all-girl jokefest Bridesmaids; the Gallic-flavored Midnight in Paris; and My Week with Marilyn, an account of a fling with Marilyn Monroe, which also brought Michelle Williams a best comedy/musical actress nomination for her performance as the iconic star.

Contributing to Artist’s sweep were acting nominations for its two lead players Jean Dujardin (as best comedy actor) and Berenice Bejo (as supporting actress) as well as director and screenwriter Michel Hazanavicius and composer Ludovic Bource.

Although the HFPA consistently denies that it favors star, there was a lot of star power on display among its choices.

Along with his acting nom, Clooney claimed a nomination for directing Ides. His buddy Brad Pitt was also on base with a dramatic actor nomination for Moneyball; Meryl Streep racked up her 26th Globe nomination for playing Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady; Leonardo DiCaprio secured a nom for his portrayal of another real-life figure, J. Edgar Hoover in J. Edgar; Ryan Gosling snared dual acting nominations, one in the drama category for his political operative in Ides and another for his comedy turn as a ladies man in Crazy, Stupid, Love; and Carnage, in which two Manhattan couples face off, earned two comedy actress nominations for its stars Jodie Foster and Kate Winslet, with Winslet also picking up a TV miniseries nomination for playing the title role in Mildred Pierce.

At the same time, the Globes voters welcomed a number of relatively new faces: Rooney Mara was nominated as best dramatic actress for her fierce and pierced performance in The Girl With the Golden Tattoo; Michael Fassbender grabbed a nom for his equally exposed portrait of a sex addict in Shame; and Kirsten Wiig picked up a best actress in a comedy nom for Bridesmaids, although her costar Melissa McCarthy was left standing at the altar, without a nomination.

While there were 11 films spotlighted among the best drama and best comedy/musical pictures, there were only five directors nominated, which meant someone had to be left off the list. From the comedy side, Allen and Hazanavicius made the cut, while the dramas served up Clooney, Payne and Scorsese. But that resulted in no noms for Help's Tate Taylor, Moneyball's Miller or Horse's Spielberg.

However, in addition to Horse, Spielberg was represented by The Adventures of Tintin in the animation category, which also includes Arthur Christmas, Cars 2, Puss in Boots and Rango.

Harvey Weinstein, who bet on Artist back in May when he picked up the film just prior to its debut at the Cannes Film Festival, had a lot to crow about, since the Weinstein Co. amassed 12 nominations, edging out Sony Pictures Classics, which had 10.

But for rival producer Scott Rudin, it was a morning with mixed results: While his Moneyball had four noms and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo had six, his post 9/11 drama Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close was entirely overlooked.

69th annual Golden Globes nominees complete list:



FILM

Motion Picture, Drama

The Descendants

The Help

Hugo

The Ides of March

Moneyball

War Horse

Best Performance By An Actress In A Motion Picture – Drama

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

50/50

The Artist

Bridesmaids

Midnight in Paris

My Week With Marilyn

STORY: 'The Artist' Tops Golden Globe Nominations

Best Performance By An Actress in A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Jodie Foster, Carnage

Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn

Kate Winslet, Carnage

Best Performance By An Actor In A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Brendan Gleeson, The Guard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Best Animated Feature Film

The Adventures of Tintin

Arthur Christmas

Cars 2

Puss in Boots

Rango

Best Foreign Language Film

The Flowers of War (China)

In the Land of Blood and Honey (USA)

The Kid With A Bike (Belgium)

A Separation (Iran)

The Skin I Live In (Spain)

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture

Berenice Bejo, The Artist

Jessica Chastain, The Help

Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs

Octavia Spencer, The Help

Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

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Best Performance By An Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Director – Motion Picture

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

George Clooney, The Ides of March

Michel Hazanvicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, The Descendants

Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants

Steven Zaillian, Aaron Sorkin, Moneyball

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Abel Korzeniowski, W.E.

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Howard Shore, Hugo

John Williams, War Horse

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

“Hello Hello” — Gnomeo & Juliet

Music by: Elton John

Lyrics by: Bernie Taupin

“The Keeper” — Machine Gun Preacher

Music & Lyrics by: Chris Cornell

"Lay Your Head Down” — Albert Nobbs

Music by: Brian Byrne

Lyrics by: Glenn Close

“The Living Proof” — The Help

Music by: Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr.

Lyrics by: Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas

“Masterpiece” — W.E.

Music & Lyrics by: Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

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TELEVISION

Best Television Series – Drama

American Horror Story, FX

Boardwalk Empire, HBO

Boss, STARZ

Game of Thrones, HBO

Homeland, Showtime

Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series – Drama

Claire Danes, Homeland

Mireille Enos, The Killing

Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife

Madeleine Stowe, Revenge

Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Drama

Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire

Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad

Kelsey Grammer, Boss

Jeremy Irons, The Borgias

Damian Lewis, Homeland

Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical

Enlightened, HBO

Episodes, Showtime

Glee, FOX

Modern Family, ABC

New Girl, FOX

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Best Performance By An Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical

Laura Dern, Enlightened

Zooey Deschanel, New Girl

Tina Fey, 30 Rock

Laura Linney, The Big C

Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

Best Performance By An Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical

Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock

David Duchovny, Californication

Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory

Thomas Jane, Hung

Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television

Cinema Verite, HBO

Downton Abbey, PBS (Masterpiece)

The Hour, BBC America

Mildred Pierce, HBO

Too Big to Fail, HBO

Best Performance By An Actress In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television

Romola Garai, The Hour

Diane Lane, Cinema Verite

Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey

Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult

Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

Best Performance By An Actor In A Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television

Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey

Idris Elba, Luther

William Hurt, To Big to Fail

Bill Nighy, Page Eight

Dominic West, The Hour

Best Performance By An Actress In A Supporting Role In A Series, Mini-Series, Or Motion Picture Made for Television

Jessica Lange, American Horror Story

Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire

Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey

Sofia Vergara, Modern Family

Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

Best Performance By An Actor in A Supporting Role in A Series, Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made For Television

Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones

Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail

Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce

Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite

Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family