An ubersexy new clip from A Single Man is just out (see after the jump), just in time for the Screen Actors' Guild nominations (yay, Colin! aw, no Julianne...), which are also after the jump, the only gasp-inducing shocker being the absence of Up in the Air from the ensemble acting category (the equivalent of Best Picture) despite honors for Clooney, Farmiga (who was really great) and Kendrick...

The Golden Globes are always fun as quasi-Oscar predictors, and because the Hollywood Foreign Press is unabashedly pro-star. They love giving nominations (and even awards) to big names not known for their acting chops, especially when those big names stretch ever so slightly. (Case in point: Madonna was nominated for and won a Globe, though went on not to even get an Oscar nomination.)

This is why someone like Julia Roberts gets nominated for something like Duplicity (um, exactly!) and why they adore giving wins to newcomers whose shows have made a big splash (remembering Keri Russell winning for Felicity, America Ferrera, etc.)

The year's biggest shock for me was the failure of Mariah Carey to get a nomination. She was never, ever Oscar-nomination-bound, not really, but the Globes seemed a possibility for her. Guess her international profile isn't as big as her profile. (This is a breast joke, not a fat joke, and as such is an expression of my civility toward a figure—in both senses—I dislike but whom did well in a movie that was my first or second fave of 2009.)

The complete list of Golden Globes nominations—my comments, if any, follow each category...

Today is the 60th birthday of arguable our greatest living actress, Meryl Streep. Nathaniel at FilmExperience has a fun list of 60 ways to celebrate (that you should actually DO, you know, like a scavenger hunt) to which I would only add: Steal a crappy movie role in a crappy movie from (more often than not) crappy actress Madonna...just because you can!

Queen Latifah looks great; she usually looks...like Queen Latifah. I'm surprised they're doing the memoriam AFTER a commercial instead of as a lead-in. Latifah was forced to since "gay, I'll always think of you that way." I do have to take back my constant comments that she is not a good singer...

No applause for Charlton Heston.

I stand corrected...the memoriam was both before AND after a commercial.

Random thought...this is Dustin Lance Black:

Again, the best actresses are much better than those dead former supporting actors. So sweet to see Anne reacting to MacLaine. I'm gonna die if Winslet loses. Kinda weird to have Cotillard—nominated once, won once—speaking to her as a voice of wisdom. Halle looks like she has a headset on, but it's her hair. But she is a classsss act. Doesn't need a TelePrompTer. Loren HAD to do Streep...who else on the stage or in the auditorium could credibly talk to Streep in this way. Streep is so delightfully phony and theatrical. I really hope she loses, though.

YAY, KATE!!!

Michael Douglas's facelift has settled in very nicely. Nice touch to have him do Langella—he himself did an evil baddie to win his Oscar. DeNiro doing Penn is funny and sweet. I really hope Sean wins, even if Mickey was great and will never, ever be nominated again. Hopkins sucks, very lightweight and slurry, he is thinking, "Brad Pitt? Really? Jeez. What am I gonna say?" Mickey doesn't get crazy applause like I'd expected...

YAY, SEAN!!!

Brilliant shot of Sean winning with his wife tearing up in the background. "I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often." Hilarious.

Most predictable Oscars EVER and yet, due to the show, the most fun in decades. Not since Snow White and Rob Lowe...

And finally, my fave movie of the year, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE wins. 

P.S. The L.A. Times list of stars was only wrong on M.I.A., Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lopez, Carrie Underwood and Madonna.

Will Sean Penn be allowed by his wife to attend Madonna's Oscar party? I can't wait for Madonna to be asked about Sean.

The Reader means Stepen Daldry's gotten nom'd for all 3 films he's made.

The full list of Oscar nominations is here, with expert opinion on them here. Talking points to make you look smart here.

My impressions:

OVERALL

I'm shocked that The Reader did so well! It raked in major nominations, including for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and yet it stands at a mere 60% on RottenTomatoes.com with 150 reviews counted. Could it be the least positively reviewed film to get a Best Picture nod since...Ghost?

I would hazard a guess that its Nazi theme helped it with the Hollywood crowd. Anything about the Nazis—presuming it's good in the first place—gets an extra boost. Remember Adrien Brody's out-of-nowhere win for Best Actor? Not casting aspersions (I've been dying to see the movie), it's just an interesting trend to me. Hollywood also smiles upon movies with liberal social agendas, such as The Cider House Rules or Crash (realllly smiled upon it) or this year's Milk. It's not that they aren't good, it's that they're probably extra-favored for content as well as form.

I'm a bit miffed that Revolutionary Road was overlooked. I loved it! But it's also quite interesting considering the film was directed for Oscar winner Sam Mendes and stars two beloved Hollywood actors. Maybe the Academy felt giving nods to Brangelina was enough red-carpet consideration.

The eight nominations for Milk show a genuine affection and respect for the film, even if I think it will only win for Best Original Screenplay. ("Only" he says—that would be an amazing award.)

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button gets 13 nods, but I would guess it will lose most of those. It's such a BIG movie with so many potential nominees, but none jump out as sure-bet winners.

 

The Critics' Choice Awards might be a near-exact prediction of the upcoming Oscars. I want a Best Actress tie again so we can see Meryl Streep wearing something like this:

Shadow of Doubt.

In 1964, young Donald Miller (Joseph Foster II) is the first African-American student at St. Nicholas Catholic school in the Bronx, where Principal Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) literally puts the fear of God into her pupils. Nothing escapes her notice, most especially dissidence—the institution's newest priest,  Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) has rubbed her the wrong way with a sermon in praise of doubt (which binds us all as surely as does faith) and with his irreverential attitude. Thanks to some gossip supplied by Sister James (Amy Adams), who's noticed that Father Flynn seems to have singled out Donald Miller with a one-on-one meeting in the rectory, she has all the proof she needs to know the priest is molesting the boy, and all the ammunition she requires to attempt to oust him from his position.

During the course of the campaign, Sister James's conviction will fluctuate, and Sister Aloysius will have a most unexpected encounter with Donald's practical mother (Viola Davis). Most entertainingly for the audience, she will also engage in a cold-hearted game of cat-and-mouse with Father Flynn intended to force the father confessor to confess.

I didn't see what you may or may not have done.

But is there anything to confess?