Did you know that The Martian was a comedy?

Well, no, actually it’s not.  It’s a very serious film that has a few comedic moments.  Matt Damon makes a few jokes but that’s largely because he’s trying not to lose his mind and commit suicide.  However, The Martian was submitted to the Golden Globes as a comedy.  Why?  Probably because the producers realized that it would be easier for them to win if their film was the only big-budget drama nominated in the comedy category.  It’s dishonest, it’s unethical, and it totally worked.  This morning, when the Golden Globe nominations were announced, The Martian was nominated for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical.

I was not a particularly huge fan of The Martian to begin with.  The fact that it has now been nominated for Best Comedy while Inside Out was not does not help matters.

Anyway, as for the rest of the Golden Globe nominations … actually, I like a lot of them.  Mad Max: Fury Road was nominated for Best Picture, Drama and that should help it regain whatever momentum it may have lost after not being nominated by the SAG.  The Big Short was also nominated for Best Picture, Comedy so I guess I really will have to see it, despite having no desire to do so.  Trumbo was not nominated for Best Picture but it did pick up nominations for Bryan Cranston and Helen Mirren.  Spotlight was naturally nominated for best picture but received no acting nominations, which means that either all the actors are splitting the votes among themselves or maybe Spotlight, while remaining the front-runner, is not as universally loved as some are thinking.  It’s impossible for me to say because I haven’t seen Spotlight yet but I have noticed that a lot of critics seem to be more respectful than enthusiastic about it.

(At the same time, my friend, the sportswriter Jason Tarwater, was quite enthusiastic after seeing Spotlight and I usually trust his opinion on these things.)

Anyway, here are the Golden Globe Film nominations!

Best Picture (Drama)

• Carol
• Mad Max: Fury Road
• The Revenant
• Room
• Spotlight

Best Picture (Musical or Comedy)

• The Big Short
• Joy
• The Martian
• Spy
• Trainwreck

Best Director – Motion Picture

• Todd Haynes – Carol
• Alejandro G. Inarritu – The Revenant
• George Miller – Mad Max: Fury Road
• Ridley Scott – The Martian
• Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

Best Actor (Drama)

• Bryan Cranston – Trumbo
• Leonardo DiCaprio – The Revenant
• Michael Fassbender – Steve Jobs
• Eddie Redmayne – The Danish Girl
• Will Smith – Concussion

Best Actress (Drama)

• Cate Blanchett – Carol
• Brie Larson – Room
• Rooney Mara – Carol
• Saoirse Ronan – Brooklyn
• Alicia Vikander – The Danish Girl

Best Actor (Musical or Comedy)

• Christian Bale – The Big Short
• Steve Carell – The Big Short
• Matt Damon – The Martian
• Al Pacino – Danny Collins
• Mark Ruffalo – Infinitely Polar Bear

Best Actress (Musical or Comedy)

• Jennifer Lawrence – Joy
• Amy Schumer – Trainwreck
• Melissa McCarthy – Spy
• Maggie Smith – The Lady in the Van
• Lily Tomlin – Grandma

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

• Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
• Idris Elba – Beasts of No Nation
• Mark Rylance – Bridge of Spies
• Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
• Sylvester Stallone – Creed

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

• Jane Fonda – Youth
• Jennifer Jason Leigh – The Hateful Eight
• Helen Mirren – Trumbo
• Alicia Vikander – Ex Machina
• Kate Winslet – Steve Jobs

Best Screenplay

• Room – Emma Donaghue
• Spotlight – Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
• The Big Short – Adam McKay
• Steve Jobs – Aaron Sorkin
• The Hateful Eight – Quentin Tarantino

Best Original Score

• The Revenant – Bryce Dessner, Carsten Nicolai, Ryuichi Sakamoto
• The Hateful Eight  – Ennio Morricone
• Steve Jobs – Daniel Pemberton
• Carol  – Carter Burwell
• The Danish Girl – Alexandre Desplat

Best Original Song

• Fifty Shades of Grey – “Love Me Like You Do”
• Love & Mercy – “One Kind of Love”
• Furious 7 – “See You Again”
• Youth – “Simple Song #3”
• Spectre – “Writings on the Wall”

Best Foreign Language Film

• The Brand New Testament (Belgium)
• The Club (Chile)
• The Fencer (Finland)
• Mustang (France)
• Son of Saul (Hungary)

Best Animated Feature

• Anomalisa
• The Good Dinosaur
• Inside Out
• The Peanuts Movie
• Shaun the Sheep