68th Annual Golden Globe Award Nominations

This morning the nominations for the 68th Annual Golden Globes, presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, were announced. Leading the nominees was "The King's Speech" with seven nods followed closely by "The Fighter" and "The Social Network" each with six.

The biggest surprise of the morning? "The Tourist," which not only got nominated for Best Picture Musical or Comedy but also its two stars, Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp. Meanwhile, the movie just got done being panned by critics upon its release. Figure that one out.

The nominees for Best Picture Drama were "Black Swan," "The Fighter," "Inception," "The King's Speech" and "The Social Network." Notable absences included "True Grit" and "127 Hours." I guess we now understand why the Oscars bumped this category to 10. I'm picturing the HFPA awarding "The King's Speech" this one. I'm also picturing them being wrong for the Oscars again. Last year they awarded "Avatar" over "The Hurt Locker."

"The Kids Are All Right" led the nominees for Best Picture Comedy or Musical by a landslide and will without a doubt win now that it has been placed in a separate category from the other big contenders. Its fellow nominees included "Alice in Wonderland," "Burlesque," "Red" and, yes, "The Tourist." Why? To get Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp to show up to the award ceremony. In any case, I'm actually quite upset "Love & Other Drugs" got snubbed here. A worthy comedy. And what about "Easy A," the charming teen comedy starring Emma Stone? Also surprising is the absence of James L. Brook's new comedy, "How Do You Know."

Best Director nominees lined up with Best Picture Drama, and they were Darren Aronofsky for "Black Swan," David Fincher for "The Social Network," Tom Hooper for "The King's Speech," Christopher Nolan for "Inception" and David O. Russell for "The Fighter."

The nominees for Best Actor Drama were Jesse Eisenberg for "The Social Network," Colin Firth for "The King's Speech," James Franco for "127 Hours," Ryan Gosling for "Blue Valentine"--kudos to the HFPA for that one--and, yet to get much attention for his lead role, Mark Wahlberg for "The Fighter."

Best Actress Drama is perhaps one of the most interesting categories now that Annette Bening is out of the running shoved into the Best Actress Comedy category. The nominees were Halle Berry for "Frankie and Alice," Nicole Kidman for "Rabbit Hole," Jennifer Lawrence for "Winter's Bone," Natalie Portman for "Black Swan" and Michelle Williams for "Blue Valentine," another kudos to the HFPA. It's tough to say, but I'm going with Natalie Portman on this one without Bening in there.

Accompanying Annette Bening for "The Kids Are All Right" is her co-star, Julianne Moore, in the category of Best Actress Comedy. Bening will most likely win over Moore, but it's nice to see her finally getting noticed. Joining them were Anne Hathaway, who deserves the win if it weren't for Moore and Bening, Emma Stone for "Easy A," and, yes, nobody knows why but Angelina Jolie for "The Tourist."

Best Actor Comedy was a painfully lacking category this year. The nominees were Johnny Depp for not only "Alice in Wonderland" but also "The Tourist" along with Paul Giamatti for "Barney's Version," Kevin Spacey for "Casino Jack" and Jake Gyllenhaal for "Love & Other Drugs." Honestly, I don't care who wins here.

Joining frontrunner Christian Bale for "The Fighter" in the category of Best Supporting Actor were Michael Douglas for "Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps," Andrew Garfield for "The Social Network," Jeremy Renner for "The Town" and Geoffrey Rush for "The King's Speech."

Mila Kunis is getting some real steam as she was nominated again for Best Supporting Actress for "Black Swan." Surprising, really, that she is getting noticed over Barbara Hershey. In any case, it's well deserved. Joining her was Amy Adams for "The Fighter," Helena Bonham Carter for "The King's Speech," Melissa Leo for "The Fighter" and frontrunner Jacki Weaver for "Animal Kingdom" who has already been winning this one in the award circuits.

Without the division of Original and Adapted, there's tough competition in Best Screenplay with Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for "127 Hours," Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for "The Kids Are All Right," Christopher Nolan for "Inception," David Seidler for "The King's Speech" and Aaron Sorkin for "The Social Network" all in the running. Sorkin has got this one locked.

It's surprising to note "True Grit" got shut out entirely, even Jeff Bridges. Apart from that, and the travesty of "The Tourist" making its way into the rankings, these nominees are becoming pretty standard. Again, I predict the HFPA is going to award the most to "The King's Speech" including Colin Firth for Best Actor along with the top prize of Best Picture. Curious to note, too, that the HFPA awarded all four actors of "The Fighter" with a nomination. Usually Wahlberg or Adams get left behind.

As the trend has become, the Critics' Choice Awards are now more of an indication of what the Oscars will look like. And for good reason. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association really is a mixed bag. Popularity or quality? You tell me.

Click here for an entire list of the 68th Annual Golden Globe nominations.

And find out who wins on Sunday, January 16, 2011 at 8 p.m. on NBC!