Film Nominations for the 79th Annual Golden Globe Awards

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has just finished announcing their nominees for 2021, with "Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog" leading the way with seven nods each. Both films received nominations for Best Motion Picture (Drama), Best Director, Best Screenplay, and in several acting categories.

As far as surprises go, I can't say that there's anything here that really blew my mind. Just about everything here was pretty much expected, and it was even highly expected that "Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog" would be vying for the top spot. I suppose you could say that "CODA" popping up in the Best Motion Picture (Drama) category was a nice surprise, as well as snagging a spot in Best Supporting Actor for Troy Kotsur. I guess you could also say the love for "Don't Look Up" is just a little surprising given the negative reviews.

As far as snubs go, it's kind of shocking to find Paul Thomas Anderson left out of Best Director for "Licorice Pizza" (seemingly replaced by Maggie Gyllenhaal for "The Lost Daughter," which only received one additional nomination for Best Actress in a Drama (Olivia Colman)). Likewise, it's interesting to see that "In the Heights" merely received one nomination for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, whereas it was expected to do much better.

Looking at Best Screenplay, what we already pretty knew seems to have been confirmed. The Best Picture race appears to be between "Belfast," "Licorice Pizza," and "The Power of the Dog," given that for the last 16 years in a row, the eventual big winner at the Oscars has turned up in this category. As to what's going to win here, if I had to guess, I would think that "Licorice Pizza" would win Best Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy), while Motion Picture (Drama) is going to be a battle between "Belfast" and "The Power of the Dog," both of which are very popular and were obviously loved by the HFPA.

We'll just have to wait until January 9th to see who the big winners are, but in the meantime, please see below for a complete list of nominees for the film categories:

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Belfast

CODA

Dune

King Richard

The Power of the Dog

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Cyrano

Don't Look Up

Licorice Pizza

Tick, Tick... Boom!

West Side Story

Best Director – Motion Picture Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

Denis Villleneuve, Dune

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Mahershala Ali, Swan Song

Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos

Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

Will Smith, King Richard

Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter

Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

Lady Gaga, House of Gucci

Kristen Stewart, Spencer

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy Leonardo DiCaprio, Don't Look Up

Peter Dinklage, Cyrano

Andrew Garfield, Tick, Tick... Boom! Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza Anthony Ramos, In the Heights

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Marion Cotillard, Annette

Alan Haim, Licorice Pizza

Jennifer Lawrence, Don't Look Up

Emma Stone, Cruella

Rachel Zegler, West Side Story

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar

Jamie Dornan, Belfast

Ciarin Hinds, Belfast

Troy Kotsur, CODA

Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Caitriona Balfe, Belfst

Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog

Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

Ruth Negga, Passing

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Licorice Pizza

Belfast

The Power of the Dog

Don't Look Up

Being the Ricardos

Best Original Score – Motion Picture The French Dispatch

Encanto

The Power of the Dog Parallel Mothers Dune

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

Compartment No. 6

Drive My Car

The Hand of God

A Hero

Parallel Mothers

Best Motion Picture – Animated Encanto

Flee

Luca

My Sunny Maad

Raya and the Last Dragon

Best Song

"Be Alive," King Richard

"Dos Oruguitas," Encanto

"Down to Joy," Belfast

"Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)," Respect

"No Time to Die." No Time to Die

Follow me on Twitter @BeckFilmCritic.