Sunday night marked the 66th Golden Globes Awards, and while not as prestigious as the Oscars, it’s still a high honor to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.  The Globes are usually a good predictor of who and what will be nominated come Oscar time, too.  There weren’t a lot of surprises for the major categories, and I think we’ll be hearing a lot of nominated actors and movies having their names called again next month for the Oscars.  Here’s a look at the Golden Globe winners from the major movie categories:

Best Motion Picture - Drama - Slumdog Millionaire

Audiences and critics alike simply adore Slumdog Millionaire, and rightfully so.  Without spoiling anything, it takes the premise of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and sets it in India.  The protagonist, hailing from the slums, is accused of cheating.  This movie doesn’t have the campiness you may expect and it’s a solid choice for Best Picture.  I loved Benjamin Button, but it was flawed, so I have no problem with Slumdog winning the award.

Best Motion Picture - Musical/Comedy - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Woody Allen, whether you love his movies or hate them, knows how to execute.  Films like this are what we’ve come to expect from Allen - touching and quirky with sprinkles of Allen’s trademark neurosis.  Admittedly, I’m a big ABBA fan, but I think we can all agree it’s for the best that Mamma Mia didn’t win. *Shudder*  In Bruges was a dark horse here, but when Allen is firing on all cylinders, he’s tough to beat.

Best Actor - Drama - Mickey Rourke

Rourke’s performance in The Wrestler was hands down the best I’ve seen all year.  Penn is always brilliant, and Frank Langella’s portrayal of Nixon is uncanny, but Rourke conveyed more emotion and pain than any actor has in a long time.  I’m hoping he’ll win the Academy Award for Best Actor, too, although I wouldn’t be too upset if Langella won that.  Still, I give the edge to Rourke, as he largely created a fictional character as opposed to basing his performance on a real person.

Best Actress - Drama - Kate Winslet

Winslet’s great in pretty much anything she’s in, including Revolutionary Road.  She can hold her own on screen with the best actors in the world (e.g., Leo), and it almost seems like free money to bet that she’ll be nominated again come Oscar time.  Not that Winslet is bad looking AT ALL, but it’s nice to see actresses receive credit when they can actually act.  I thought Anne Hathaway was amazing in Rachel Getting Married - a different role for her - and I imagine she’ll be Kate’s biggest competition at the Oscars.

Best Actor - Musical/Comedy - Colin Farrell

You know what?  I’m glad Farrell finally got his due.  People dislike him and say he sucks, but that’s because of his real-life persona.  I think he’s a pretty good actor, and he was terrific in In Bruges, one of the better flicks I saw this past year.  Go ahead, tell me I’m nuts.  I would have loved to have seen Franco win for Pineapple Express - good lord was he funny in that - but Farrell definitely deserved this award.  Without him, In Bruges becomes just another movie.

Best Actress - Musical/Comedy - Sally Hawkins

I’ll be honest - I didn’t see Happy-Go-Lucky, but Hawkins must have been great if she beat out heavyweights Streep, McDormand and Thompson.  The fact that she was in the same conversation with those three makes me want to see her performance now, so hopefully I’ll get a chance to do that soon.  Did any of you see Happy-Go-Lucky?  What’d ya think?  Did she deserve the award?

Best Supporting Actor - Heath Ledger

No shocker here: we’ve been raving about Ledger’s Joker for months and there’s no doubt he’ll be nominated for an Oscar, too.  Everyone’s seen the Dark Knight, so there’s no need to comment, but I was glad to see Tom Cruise get nominated for his role in Tropic Thunder.  I thought he stole that movie, and good for him for playing such an outlandish character.  The same could be said for Downey in Tropic Thunder, I suppose, but he’s been America’s sweetheart the last year or so, and everyone hates Tom Cruise.  I still like Cruise, so there.  He’s not a bad guy - just insane.

Best Supporting Actress - Kate Winslet

It seems the juggernaut that is Kate Winslet cannot be stopped, as she wins both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the Globes.  I wonder if she’ll get a nod for The Reader at the Oscars, too.  I would have liked to have seen Marisa Tomei win for her role as a single mother stripper in The Wrestler, but Winslet just keeps on rolling.

Best Director - Danny Boyle

Boyle has always shown flashes of brilliance, dating back to Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, and he finally put it all together for Slumdog.  He definitely deserves the award and maybe now he’ll have larger budgets to work with.  I would have liked to have seen Fincher win for Benjamin Button, as the flaws in that film can be attributed to the script (which, ironically, was nominated for Best Screenplay).

What did you guys think of the winners and nominees?  Were there any snubs?  Let us know!

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