Awards Season: Let the Games Begin

This just in: The folks at the Golden Globes love Angelina Jolie and George Clooney, plus anything distributed by Harvey Weinstein.

The Globes nominated (director) Angelina Jolie for her "In The Land of Blood and Honey" as a foreign language film.  They nominated George Clooney twice -- best actor for "The Descendants," best director for the previously ignored "The Ides of March." Weinstein's "The Artist" get a best pic nom, along iwth "The Help" "Hugo,' "Moneyball" and "War Horse."

Surprises? "The Help" figured to score noms for Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer, so it wasn't really a shocker. "Albert Nobbs," featuring Glenn Close as a Victorian woman passing as a man, won noms for Close and co-star Janet McTeer. Brendan Gleeson was nominated for supporting actor, comedy, for "The Guard," and that was nice to see.

The SAG nominations, released yesterday, were a little hipper. They cited Demian Bechir for his work as a Mexican illegal in "A Better Life" and Armie Hammer for his droll turn in "J. Edgar" as Hoover's right hand man, perhaps longtime companion. And they made room for Nick Nolte in the overlooked "Warrior."

Snubbed? I was slightly surprised to see that Michael Shannon, a previous Oscar nominee, was ignored for his first-rate work in "Take Shelter."  I'd take him over Globe best actors nominees Ryan Gosling ('Ides of March") or Globe/SAG nom Leonardo DiCaprio ( "J. Edgar").

I though "Beginners" might get more love, although Christopher Plummer got a Globe nod for supporting actor. The Globes made room for Michael Fassbender ('SHame"), who got nothing from SAG.