‘The Artist’ and ‘The Descendants’ Win Big at 2012 Golden Globes

George Clooney turned out to be both the biggest winner and the biggest loser at this year’s Golden Globes Sunday. Despite a win for Best Actor in a Drama for “The Descendants” — the film that also took home Best Drama — Clooney’s own film, “The Ides of March,” was shut out completely in all four categories for which it was nominated.

The other big winner of the night was Academy Award Best Picture frontrunner “The Artist.” The silent film didn’t win any accolades for writer/director Michel Hazanavicius, but instead took home Best Musical/Comedy, Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy for star Jean Dujardin and Best Original Score.

In the writing and directing categories, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association was able to award two of the all-time greats with statuettes, Martin Scorsese (“Hugo”) and Woody Allen (“Midnight in Paris”).

See all the winners below.

Best Picture – Drama

• The Descendants
• The Help
• Hugo
• The Ides of March
• Moneyball
• War Horse

My Thoughts: With “The Artist” being in the musical/comedy category, it’s tough to say whether “The Descendants” has a chance at the Oscar. Still, considering it competed with more mainstream feel-good films in “The Help,” “Hugo” and “Moneyball,” it’s a pretty big victory for Alexander Payne’s film.

Best Picture – Musical/Comedy

• 50/50
• The Artist
• Bridesmaids
• Midnight in Paris
• My Week with Marilyn

My Thoughts: Having emerged as the clear frontrunner for the Oscar in recent weeks, this win wasn’t a big surprise at all. The real competition (if it exists) comes from the Best Drama nominees.

Best Director

• Woody Allen for “Midnight in Paris”
• George Clooney for “The Ides of March”
• Michel Hazanavicius for “The Artist”
• Alexander Payne for “The Descendants”
• Martin Scorsese for “Hugo”

My Thoughts: The win definitely puts Scorsese ahead in the race, even if the HFPA likes to give big names the recognition. The the Directors Guild Award will be the true indicator for the Oscar as it always is.

Best Actor – Drama

• George Clooney for “The Descendants”
• Leonardo DiCaprio for “J. Edgar”
• Michael Fassbender for “Shame”
• Ryan Gosling for “The Ides of March”
• Brad Pitt for “Moneyball”

My Thoughts: Although Brad Pitt will get nominated for the Oscar, it’s clear Clooney has the leg up on him. Whether or not he’s way ahead of Jean Dujardin remains to be seen.

Best Actress – Drama

• Glenn Close for “Albert Nobbs”
• Viola Davis for “The Help”
• Rooney Mara for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”
• Meryl Streep for “The Iron Lady”
• Tilda Swinton for “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

My Thoughts: Viola Davis seems to be the people’s choice, but it appears the HFPA couldn’t resist Streep. The two will probably duke it out for the Oscar though I think Michelle Williams might be the best of them.

Best Actor – Musical/Comedy

• Jean Dujardin for “The Artist”
• Brendan Gleeson for “The Guard”
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt for “50/50″
• Ryan Gosling for “Crazy, Stupid, Love”
• Owen Wilson for “Midnight in Paris”

My Thoughts: The Cannes winner pulls off the Globe and considering the rest of that list, it’s not a surprise.

Best Actress – Musical/Comedy

• Jodie Foster for “Carnage”
• Charlize Theron for “Young Adult”
• Kristen Wiig for “Bridesmaids”
• Michelle Williams for “My Week with Marilyn”
• Kate Winslet for “Carnage”

My Thoughts: Williams’ competition will be completely different in the Oscars, but a deserving win no less.

Best Supporting Actor

• Kenneth Branagh for “My Week with Marilyn”
• Albert Brooks for “Drive”
• Jonah Hill for “Moneyball”
• Viggo Mortensen for “A Dangerous Method”
• Christopher Plummer for “Beginners”

My Thoughts: Plummer was always one of the big competitors for this Oscar, but this helps his stock, especially after all the critics awards that Albert Brooks won.

Best Supporting Actress

• Bérénice Bejo for “The Artist”
• Jessica Chastain for “The Help”
• Janet McTeer for “Albert Nobbs”
• Octavia Spencer for “The Help”
• Shailene Woodley for “The Descendants”

My Thoughts: The lone win for “The Help” and probably the film’s most deserving. Spencer is certainly the Oscar frontrunner.

Best Screenplay

• “The Artist” – Michel Hazanavicius
• “The Descendants” – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash
•  ”The Ides of March” – Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon
• “Midnight in Paris” – Woody Allen
• “Moneyball”  – Aaron Sorkin and Steve Zaillian

My Thoughts: Without two separate categories like with the Oscars, this was a loaded list. Respect for Allen could help him win out.

Best Animated Film

• The Adventures of Tintin
• Arthur Christmas
• Cars 2
• Puss in Boots
• Rango

My Thoughts: With “Rango” sweeping most critics awards, the win for “Tintin” would seem a surprise, but considering the international nature of the HFPA, it really isn’t.

Best Foreign Film

• The Flowers of War
• In the Land of Blood and Honey
• The Kid with a Bike
• A Separation
• The Skin I Live In

My Thoughts: One of the few hands-down Oscar nominations and wins.

Best Original Song

• “Lay Your Head Down – Brian Byrne and Glenn Close (from “Albert Nobbs”)
• “Hello Hello”  – Elton John and Bernie Taupin (from “Gnomeo & Juliet”)
• “The Living Proof” –  Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason Jr., Damon Thomas (from “The Help”)
• “The Keeper” –  Chris Cornell (from “Machine Gun Preacher”)
• “Masterpiece” –  Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry (from “W.E.”)
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Best Original Score

• “The Artist” – Ludovic Bource
• “W.E” – Abel Korzeniowski
• “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
• “Hugo” – Howard Shore
• “War Horse” – John Williams