2011 Golden Globe Nominations Announced

The awards season has officially kicked off: the nominations for the 2011 Golden Globes have just been announced. As moviegoers must know, they are the closest indicator of what one should expect from the Academy Awards in terms of nominations and wins.

After many weeks of consideration and reviewing, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has announced the nominees for the television and film categories – and there are some surprise appearances, as well.

One of them isn’t “The Social Network,” though. The film scored the most nods, which fans and critics alike saw coming from miles away, given that it’s considered one of this year’s smartest films, as well as one of the most successful releases for the same period.

The film about the founder and the beginning of Facebook got nods in the Best Picture Drama category, but also for Best Actor (the brilliant Jesse Eisenberg), Best Director (David Fincher) and Best Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin).

“Inception” is also a big contender at the awards ceremony, with nods for Best Picture Drama, Best Director and Best Screenplay. One might as well note here that Leonardo DiCaprio was robbed of a nomination for Best Actor.

As some of you may remember, reports were saying a while back that, even though in the running with two critically acclaimed films (“Inception” and “Shutter Island”), DiCaprio had missed the “Oscar train.”

However, Mark Wahlberg wasn’t overlooked. He scored a nom for the recently released drama “The Fighter” for Best Actor, while Christian Bale also got a nod for Best Supporting Actor Drama for his part in the same movie.

While the former will have to go against the aforementioned Eisenberg, Colin Firth, James Franco, and Ryan Gosling, Bale goes up against Andrew Garfield, Jeremy Renner, Geoffrey Rush and Michael Douglas.

In TV, “Glee” scored nominations for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, while “Dexter” got another nod for Best TV Series Drama, going up against “Mad Men,” “Boardwalk Empire,” “The Good Wife” and “The Walking Dead.”

“Dexter’s” Michael C. Hall has again made the cut for Best Actor TV Drama, where he’s competing against the likes of Hugh Laurie of “House M.D.” and John Hamm of “Mad Men.”

For the complete list of nominations, see below. The Golden Globe awards ceremony will take place on January 16.

Best Picture, Drama: “Black Swan” “The Fighter” “Inception” “The King’s Speech” “The Social Network”

Best Picture, Comedy/Musical:

“Alice in Wonderland” “Burlesque” “The Kids Are All Right” “Red” “The Tourist”

Best Actress, Drama:

Halle Berry, “Frankie and Alice” Nicole Kidman, “Rabbit Hole” Jennifer Lawrence, “Winter’s Bone” Michelle Williams, “Blue Valentine” Natalie Portman, “Black Swan”

Best Actor, Drama: Jesse Eisenberg, “The Social Network” Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech” James Franco, “127 Hours” Ryan Gosling, “Blue Valentine” Mark Wahlberg, “The Fighter”

Best Director: