Carol Leads Golden Globe Nominations in a Year Filled with Snubs and Surprises

The 73rd annual Golden Globe nominations were released this Thursday morning, and while that usually means we spend the day lamenting the snubs of our faves (we love you, Tatiana Maslany), today we get to celebrate Carol. Carol (which we praise regularly) received five nominations in the Drama category - the Golden Globes feature separate categories for Comedy / Musical and Drama in both film and TV sections - including Best Picture. Rooney Mara and Cate Blanchett will be going head-to-head in the Best Actress category (treacherously splitting our loyalties), Todd Haynes is up for Best Director, and Carter Burwell picked up a nomination for Best Score. Carol - based on Patricia Highsmith's acclaimed 1952 lesbian novel - won't be out in wide release until later in the month, but there's officially never been a better time to make catching it a top priority.

Also picking up some major mentions are The Big Short, The Revenant, and - somewhat surprisingly - Mad Max: Fury Road, which we were thrilled to see getting some love for a number of reasons. Awesomely, the Best Picture, Comedy or Musical category leans heavily towards female-lead films, with Trainwreck, Spy, and Joy not only receiving nods, but respective stars Amy Schumer, Melissa McCarthy, and Jennifer Lawrence scoring in the Best Actress category as well. That list is rounded out by  Maggie Smith in The Lady in the Van and Lily Tomlin in Grandma (Lily's also nominated for her role in the Netflix series Grace and Frankie), so it'll be a tough year to pick a favorite. Additionally, while we're certainly Team Carol at every turn, Brie Larson (Room), Saorise Ronan (Brooklyn), and Alicia Vikander (The Danish Girl) all give fantastic performances and certainly deserve to be rounding out the Best Actress, Drama category as well. At least if Alicia doesn't win here, she might score Best Supporting Actress for her role in Ex Machina. In other words, start keeping an eye out for Alicia Vikander. 

On the TV side of things, streaming seems to be the real winner right off the bat, with Netflix receiving more nominations than HBO for the first time, and Hulu and Amazon also pulling some major nominations. Netflix favorite Orange is the New Black once again picked up a nomination for Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy, with Uzo Aduba getting a nod for her role as Crazy Eyes. Transparent also got some major love with a Best TV Series nod, and Jeffrey Tambor and Judith Light received nominations for their performances. And while there are many acting nominations we might expect from this fruitful TV season, including Viola Davis in How to Get Away with Murder, Queen Latifah in Bessie, Taraji P. Henson in Empire, and Robin Wright in House of Cards, perhaps the most unexpected acting nomination was given to Lady Gaga for her role American Horror Story: Hotel. In fact, Lady Gaga seems just as surprised as we were. 

Leading the snub section of our hearts this year is Tatiana Maslany, who the Hollywood Foreign Press Association failed to recognize for her multitude of roles in Orphan Black. Additionally, Jacob Tremblay - who shines as the child star of Room - didn't receive a nod, though he did pick up some SAG love. Another noticeable snub came in the lack of nominations for any of the actors in the Best Picture-nominated Spotlight, which was (and perhaps still is) expected to be a pretty heavy hitter come Oscar season. Another film whose ensemble went largely unrecognized is Quentin Taratino's testosterone-tastic The Hateful Eight. In fact, the only actor to pick up a nom is the only female lead in the majorly male cast, Jennifer Jason Leigh. In other words: girl power.

For a full list of the nominees, check out Entertainment Weekly. There's certainly a lot to look forward to this award season, and we're endlessly thrilled that Carol is at the forefront of it all.