The 68th annual Golden Globe Award nominations were announced on Tuesday.

What’s unusual is that I haven’t seen some of the movie nominees from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Very unusual.

Some of the films on these lists haven’t screened yet, and some I’ve never heard of at all. Again, very unusual.

I missed the screening of The Fighter and will catch it sometime this weekend, but I've seen the entire motion picture drama category. BTW, I have heard nothing but great things about The Fighter.

Two films really stand out: The King’s Speech — which I think is the best picture of the year so far from the story and acting on down — and The Social Network are the two best.

Here’s the list with two marked overrated:

Black Swan — overrated
Inception — overrated
The King's Speech
The Social Network
The Fighter

In the comedy section, things fall apart. There weren’t that many good comedies last year. And how is it The Kids are All Right ends up as a comedy? While it does have light moments, the film really isn’t a comedy in the classic sense. Great acting though, and other than The King’s Speech it is my favorite of the year.

The best on the list musical or comedy is Red, which is the most fun I had in a theater all year.

Here’s the list:

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

The Tourist? The studio didn’t have enough faith in this one to screen it for critics. Most critics I know that have seen it don’t think it is all that hot. I’ll catch it over the weekend, too and if it’s a great movie, I’ll write an apology.

The drama acting category is a tough one and features some incredible performances. My two favorites are Colin Firth for The King’s Speech and Jesse Eisenberg’s riveting work in The Social Network. And as good as Eisenberg is — hand the statuette to Firth.

Here’s the list of 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

The best actress drama category is tricky. Two films have not screened for critics yet. They are Halle Berry for Frankie and Alice and Nicole Kidman for Rabbit Hole. Natalie Portman is terrific in Black Swan, and Michelle Williams shows some serious chops in Blue Valentine. Of the two, I like Williams the best.

Don’t look for any of these movies in the Tri-Cities anytime soon.

The list:

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

Best actor in a musical or comedy is also tricky. Two of the five films haven’t screened yet. Johnny Depp gets two. One for The Tourist and the other for Alice in Wonderland. And then there’s Jake Gyllenhaal for Love and Other Drugs which like The Kids are All Right isn’t exactly a comedy either.

Here’s the list:

Johnny Depp, Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp, The Tourist
Paul Giamatti, Barney's Version
Jake Gyllenhaal, Love and Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey, Casino Jack

Except for before mentioned The Tourist, I’ve seen all of the best actress in a musical or comedy. Julianne Moore wins this one hands-down for The Kids are All Right, though I did like her co-star Annette Bening, too. And noticing Emma Stone for Easy A gets the Hollywood Foreign Press big points from me.

Here’s the list:

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right
Julianne Moore, The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway, Love & Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie, The Tourist
Emma Stone, Easy A

Best Director features a good cast of creative talents. The King’s Speech and The Social Network are my two favorites with Tom Hooper from the former likely to get the nod. However, critics and film fans went ga-ga over Christopher Nolan’s Inception, a very creative movie about corporate espionage done in dreams. It made me wish I really was asleep and could wake up in a different movie.

I do, however, understand the pick. Nolan’s film is truly original.

Here’s the list:

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan — very overrated
David Fincher, The Social Network
Tom Hooper, The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan, Inception — overrated
David O Russell, The Fighter

Supporting actor — Geoffrey Rush for The King’s Speech. Maybe the best acting by anybody this year.

Here’s the list:

Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps — he’s supporting?
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town — too much like the guy he played in The Hurt Locker
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech

I didn’t see enough of the supporting actress performances to really make a pick or to comment. I did like Mila Kunis in The Black Swan.

Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter, The King's Speech
Mila Kunis, Black Swan
Amy Adams, The Fighter
Jacki Weaver, Animal Kingdom

These are the majors. There is an animated feature section that has two great films — Toy Story 3 and How to Train Your Dragon battling it out with a couple of others. I hate trying to pick between the two. They’re both incredible.

On that note, why not put Tangled in the best musical or comedy category? It fits perfectly and considering how lame most of the films are in the category, Tangled would win.

What are your thoughts about this year’s nominations? And have the Golden Globes become more important than the Oscars? Their nominations usually make sense. The Tourist on the list — however — sends a different message.

But I haven’t seen The Tourist so that may not be a fair observation. Obviously someone liked it, though most of my critic friends did not.

Your thoughts?