No shortage of head-shaking surprises in film nominations

The 66th Golden Globe film nominations are in, and they resolve . . . not very much. Yesterday, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association seemed quite happy to toss bouquets to any 2008 movie with a European place name in its title: Both "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" and "In Bruges" were nominated in the best motion picture, comedy or musical category. "In Bruges" got two best actor nominations (Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson), while "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" got nods for actor (Javier Bardem), actress (Rebecca Hall), and supporting actress (Penelope Cruz). The place-name theory didn't extend to Australia or "Australia," which got bupkes.

(The TV Globe nominations featured a lot of the usual suspects - America Ferrera, "30 Rock," "House," Tony Shalhoub. The lack of love for HBO's "The Wire," even in its last season, was offset by five nominations for the cable channel's "In Treatment" and two for "True Blood," idiosyncratic series both. A full list of Golden Globe nominees can be found at www.goldenglobes.org.)

How do we know this is the Golden Globes and not the Oscars? Because Tom Cruise and Robert Downey Jr. both got supporting actor nominations for their scurrilously funny turns in the summer blockbuster "Tropic Thunder," while James Franco is over in the best actor, comedy or musical category for his hapless stoner in "Pineapple Express." Meanwhile, Meryl Streep has staked claims in both best actress categories, for drama ("Doubt," opening today) and comedy or musical ("Mamma Mia!"). (Awards for best film and leading actors are split into the two categories; supporting players and everyone else competes in one.)

Yes, "Mamma Mia!" is also up for best picture, comedy or musical, and it may represent the worst movie ever nominated in that category. (Did I say it wasn't enjoyable? Not at all.) Kate Winslet is up for a deuce as well: best actress (drama) for "Revolutionary Road" and best supporting actress for "The Reader," both upcoming releases. (Why "supporting" when she's in almost the whole movie? Studio politicking, plain and simple; that way, Winslet won't be competing against herself.)

Other surprises and omissions? The acclaimed "Milk" picked up only one nomination, for Sean Penn's lead performance. (Was the story too American for foreign journalists or is plain old homophobia at fault? Pick your conspiracy theory.) Likewise, "The Dark Knight" garnered a single nomination, for Heath Ledger's performance, and "WALL-E" got stuck at the best animated feature kids' table with "Bolt" and "Kung Fu Panda."

"Rachel Getting Married" squeaked in with only a best actress nod for Anne Hathaway. Clint Eastwood wasn't nominated for best director and neither of his movies, "Changeling" and the forthcoming "Gran Torino" made it into the big horserace. Angelina Jolie picked up a best actress (drama) nod for the former and Eastwood himself got two music nominations for the latter, though, even if his singing of the theme from "Gran Torino" gives Pierce Brosnan in "Mamma Mia!" (mercifully un-nominated) a run for his atonal money.

Elsewhere, the HFPA is clearly drinking the year-end Kool-Aid, with such certified Oscar white elephants as "Revolutionary Road," "The Reader," "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," and "Frost/Nixon" coming in for multiple nominations. (In this critic's opinion, they're all problematic at best and snoozeworthy at worst.) Almost the entire cast of "Doubt" was nominated (Streep in a lead category, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, and Viola Davis for supporting). And Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson - almost the entire cast of the very small upcoming romantic comedy "Last Chance Harvey" - were both nominated, possibly on the strength of their near-legendary status.

"Slumdog Millionaire," meanwhile, continued its march to Oscar with a best motion picture (drama) nomination and nods for director Danny Boyle, writer Simon Beaufoy, and composer A.R. Rahman. Don't try to make sense of any of this - there is none. Just watch the big show on Jan. 11 and marvel at the self-congratulatory glitz.

Ty Burr can be reached at tburr@globe.com. For more about movies, go to www.boston.com/movies.