The 2012 Golden Globe nominees

"The Artist" cements its favorite status, "The Help" gets some help, and George Clooney rules the world.

The Golden Globes are to the Academy Awards what AAA baseball is to the major leagues, or what the Nationwide Series is to the Sprint Cup, or what the Golden Globes are to the Academy Awards: an important stepping stone on the way to the big time. They’re also a good show for watching movie stars get drunk and act a little silly, and perhaps that’s a big reason why the Globes so consistently nominate so many big name actors in lieu of smaller and oftentimes better films. Nominated stars mean attending stars mean drinking stars mean unintentional hilarity. Or maybe this year they were worried about attendance because the controversial Ricky Gervais is hosting the Globes for the third straight time.

Whatever the reason, the Globes nominees for 2011 are as star-studded as ever. George Clooney received three nominations all by himself — Best Director and Best Screenplay, “The Ides of March” and Best Actor, “The Descendants” — ensuring there will be a record number of cutaway shots of his handsome mug during the broadcast. His “Ides” co-star Ryan Gosling got nominated as Best Actor in both the Drama and Comedy categories, for “Ides of March” and “Crazy Stupid Love,” respectively. Even Angelina Jolie earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination for her directorial debut, “In the Land of Blood and Honey.” Yes, that’s right, the famous foreign filmmaker, Angelina Jolie.

I kid, I kid. And, truth be told, the Globes have so many categories — possibly as yet another way to encourage more star attendance — that there is always room for a few welcome surprises. He’s been so far out of the Oscar race to date that he may as well be in Ireland, but Brendan Gleeson earned a very well deserved Best Actor – Comedy nomination for his hilarious and poignant turn in “The Guard,” a sadly overlooked film about an aging Irish police officer who stumbles onto a major case he is unprepared to deal with. And it’s nice to see “Bridesmaids,” a genuinely funny movie, receive a Best Picture – Comedy nod; ditto Kristen Wiig for Best Actress, though it’s a bummer her talented co-star, Melissa McCarthy, didn’t pick up her own nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

In terms of sheer numbers, “The Artist” once again led the way with six nominations. Coming in a strong second place were “The Descendants” and “The Help,” with five nods a piece. So maybe we should start adding “The Help” to the lists of Oscar frontrunners. If it ends up getting that coveted Best Picture Oscar nomination, we’ll look back at this day as an important stepping stone. The full list of 2012 Golden Globe nominees is below.

The 2012 Golden Globes Nominees (Film)

Best Picture – Drama
“The Descendants”
“The Help”
“Hugo”
“The Ides of March”
“Moneyball”
“War Horse”

Best Picture – Musical or Comedy
“The Artist”
“Bridesmaids”
“50/50″
“Midnight in Paris”
“My Week With Marilyn”

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

Best Actor – Drama
George Clooney, “The Descendants”
Leonardo DiCaprio, “J. Edgar”
Michael Fassbender, “Shame”
Ryan Gosling, “The Ides of March”
Brad Pitt, “Moneyball”

Best Actor – Musical or Comedy
Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”
Brendan Gleeson, “The Guard”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “50/50″
Ryan Gosling, “Crazy, Stupid, Love.”
Owen Wilson, “Midnight in Paris”

Best Actress – Drama
Glenn Close, “Albert Nobbs”
Viola Davis, “The Help”
Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
Tilda Swinton, “We Need to Talk About Kevin”

Best Actress – Musical or Comedy
Jodie Foster, “Carnage”
Kristen Wiig, “Bridesmaids”
Charlize Theron, “Young Adult”
Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”
Kate Winslet, “Carnage”

Best Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh, “My Week With Marilyn”
Albert Brooks, “Drive”
Jonah Hill, “Moneyball”
Viggo Mortensen, “A Dangerous Method”
Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”

Best Supporting Actress
Berenice Bejo, “The Artist”
Jessica Chastain, “The Help”
Janet McTeer, “Albert Nobbs”
Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
Shailene Woodley, “The Descendants”

Best Screenplay
Michel Hazanavicius, “The Artist”
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, “The Descendants”
George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Beau Willimon, “The Ides of March”
Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
Aaron Sorkin and Steven Zaillian, “Moneyball”

Best Foreign Language Film
“The Flowers of War”
“In the Land of Blood and Honey”
“The Kid With a Bike”
“A Separation”
“The Skin I Live In”

Best Animated Feature
“The Adventures of Tintin”
“Arthur Christmas”
“Cars 2″
“Puss in Boots”
“Rango”

Best Original Score
Ludovic Bource, “The Artist”
Trent Reznor and Attivus Ross, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”
Howard Shore, “Hugo”
John Williams, “War Horse”
Abel Korzeniowski, “W.E.”

Best Original Song
“Lay Your Head Down,” “Albert Nobbs”
“Hello Hello,” “Gnomeo and Juliet”
“The Living Proof,” “The Help”
“The Keeper,” “Machine Gun Preacher”
“Masterpiece,” “W.E.”

Who’s going to win the most awards at this year’s Golden Globes? Tell us in the comments below or on Facebook and Twitter.