[phileysmiley]

<font color="maroon">by Larry Richman </font>
<font color="gray" size="1">December 13, 2007 9:10 AM</font>

The <a href="http://www.goldenglobes.org/nominations/" target="_blank">Golden Globe nominations</a> were announced by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association early this morning. The awards will be handed out on January 13 and are widely considered to be a good indicator of Oscar potential. While the numerous critics nominations and awards revealed over the past week can often be even more reliable in predicting who will win the Academy Awards, it's the Golden Globes which have the highest public visibility and are said to signal the traditional "start of Oscar season."

But how important are they, really? "Voted on by the 80-some-odd members of the HFPA, the Globes gained significance as an Academy Awards bellwether, with Oscar's best picture winner for 1992-2003 having also been feted at the Globes 11 out of 12 times," <a href="http://www.variety.com/awardcentral_article/VR1117977633.html?nav=news&categoryid=1983&cs=1" target="_blank">says Variety</a>. "However, in recent years its role as a predictor has waned. In January, the Globes saluted "Babel" and "Dreamgirls." The latter failed even to secure a best picture nomination, and