WHICH ACTRESS SURPRISED OUR EXPERTS WITH A NOMINATION? 
 
 Awards season kicked into full gear on Thursday when nominations were announced for the 70th annual Golden Globe Awards. 
 
 As expected, the movies side was dominated by awards frontrunners like Argo, Lincoln and the epic musical Les Miserables, each of which picked up a handful of nominations. 
 
 Also nominated: Kathryn Bigelow’s Osama bin Laden drama Zero Dark Thirty, which swept the top categories, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actress – Drama (Jessica Chastain) and Best Screenplay; and Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, which hit the awards circuit in a big way Thursday with multiple nominations. 
 
 But perhaps the most interesting category was Best Original Song, which will see uber-stars Taylor Swift and Adele face off against each other for the coveted prize. 
 
 Over on the television side, it was a mix of old faces and new, as the Hollywood Foreign Press welcomed back shows like 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation and Downton Abbey. 
 
 Also popping up were new faces like Homeland, which swept the Emmys in September, and the HBO zeitgeist comedy Girls. 
 
 The 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards air Sun., Jan. 13 on NBC. Nominees Tina Fey and Amy Poehler host. 
 
 See the full list of nominations, below. 
 
 Best Motion Picture – Drama 
 
 Argo 
 
 Django Unchained 
 
 Life of Pi 
 
 Lincoln 
 
 Zero Dark Thirty 
 
 Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy 
 
 The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 
 
 Les Miserables 
 
 Moonrise Kingdom 
 
 Salmon Fishing in the Yemen 
 
 Silver Linings Playbook 
 
 Best Director 
 
 Ben Affleck, Argo 
 
 Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty 
 
 Ang Lee, Life of Pi 
 
 Steven Spielberg, Lincoln 
 
 Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained 
 
 Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama 
 
 Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln 
 
 Richard Gere, Arbitage 
 
 John Hawkes, The Sessions 
 
 Joaquin Phoenix, The Master 
 
 Denzel Washington, Flight 
 
 Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama 
 
 Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty 
 
 Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone 
 
 Helen Mirren, Hitchcock 
 
 Naomi Watts, The Impossible 
 
 Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea 
 
 Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 
 
 Jack Black, Bernie 
 
 Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook 
 
 Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables 
 
 Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the YEmen 
 
 Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson 
 
 Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 
 
 Emily Blunt, Salmon Fising in the Yemen 
 
 Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel 
 
 Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook 
 
 Maggie Smith, Quartet 
 
 Meryl Streep, Hope Springs 
 
 Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture 
 
 Alan Arkin, Argo 
 
 Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained 
 
 Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master 
 
 Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln 
 
 Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained 
 
 Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture 
 
 Amy Adams, The Master 
 
 Sally Field, Lincoln 
 
 Anne Hathaway, Les Misearbles 
 
 Helen Hunt, The Sessions 
 
 Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy 
 
 Best Screenplay 
 
 Zero Dark Thirty 
 
 Lincoln 
 
 Silver Linings Playbook 
 
 Django Unchained 
 
 Argo 
 
 Best Original Song 
 
 “For You” – Act of Valor 
 
 “Not Running Anymore” – Stand Up Guys 
 
 “Safe and Sound” – The Hunger Games 
 
 “Skyfall” – Skyfall 
 
 “Suddenly” – Les Misérables 
 
 Best Original Score 
 
 Argo 
 
 Anna Karenina 
 
 Cloud Atlas 
 
 Life of Pi 
 
 Lincoln 
 
 Best Foreign Language Film 
 
 Amour 
 
 A Royal Affair 
 
 The Untouchables 
 
 Kon-Tiki 
 
 Rust and Bone 
 
 Best Animated Feature 
 
 Brave 
 
 Frankenweenie 
 
 Hotel Transylvania 
 
 Rise of the Guardians 
 
 Wreck-It Ralph 
 
 Best TV Series – Drama 
 
 Breaking Bad 
 
 Boardwalk Empire 
 
 Downton Abbey 
 
 Homeland 
 
 The Newsroom 
 
 Best TV Series – Comedy 
 
 The Big Bang Theory 
 
 Episodes 
 
 Girls 
 
 Modern Family 
 
 Smash 
 
 Best Actor – TV Series Drama 
 
 Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire 
 
 Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad 
 
 Jeff Daniels, The Newsroom 
 
 Jon Hamm, Mad Men 
 
 Damian Lewis, Homeland 
 
 Best Actress – TV Series Drama 
 
 Connie Britton, Nashville 
 
 Glenn Close, Damages 
 
 Claire Danes, Homeland 
 
 Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey 
 
 Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife 
 
 Best Actor – TV Miniseries or Movie 
 
 Kevin Costner, Hatfield & McCoys 
 
 Benedict Cumberbatch, Sherlock 
 
 Woody Harrelson, Game Change 
 
 Toby Jones, The Girl 
 
 Clive Owen, Hemingway & Gellhorn 
 
 Best Actress – TV Miniseries or Movie 
 
 Nicole Kidman, Hemingway & Gellhorn 
 
 Jessica Lange, American Horror Story: Asylum 
 
 Sienna Miller, The Girl 
 
 Julianne Moore, Game Change 
 
 Sigourney Weaver, Political Animals 
 
 Best Actor in a TV Series – Comedy 
 
 Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock 
 
 Don Cheadle, House of Lies 
 
 Louis CK, Louie 
 
 Matt LeBlanc, Episodes 
 
 Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory 
 
 Best Actress – TV Series Comedy 
 
 Zooey Deschanel, New Girl 
 
 Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep 
 
 Lena Dunham, Girls 
 
 Tina Fey, 30 Rock 
 
 Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation 
 
 Best Miniseries/TV Movie 
 
 Game Change 
 
 The Girl 
 
 Hatfield & McCoys 
 
 The Hour 
 
 Political Animals 
 
 Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries, Motion Picture Made for Television 
 
 Max Greenfield, New Girl 
 
 Ed Harris, Game Change 
 
 Danny Houston, Magic City 
 
 Mandy Patinkin, Homeland 
 
 Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family 
 
 Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, Motion Picture Made for Television 
 
 Hayden Panettiere, Nashville 
 
 Archie Panjabi, The Good Wife 
 
 Sarah Paulson, Game Change 
 
 Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey 
 
 Sofia Vergara, Modern Family ||||| A reliable predictor for the Oscars gives two top awards to Ben Affleck's Iran hostage crisis film. 
 
 Ben Affleck accepts the Best Director Award for 'Argo' at the 18th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards, held at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo: Kevin Winter, Getty Images) Story Highlights Ben Affleck starts off with a joke and thanks 'academy' 
 
 Jennifer Lawrence wins in two actress categories 
 
 Daniel Day-Lewis is best actor winner 
 
 SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Ben Affleck may have been snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday morning when Oscar nominations were announced, but things were looking up Thursday night when he took home the Critics' Choice award for best director for Argo. 
 
 "I would like to thank the academy... I'm kidding, I'm kidding. This is the one that counts," said a grinning Affleck upon accepting the award. 
 
 Making his night even better: Argo -- which did receive a best picture Oscar nomination -- took home the Critics' Choice award for best picture. 
 
 The Critics' Choice Awards, always a reliable predictor for the Academy Awards, collided right into them on Thursday, with an especially early round of Oscar nominations taking place at the crack of dawn. 
 
 The result? A host of extra-happy stars walking the Critics' Choice red carpet with an Oscar glow, like Jessica Chastain, Daniel Day-Lewis, Anne Hathaway, Sally Field, Tommy Lee Jones and Jennifer Lawrence. 
 
 "Talk to me in a month, but right now I'm raring to go," said Lawrence, who nabbed a best actress Oscar nomination, in high spirits on the red carpet. Lawrence went on to win the Critics' Choice award for both best actress in an action movie (The Hunger Games) and later best comedic actress (Silver Linings Playbook). "Seriously, I love critics," said Lawrence upon accepting her second award of the evening. She was one of a few stars who had such a successful year, they were double-teaming it. 
 
 New dad Matthew McConaughey was nominated for best supporting actor for Magic Mike, but was also there to support his indie comedy, Bernie. 
 
 McConaughey says there's something to be learned from the critics. "A couple of years ago I went through and had some help with my assistants. I said, 'Let's gather up every bad review that's ever been written about me.' And it was a thick book!" said McConaughey. "But it turned out to be at first hard to read, but then all of a sudden it became really funny. And I started to find some very constructive criticism in there." 
 
 WINNERS: The full list from the Critics' Choice Awards 
 
 This year, the 18th annual Critics' Choice Awards was hosted by Sam Rubin, and found a new physical home, at the Barker Hangar in chilly Santa Monica, as well as a new televised one, with a switch from VH1 to the CW. 
 
 The awards, chosen by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, did raise the question: Does this crop of stars cop to reading their own reviews? 
 
 "I wish I could say I didn't," said Les Miserables actor Eddie Remayne. But when it comes to theater reviews, "they do tend to affect how I keep performing...but on film you're more distanced from it, it's out of your hands." 
 
 "I do read my reviews," said director and Zero Dark Thirty actor Mark Duplass on the red carpet before the show. "I would love to be a big man and not need the validation, but I do. If it's good, I keep reading, and if it's bad, I stop." The reviews, however, don't influence his choices. "People tell me to stop using my shaky cameras, and I've been doing it for years." 
 
 Best actress nominee Marion Cotillard stays away from reading her reviews. "I'm much harder with myself than any critic," she said. "Trust me." 
 
 Naomi Watts, who said she was "wearing lots of good makeup" to keep her from looking tired after the early morning, tries to avoid reviews -- but sometimes it's inevitable. "Your agent or manager or publicist usually sends you some reviews, but they're usually the good ones," she said. 
 
 The Avengers writer Joss Whedon said he's selective when it comes to checking out what the critics have to say. "I don't read them all. Some of my friends call and say, 'Don't read this review or that review,' but I do think they're useful. Usually I can tell when they're just being mean or they're just pissing on the genre." 
 
 A genre that might one day include a movie based on the Black Widow, played in Avengers by Scarlett Johansson. "I'm for it. I want her to get a movie. I pitch it (all the time)." He said it's timely, especially after female protagonists have begun to dominate the box office, a la Hunger Games. "I think conversations are very different than they were last April. Prior to that the only references were Elektra and Catwoman." 
 
 Speaking of strong females, Hathaway took home one of the night's first awards: best supporting actress for her turn as Fantine in Les Miserables -- but did the people behind the statuettes make a mistake? "Thank you," said Hathaway upon accepting her award. "This is a bittersweet moment for me. I have this award but you spelled my name wrong. It is with an "e." ... Sorry. Don't mean to be gauche." A name spelling or not, it was the perfect cap to a day that began with an Oscar nomination for the 30-year-old actress. Co-star Redmayne said he had been in touch with his Les Mis co-stars Hathaway and Hugh Jackman, who snagged an Oscar nom for best actor. "I've been e-mailing with Annie and Hugh (Jackman) all day. We're on cloud nine. Their nominations were well-deserved. Hugh was such a great leader." 
 
 Judd Apatow, whose latest film, This is 40, was up for three awards, including best comedy. He took home the humbly named Louis XIII Genius Award, presented by Rebel Wilson. During his acceptance speech, Apatow thanked his wife, Leslie Mann, and said he's "a genius only if for figuring out how to get such a beautiful, brilliant woman to marry me." 
 
 Chastain won the Critics Choice for best actress for her role in Zero Dark Thirty. "Wow," said Chastain. "This is the first time I've ever talked to one of these things, and it's awesome." Chastain, who also received an Oscar nomination for the role, said on the red carpet that she was "really disappointed" that her Zero Dark Thirty director Kathryn Bigelow didn't receive a nomination for best director. "It's bittersweet for me, because I'm so excited to be nominated," said Chastain, who found out about her nomination on a flight from New York with Bigelow. "But this actually goes to show what an amazing person she is, because she's the one who came over and told me (I'd been nominated) and congratulated me. And when I found out, I said, 'Oh my gosh, you didn't get nominated.' I was shocked. And she kept bringing it back to me, 'No, no, no...let's celebrate you.' She's amazing." 
 
 Daniel Day-Lewis won best actor for his starring role in Lincoln, which received 12 Oscar nominations on Thursday. "It means a lot to me," said Day-Lewis. "This has been one of the greatest unforeseen privileges of my life, doing this work." 
 
 The serious tone of his acceptance speech switched gears when he commented on all of the tuxedos in the porta-potties. "Maybe you could do the final category, if there is one, in there," joked Day-Lewis. "Because it really would be wonderful television." 
 
 Lawrence's Silver Linings Playbook co-star Bradley Cooper took home the award for best actor in a comedy. It was a role in which he also received an Oscar nomination. "It feels very fresh," Cooper told reporters on the red carpet. He was watching when the nominations were announced. "I thought I was going to get up and take my dog to the beach and go for a run and come back. And whatever happens, happens. And leave my phone in the truck. But that's not how it went down," he said, chuckling. "I got up, and waited and then watched the television. Woke my mom up, and my dog, and waited to watch it." 
 
 Capping off the evening for Cooper and Lawrence was Silver Linings Playbook taking home the award for best comedy movie. But even earlier in the night, before the movie had even won, Lawrence was grateful: "Having the entire movie, just having everyone recognized, and everyone here, it makes it so much better." 
 
 Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/10k4vIK ||||| The Civil War saga "Lincoln" leads the Academy Awards with 12 nominations, including best picture, director for Steven Spielberg and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones. 
 
 FILE - This undated publicity film image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Bryan Cranston, left, as Jack OíDonnell and Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in "Argo," a rescue thriller about the 1979 Iranian... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this undated publicity photo released by Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Jessica Chastain, center, plays a member of the elite team of spies and military operatives, stationed in a covert base... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This publicity film image released by DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox shows Daniel Day-Lewis portraying Abraham Lincoln in the film "Lincoln." Best-picture prospects for Oscar Nominations... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This Jan. 7, 2013 file photo released by Starpix shows actor Daniel Day Lewis from "Lincoln," at the New York Film Critics Circle awards dinner at the Crimson Club in New York. Lewis was nominated... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This publicity film image released by Universal Pictures shows Hugh Jackman as Jean Valjean holding Isabelle Allen as Young Cosette in a scene from "Les Miserables." Best-picture prospects for... (Associated Press) 
 
 This publicity film image released by 20th Century Fox shows Suraj Sharma in a scene from "Life of Pi," directed by Ang Lee. Best-picture prospects for Oscar Nominations on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, include,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Also among the nine nominees for best picture Thursday: the old-age love story "Amour"; the Iran hostage thriller "Argo"; the independent hit "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; the slave-revenge narrative "Django Unchained"; the musical "Les Miserables"; the shipwreck story "Life of Pi"; the lost-souls romance "Silver Linings Playbook"; and the Osama bin Laden manhunt chronicle "Zero Dark Thirty." 
 
 "Life of Pi" surprisingly ran second with 11 nominations, ahead of "Zero Dark Thirty" and "Les Miserables," which had both been considered potential front-runners. 
 
 More surprising were snubs in the directing category, where three favorites missed out: Ben Affleck for "Argo" and past Oscar winners Kathryn Bigelow for "Zero Dark Thirty" and Tom Hooper for "Les Miserables." 
 
 Two-time winner Spielberg earned his seventh directing nomination, and also in the mix are past winner Ang Lee for "Life of Pi" and past nominee David O. Russell for "Silver Linings Playbook." The other slots went to surprise picks who are first-time nominees: Michael Haneke for "Amour" and Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild." 
 
 Chronicling Abraham Lincoln's final months as he engineers passage of the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery, "Lincoln" stars best-actor contender Day-Lewis in a monumental performance as the 16th president, supporting-actress nominee Field as the notoriously headstrong Mary Todd Lincoln and supporting-actor prospect Jones as abolitionist firebrand Thaddeus Stevens. 
 
 Joining Day-Lewis in the best-actor field are Bradley Cooper as a psychiatric patient trying to get his life back together in "Silver Linings Playbook"; Hugh Jackman as Victor Hugo's tragic hero Jean Valjean in "Les Miserables"; Joaquin Phoenix as a Navy vet who falls in with a cult in "The Master"; and Denzel Washington as a boozy airline pilot in "Flight." 
 
 Nominated for best actress are Jessica Chastain as a CIA operative hunting bin Laden in "Zero Dark Thirty"; Jennifer Lawrence as a troubled young widow struggling to heal in "Silver Linings Playbook"; Emmanuelle Riva as an ailing woman tended by her husband in "Amour"; Quvenzhane Wallis as a spirited girl on the Louisiana delta in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"; and Naomi Watts as a mother caught up in a devastating tsunami in "The Impossible." 
 
 Along with Field, supporting-actress nominees are Amy Adams as a cult leader's devoted wife in "The Master"; Anne Hathaway as an outcast mother reduced to prostitution in "Les Miserables"; Helen Hunt as a sex surrogate in "The Sessions"; and Jacki Weaver as an unstable man's doting mom in "Silver Linings Playbook." 
 
 Besides Jones, the supporting-actor contenders are Alan Arkin as a wily Hollywood producer in "Argo"; Robert De Niro as a football-obsessed patriarch in "Silver Linings Playbook"; Philip Seymour Hoffman as a dynamic cult leader in "The Master"; and Christoph Waltz as a genteel bounty hunter in "Django Unchained." 
 
 The Oscars feature a best-picture field that ranges from five to 10 films depending on a complex formula of ballots from the 5,856 voting members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 
 
 Winners for the 85th Oscars will be announced Feb. 24 at a ceremony aired live on ABC from Hollywood's Dolby Theatre. 
 
 "Family Guy" creator and vocal star Seth MacFarlane _ a versatile performer whose work includes directing and voicing for the title character of last summer's hit "Ted" and a Frank Sinatra-style album of standards _ is the Oscar host. 
 
 Thursday's nominees were announced by "The Amazing Spider-Man" star Emma Stone and MacFarlane, the first time that an Oscar show host has joined in the preliminary announcement since 1972, when Charlton Heston participated on nominations day. 
 
 MacFarlane also got his own nod for writing the lyrics to "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from his movie "Ted." 
 
 "That's kind of cool I got nominated," MacFarlane deadpanned. "I get to go to the Oscars." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Online: 
 
 http://www.oscars.org
– The Critics' Choice Awards are generally a good barometer for the Oscars, which makes Ben Affleck's night a bittersweet one. He took home honors for best director and best film last night for Argo, hours after failing to even get nominated in the directors' category for an Academy Award. "I would like to thank the academy," he said upon winning. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. This is the one that counts." Winners in the big categories, from USA Today and AP: Best film: Argo Best director: Ben Affleck (Argo) Best actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln) Best actress: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) Supporting actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman (The Master) Supporting actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables) Original screenplay: Quentin Tarantino (Django Unchained) Click for the full list of winners.