Nikki Finke will give you a vision of low-rent corruption that, for all I know, is entirely true. It sure seems to match the often bizarre-to-inexplicable nominations and awards at times. One thing is sure, few of us will ever let the Globes live down that infamous 1982 award to Pia Zadora when she won “New Star of the Year in a Motion Picture” award for a movie called “Butterfly.” People make fun of the fact that the less than superb actress won the award, but it’s a lot more shocking when you consider that her competition was probably two of the more exciting movie performances of the entire 1980s, Howard E. Rollins in “Ragtime” and, more famously, Tim Hutton in “Ordinary People.” I guess they split the pro-talent vote. The category was dead within two years.

Meanwhile back here in 2010, the dramatic “Best Picture” list is mostly in line with the movies that are generally getting a lot of awards and nominations, though I’m sure people will have the usual disagreements. (I know I do). Also, no big surprise, “The Social Network” and “The King’s Speech” did very well in the nominations. “The Fighter” and “Inception” also got a bit of a boost that might Academy voters keep them in mind as Oscar dark horses.

This year’s “Comedy or Musical” Best Picture category is, however, a real doozy. It really looks like the foreign press thinks that comedies don’t really have to be good to be nominated; it’s a sort of twisted semi-reverse snobbery. I know reviews and awards are not the same, but the critically drubbed “The Tourist” got a “Fresh” rating of 07% from “Top Critics” and 20% from critics overall at Rotten Tomatoes. Could the reactions of Hollywood Foreign Press members be that different from domestic press?

I know there’s been some quibbling about whether it qualifies as a “Comedy.” That doesn’t really bother me. I’m sure it’s trying to be funny and probably has a happy ending. That makes it a comedy in my book, though not necessarily a good one. Also, I have nothing against contrarians who laud movies others deride, but the Hollywood Foreign Press isn’t some group of freethinking cinephiles in the tradition of Pauline Kael and Manny Farber.

As for the other films in the category, only “The Kids Are All Right” has been generating the kind of overall appreciation that makes it awards material. “RED” is a reasonably well-liked, successful film, but this will probably be it’s only award nomination outside of genre-specific groups. “Alice in Wonderland” did very well but got a “meh” critical reaction overall and will probably get some technical Oscar nominations. “Burlesque” is a movie that people barely liked as a sort of guilty pleasure and pretty clearly is only on the list because the Golden Globes people really want Cher and Christina Aguilera to drop by.

On the other hand, a couple of thoughts about the overall awards trends. It’s really looking like “True Grit” isn’t going to get a whole lot of Oscar love if these patterns hold, though it did do pretty well with the Critics Choice Awards. Between the past awards given to the Coen Brothers and Jeff Bridges (the Academy likes to spread the awards around) and the fact that even critics’ groups, the Coens’ natural constituency, haven’t given it that many awards, I’d say it’ll lucky to be one of the 10 films nominated for Best Picture. Not that that means I’m looking any less forward to seeing it. If anyone out really thinks that really awards make a movie necessarily better than one that doesn’t, please stop thinking that. On the other hand, it’s better when movies that win awards are, at least, considered to be good by a sizable number of people.

Not too much to say about the acting nominations except that they are generally in line with the overall starfracking and glamor obsession that is the Globes’ specialty. Therefore Lesley Manville’s highly unglamorous performance in “Another Year” was ignored. Let’s hope the Academy voters are a bit more discerning, though Manville’s character won’t be everyone’s cup of tea.

After the flip, I’ll present the complete list of awards, including for television. First, however, I’ll permit myself one TV thought, which is also a movie thought. The love for Olivier Assayas’s “Carlos” continues from the L.A. Film Critics awards, but this time it really was the 5.5 hour version, primarily intended for European television but shown on Sundance and screened in theaters here as well, that was nominated.

*****

1. BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. BLACK SWAN
b. THE FIGHTER
c. INCEPTION
d. THE KING’S SPEECH
e. THE SOCIAL NETWORK

2. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. HALLE BERRY, FRANKIE AND ALICE
b. NICOLE KIDMAN, RABBIT HOLE
c. JENNIFER LAWRENCE, WINTER’S BONE
d. NATALIE PORTMAN, BLACK SWAN
e. MICHELLE WILLIAMS, BLUE VALENTINE

3. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
a. JESSE EISENBERG, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
b. COLIN FIRTH, THE KING’S SPEECH
c. JAMES FRANCO, 127 HOURS
d. RYAN GOSLING, BLUE VALENTINE
e. MARK WAHLBERG, THE FIGHTER

4. BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ALICE IN WONDERLAND
b. BURLESQUE
c. THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
d. RED
e. THE TOURIST

5. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ANNETTE BENING, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
b. ANNE HATHAWAY, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
c. ANGELINA JOLIE, THE TOURIST
d. JULIANNE MOORE, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
e. EMMA STONE, EASY A

6. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. JOHNNY DEPP, ALICE IN WONDERLAND
b. JOHNNY DEPP, THE TOURIST
c. PAUL GIAMATTI, BARNEY’S VERSION
d. JAKE GYLLENHAAL, LOVE AND OTHER DRUGS
e. KEVIN SPACEY, CASINO JACK

7. BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
a. DESPICABLE ME
b. HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON
c. THE ILLUSIONIST
d. TANGLED
e. TOY STORY 3

8. BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
a. BIUTIFUL (MEXICO/SPAIN)
b. THE CONCERT (FRANCE)
c. THE EDGE (RUSSIA)
d. I AM LOVE (ITALY)
(LO SONO L’AMORE)
e. IN A BETTER WORLD (DENMARK)

9. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
a. AMY ADAMS, THE FIGHTER
b. HELENA BONHAM CARTER, THE KING’S SPEECH
c. MILA KUNIS, BLACK SWAN
d. MELISSA LEO, THE FIGHTER
e. JACKI WEAVER, ANIMAL KINGDOM

10. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
a. CHRISTIAN BALE, THE FIGHTER
b. MICHAEL DOUGLAS, WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER
SLEEPS
c. ANDREW GARFIELD, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
d. JEREMY RENNER, THE TOWN
e. GEOFFREY RUSH, THE KING’S SPEECH

11. BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
a. DARREN ARONOFSKY, BLACK SWAN
b. DAVID FINCHER, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
c. TOM HOOPER, THE KING’S SPEECH
d. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, INCEPTION
e. DAVID O. RUSSELL, THE FIGHTER

12. BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
a. DANNY BOYLE, 127 HOURS
SIMON BEAUFOY
b. LISA CHOLODENKO, THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT
STUART BLUMBERG
c. CHRISTOPHER NOLAN, INCEPTION
d. DAVID SEIDLER, THE KING’S SPEECH
e. AARON SORKIN, THE SOCIAL NETWORK

13. BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
a. ALEXANDRE DESPLAT, THE KING’S SPEECH
b. DANNY ELFMAN, ALICE IN WONDERLAND
c. A.R. RAHMAN, 127 HOURS
d. TRENT REZNOR, THE SOCIAL NETWORK
ATTICUS ROSS
e. HANS ZIMMER, INCEPTION

14. BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
a. “BOUND TO YOU” — BURLESQUE
Music by: Samuel Dixon
Lyrics by: Christina Aguilera, Sia Furler
b. “COMING HOME” — COUNTRY STRONG
Music & Lyrics by: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey, Troy Verges
c. “I SEE THE LIGHT” — TANGLED
Music by: Alan Menken
Lyrics by: Glenn Slater
d. “THERE’S A PLACE FOR US” — CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE VOYAGE OF THE DAWN TREADER
Music & Lyrics by: Carrie Underwood, David Hodges, Hillary Lindsey
e. “YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE LAST OF ME” — BURLESQUE
Music & Lyrics by: Diane Warren

15. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. BOARDWALK EMPIRE (HBO)
Leverage, Closest to the Hole Productions, Sikelia Productions and Cold Front Productions, HBO Entertainment
b. DEXTER (SHOWTIME)
Showtime, John Goldwyn Productions, The Colleton Company
c. THE GOOD WIFE (CBS)
CBS Television Studios
d. MAD MEN (AMC)
Lionsgate Television
e. THE WALKING DEAD (AMC)
AMC

16. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. JULIANNA MARGULIES, THE GOOD WIFE
b. ELISABETH MOSS, MAD MEN
c. PIPER PERABO, COVERT AFFAIRS
d. KATEY SAGAL, SONS OF ANARCHY
e. KYRA SEDGWICK, THE CLOSER

17. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
a. STEVE BUSCEMI, BOARDWALK EMPIRE
b. BRYAN CRANSTON, BREAKING BAD
c. MICHAEL C. HALL, DEXTER
d. JON HAMM, MAD MEN
e. HUGH LAURIE, HOUSE

18. BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. 30 ROCK
b. THE BIG BANG THEORY
c. THE BIG C
d. GLEE
e. MODERN FAMILY
f. NURSE JACKIE

19. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES –COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. TONI COLLETTE, UNITED STATES OF TARA
b. EDIE FALCO, NURSE JACKIE
c. TINA FEY, 30 ROCK
d. LAURA LINNEY, THE BIG C
e. LEA MICHELE, GLEE

20. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
a. ALEC BALDWIN, 30 ROCK
b. STEVE CARELL, THE OFFICE
c. THOMAS JANE, HUNG
d. MATTHEW MORRISON, GLEE
e. JIM PARSONS, THE BIG BANG THEORY

21. BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. CARLOS
b. THE PACIFIC
c. PILLARS OF THE EARTH
d. TEMPLE GRANDIN
e. YOU DON’T KNOW JACK

22. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. HAYLEY ATWELL, PILLARS OF THE EARTH
b. CLAIRE DANES, TEMPLE GRANDIN
c. JUDI DENCH, RETURN TO CRANFORD
d. ROMOLA GARAI, EMMA
e. JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT, THE CLIENT LIST

23. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. IDRIS ELBA, LUTHER
b. IAN MCSHANE, PILLARS OF THE EARTH
c. AL PACINO, YOU DON’T KNOW JACK
d. DENNIS QUAID, THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
e. EDGAR RAMIREZ, CARLOS

24. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. HOPE DAVIS, THE SPECIAL RELATIONSHIP
b. JANE LYNCH, GLEE
c. KELLY MACDONALD, BOARDWALK EMPIRE
d. JULIA STILES, DEXTER
e. SOFIA VERGARA, MODERN FAMILY

25. BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION
a. SCOTT CAAN, HAWAII FIVE-O
b. CHRIS COLFER, GLEE
c. CHRIS NOTH, THE GOOD WIFE
d. ERIC STONESTREET, MODERN FAMILY
e. DAVID STRATHAIRN, TEMPLE GRANDIN

Next up was the heavily promoted Robert Downey, Jr./Zach Galifianakis vehicle, “Due Date.” The R-rated road comedy earned an estimated $33.5 million for Warner Brothers. It’ll be interesting to see if the lackluster reviews are reflected in less than awesome word of mouth and theatrical legs for the film. Nikki Finke reports that it got a decent B- from Cinemascore, but I remain eternally somewhat skeptical of those surveys.

The #3 film was Tyler Perry’s theatrical adaptation of a very non-Tyler Perry play, “For Colored Girls.” The heavy-duty drama earned true to Mr. Perry’s form with his traditional audience base, and generated an estimate of $20.5 million for Lionsgate. Say what you will about Mr. Perry, an adaptation of an acclaimed poetry-based play earning that kind of cash requires someone with his kind of populist sensibilities and appeal.

In the #4 spot, the age-spanning action-comedy, “RED,” continues to maintain its hold on the box office with an estimate of over $8.85 million for Summit. Last week’s Halloween #1, “Saw 3D,” had the expected big second weekend drop, plus a bit extra. It lost 63.6% for a Week 2 estimate of $8.2 million. “Paranormal Activity 2” is also dropping, but less dramatically (55.8%). It earned an estimated $7.29 million for Paramount in its third week.

Among limited releases, the four theaters showing Danny Boyle’s much discussed James Franco near-one-man-show, “127 Hours,” showed that audiences were willing to pay an arm, if not a leg, to see the fact-based ordeal film and things look promising for a wider release. It endured a spectacular per-screen average of $66,500 for a total of $266,000. Less stratospheric, but still healthy, was the 46 theater debut of the fact-based political ordeal drama, “Fair Game,” featuring Sean Penn and Naomi Watts as Bush-era National Security Council analyst Joe Wilson and his wife, spy Valerie Plame, who was very illegally outed by members of the Bush Administration. (Their defense: it was an accident. Woops.) It earned a per-screen average north of $15,000 and a total of $700,000.

Even given my low information preview Thursday night, there really weren’t any big surprises this Halloween weekend as the seventh installment in the “Saw” series, but the first in 3D and therefore logically entitled “Saw 3D,” extracted a healthy but far from huge sum from audiences. The amount was an estimated $22.5 million for Lionsgate if you believe Box Office Mojo and the Playlist, or $24.2 million if you believe Nikki Finke and Anthony D’Alessandro. D’Allesandro, as usual guest/co-blogging with Anne Thompson, also tells us that it really does appear that 3D drove this film to its modest success, with 92% of tickets being sold for “digital hubs,” which I assume translates into 3D screens.

I wonder if that means the film will pay a commensurate price in home video for at least as long as home 3D remains rare. It’s also worth noting that the $20 million budget — modest by Hollywood standards but large by horror film standards — is double that of the prior films and the take is about $10 million below the opening weekends of the series at its peak. Still, making back your budget on opening weekend is never bad.

“Saw 3D” merited a B- on Cinemascore and apparently gave series fans what they want (misery, and lots of it, I gather), though their numbers be diminishing. Now that some of them have finally seen it, what critics want, however, is for the series to end with the  film currently getting drubbed by all but one scribe on Rotten Tomatoes. EW‘s Owen Gleiberman‘s more positive review is less a good review and more a bit of a confession — even the gore hardened critic had to turn away from the screen at one point or risk becoming physically ill — and a rumination on whether it’s even appropriate to enjoy a movie that sounds so invested in human pain that it should never have been allowed anything remotely short of an NC-17. (Which should not be seen as punitive or a a box office kiss of death, but let’s not open that can of worms right now, except that I just did.)

Moving right along in a relatively slow weekend with competition for people’s time heavy from the holiday, the election, and maybe even Jon Stewart’s rally, last week’s much less physically aggressive horror hit, “Paranormal Activity 2,” endured a very usual second-week horror drop  of just under 60% that still left enough for an estimated $16.5 million in the #2 spot. The leggy action-comedy “RED” was #3 with an estimate of $10.8 million and change. And “#4 “Jackass 3D” is predictably sinking like a stone at $8.425 million. However, it started at such a profitable point it actually crossed the $100 million mark in its third week. There are no tears at Paramount.

In limited release, the week’s two highest per-theater takes was as art-house as art-house gets. The single theater showing “Waste Land,” a documentary about Brazilian trash-gatherer/artists, earned a hefty $11,600 estimate over it’s weekend. Meanwhile, the two venues final thriller directed by the late Claude Chabrol “Inspector Bellamy” starring Gérard Depardieu, raked in a very healthy estimated $11,200.  This one is on my list.

For starters, this week’s #1 is “Paranormal Activity 2.” It seems that prognosticators were avoiding specific numbers but this is a bit higher than expected with Anne Thompson describing the $41.5 million estimate figure as “jaw dropping.” Judging by good-to-meh reviews, the shot-on-video moc-reality-flick gave the audience what they wanted: more of the same, with maybe a bit of a new twist or two to keep things reasonably fresh. For some reason, Nikki Finke is reporting a slightly higher estimate of $43 million and also tripling the reporting budget from $1 to a whole $3 million. Is she the scoop lady or the wrongish lady this weekend? Box Office Mojo has the figure at $41.5 million also.

This week’s #2 picture is last week’s #1 and it’s also from the former home of Bob Hope on Melrose in East Hollywood. (Line from obscure 1941 Cole Porter song, “Let’s Not Talk About Love”: “Let’s talk about drugs, let’s talk about dope; let’s try to picture Paramount minus Bob Hope.”) “Jackass 3D”  dropped a very-much par-for-the-youth-oriented-course 57.1% in its second week and reported a dandy $21.6 million for Paramount’s coffers. The elder-action comedy, “RED,” is in the #3 spot and looking leggy with a drop of 31.1% for $15 million in its second week.

Though it’s in the #4 spot, Clint Eastwood‘s “Hereafter,” written by Peter Morgan and starring Matt Damon, actually did better than expected according to La Finke. It earned an estimated $12 million and change and should hold reasonably well, given the strength of the names involved and some good reviews from prominent critics mixed with a lot of “meh” or worse from others.

No doubt a lot of “Jackass”-generated cash for Paramount — a new record for this time period, though with constant inflation of movie tickets, even in a stagnant economy, I’m never too impressed by these constantly broken records — comes directly from the 3D bump. It seems clear that the format can still make a big difference for the right movie, and this is obviously a special case. Regular readers know I was born without the gene that makes people enjoy the feeling of being grossed out, but even I get that if seeing something, or someone, squirt out of an orifice in 2D is hilarious, then watching it/him practically fly into your lap in 3D must be completely hysterical. The only fly in the stinky ointment here is that inevitable R-rating. I can only imagine how many younger, mostly male, teenagers and tweens are trying to figure out how they can scam their way into a theater (and the correct glasses) or begging older relatives and/or paying neighborhood winos to take them.

Meanwhile, the cleverly conceived idea of having older actors do what younger actors usually do has proven itself with “RED.” Like “The Expendables” with Oscar winners, the PG-13 action comedy is “tracking” in all of those “quadrants” Hollywood people like to talk about according to Nikki Finke. Not “Jackass” well, but $22 million estimated.

Since the film is tracking best, according to La Finke, with over-30 males, who may take longer to see the movie, it’s reasonable to assume that this week’s #2 film will continue to make money for some time. She also notes that, while the film has a $58 million budget, Summit paid less than $20 million of it, sharing the costs/profits with overseas distributors. That’s good because they’ve already made all their money back, sans marketing costs. On the other hand, I have a feeling “RED” will be very profitable worldwide. A long time ago I worked in a foreign film sales office and the two things we were told the international audience wanted was a strong, simple story and big stars. Action was good, too. Finke mentions that, even though “RED” is based on DC comic book, they’re parent company of Warner Brothers turned down the film, perhaps based on the assumption that a movie dominated with one fifty-something superstar and a bunch of septuagenarian and sexagenarian near superstars couldn’t possibly do well. Big mistake

It’s also worth noting that both of this week’s new movies got decent-to-good reviews. Of course, in the case of “Jackass 3D,” us non-gross-out friendly types have learned to stay away by now. I also have to admit that even I, however, note the presence in the cast of ex-skateboarder and sometime performer Spike Jonze, who in his other life is one of the best film directors around. If I only enjoyed watching people eating things that people should never, ever eat.

In the third and fourth spots, both “The Social Network” and “Secretariat” are holding extremely well. The Aaron Sorkin/David Fincher Facebook flick dropped only by 28.8% in its third weekend for an estimated $11 million. The Randall Wallace-directed tale of a very talented horse rebounded a bit from its unspectacular opening by dropping only a minimal 25% for an estimated gross of just over $9.5 million.

Among limited releases, not at all surprisingly, “Hereafter” did extremely well. Considering that the movie is the second pairing of actor Matt Damon and director Clint Eastwood, it’s a bit of a big-fish/small pond situation with the film easily getting the week’s best per-screen average — $38,500 — for a total of 231,000 in six theaters.

At the other end of the scale, the subject of my Thursday rant, ex-secret Tea Partier Ray Griggs’ “I Want Your Money” didn’t get very much of your money. It also likely won’t be having a major influence on the congressional election, nor will do a whole lot for the career of Griggs’ — who does a Michael Moore-style on-camera turn in the film. In 537 theaters, the anti-Obama documentary dealing with the issue of the deficit — an issue conservatives coincidentally rediscover is an urgent threat to all we hold dear every time a Democrat gets elected president — suffer a possible financial shortfall of its own, with only $279,000 estimated in grosses. I don’t know exactly how much support Griggs got from the very significant conservative media structure in this country, but that $520 per screen average is not good. It wasn’t the lowest per screen. That was $420 for the ninth week of the low budget horror pic, “Piranha 3D,” which is edging closer to the $26 million mark in theaters. There’s a joke there somewhere, but I’m not seeing it.