5 Favorite Golden Globe Nominations

As you may have heard, the annual Golden Globe nominations were announced yesterday, for better or worse depending on who you've been rooting for this awards season.

One thing I'll say, is that the Golden Globes are always the most exciting, bat crazy awards show. They've long eclipsed the Screen Actors Guild and Emmys in relevancy, and honestly, have some better choices than the Oscars in most cases. Last year they made history for nominating the incredible Ava DuVernay for Best Director, the first black woman ever nominated for the award. Oscar did not follow suit. In fact, if you look at their slate of nominees and winners last year, a lot of them are better than what Oscar ultimately picked.

This year's awards race is honestly all over the place, and while the Globes did a better job than SAG at forming a consensus, I still couldn't tell you what films have the edge at this point. But confusion aside, there are some really good nominations here, five of which really stood out to me.

"Spy" is Melissa McCarthy's Best Work To Date

When Melissa McCarthy first took Hollywood by storm in 2011, it was as the loveably raunchy Megan in "Bridesmaids". The film was a surprising critical and box office behemoth, landing two Academy Award nominations (including one for McCarthy) and more than $250 million at the box office. Since then, McCarthy has proved to be a continued box office draw; her films ("Identity Thief", "The Heat" and even "Tammy") have all grossed at least $100 million.

McCarthy the actress, however, has not had a role since Megan that has challenged her. Outside of her very nuanced and solid performance in last year's "St. Vincent", she's continued to rely on the loud mouthed, not 'conventionally' attractive woman while putting a comedic spin on her weight. And while there's nothing wrong with that, it would be nice to see McCarthy flex those acting muscles we know she has.

Her third outing with "Bridesmaids" and "The Heat" director Paul Feig, is the very vehicle McCarthy needed not only to establish herself as more than a one trick pony, but a true movie star. We knew she could carry films before, but never like this. "Spy" is McCarthy's magnum opus.

Melissa McCarthy "Tammy" Teaser Lands

After making us laugh till we nearly passed out last year for some of the best line readings ever in The Heat, Melissa McCarthy is back with, "Tammy".

The film stars Melissa McCarthy as the title character, who learns that her husband has been cheating on her. She decides to take a road trip with her alcoholic grandmother (Susan Sarandon), which of course leads to mischief (would it be a Melissa McCarthy movie without mischief?).

From the trailer (which you can watch below) it definitely seems McCarthy is returning with guns (figuratively) blazing; she knows how to make us laugh for sure. But seeing as the film is being directed by husband Ben Falcone (Bridesmaids, Enough Said), I'm hoping we get to see more of what we saw from her in Bridesmaids (which landed her an Oscar nomination!!! One of my favorite nominations ever); I hope the film can balance broad comedy with a good, complex character.

The film opens July 2.

Watch the trailer after the jump.