Much-ballyhooed (in a good and bad way) comedian Ricky Gervais will be back to host the Annual Golden Globes Ceremony for a third time in 2012, when the 69th annual iteration of the event takes place.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has officially announced its nominations for the 2012 Golden Globes show - and, just like any year, there are many obvious selections, a few surprises, and more than a handful of choices that are bound to rub moviegoers of all shades the wrong (or, in some cases, the right) way.

Filmmaker Michel Hazanavicius' black-and-white silent film homage, The Artist, led the way with six Globe nods total; co-writer/helmer Alexander Payne's The Descendants and director Tate Taylor's The Help were close behind. That heavily-praised dramedy and popular literary adaptation (respectively) managed to snag five nominations each, putting them one ahead of Descendants star George Clooney's latest directorial effort, The Ides of March and Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris, which each stacked up four nods. Steven Spielberg's latest dramatic offering, War Horse, was right behind that pair with three nominations in technical categories; Albert Nobbs also managed to secure three nods, in the areas of acting and original music, while Moneyball landed three for Best Drama, Actor, and Screenplay.

On the TV side: the mini-series Mildred Pierce landed four nods, including acting nominations for stars Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce, and Evan Rachel Wood. Showtime's Homeland, HBO's Boardwalk Empire, and ABC's Modern Family each landed three nods, while HBO's hit fantasy series Game of Thrones and FX's successful spooky romp American Horror Story also managed to secure two nominations (including, in the coveted Best Dramatic Television Series category). Sadly, AMC's critical smash, Breaking Bad, only landed a Best Actor nod.

Several indie and lesser-known critical-darlings received little-to-no love from the Hollywood Foreign Press, including titles like The Tree of Life, Warrior, DriveMartha Marcy May Marlene, and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. Similarly, there were more than a few surprising snubs (no Best Director nod for David Fincher on The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo? No Winnie the Pooh for Best Animated Feature?) and certain films fared far better than anticipated (namely, The Ides of March). However, there were also more than a few no-brainers (ex. Meryl Streep being nominated for The Iron Lady) and some rather unexpected choices (ex. Ryan Gosling in Crazy, Stupid, Love).

Check out the full list of Golden Globe nominations below:

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Movies

BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

  • The Descendants (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
  • The Help (DreamWorks Pictures)
  • Hugo (Paramount Pictures)
  • The Ides of March (Columbia Pictures)
  • Moneyball (Columbia Pictures)
  • War Horse (DreamWorks Pictures)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - 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 PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA

  • George Clooney - The Descendants
  • Brad Pitt - Moneyball
  • Ryan Gosling - The Ides of March
  • Michael Fassbender - Shame
  • Leonardo DiCaprio - J. Edgar

BEST MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

  • 50/50 (Summit Entertainment)
  • The Artist (The Weinstein Company)
  • Bridesmaids (Universal Pictures)
  • Midnight in Paris (Sony Pictures Classics)
  • My Week with Marilyn (The Weinstein Company)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

  • Jodie Foster - Carnage
  • Charlize Theron - Young Adult
  • Kristen Wiig - Bridesmaids
  • Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn
  • Kate Winslet - Carnage

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

  • Jean Dujardin - The Artist
  • Brendan Gleeson - The Guard
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 50/50
  • Ryan Gosling - Crazy, Stupid, Love.
  • Owen Wilson - Midnight in Paris

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

  • The Adventures of Tintin
  • Arthur Christmas
  • Cars 2
  • Puss In Boots
  • Rango

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

  • The Flowers of War (New Pictures Film Company)
  • In the Land of Blood and Honey (FilmDistrict)
  • The Kid with a Bike (Sundance Selects)
  • A Separation
  • The Skin I Live In

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

  • Berenice Bejo - The Artist
  • Jessica Chastain - The Help
  • Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
  • Octavia Spencer - The Help
  • Shailene Woodley - The Descendants

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

  • Kenneth Branagh - My Week with Marilyn
  • Albert Brooks - Drive
  • Jonah Hill - Moneyball
  • Viggo Mortensen- A Dangerous Method
  • Christopher Plummer - Beginners

BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE

  • Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
  • George Clooney - The Ides of March
  • Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
  • Alexander Payne - The Descendants
  • Martin Scorsese - Hugo

BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE

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

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE - MOTION PICTURE

  • Ludovic Bource - The Artist
  • Abel Korzeniowski - W.E.
  • Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
  • Howard Shore - Hugo
  • John Williams - War Horse

BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE

  • "Hello Hello," Music by Elton John, Lyrics by Bernie Taupin - Gnomeo & Juliet
  • "The Keeper," Music & Lyrics by Chris Cornell - Machine Gun Preacher
  • "Lay Your Head Down," Music by Brian Byrne, Lyrics by Glenn Close - Albert Nobbs
  • "The Living Proof," Music by Mary J. Blige, Thomas Newman, Harvey Mason, Jr., Lyrics by Mary J. Blige, Harvey Mason, Jr., Damon Thomas - The Help
  • "Masterpiece," Music & Lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry - W.E.

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Television

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA

  • "American Horror Story" (FX)
  • "Boardwalk Empire" (HBO)
  • "Boss" (Starz)
  • "Game of Thrones (HBO)
  • "Homeland" (Showtime)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA

  • Claire Danes - "Homeland"
  • Mireille Enos - "The Killing"
  • Julianna Margulies - "The Good Wife"
  • Madeleine Stowe - "Revenge"
  • Callie Thorne - "Necessary Roughness"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - DRAMA

  • Steve Buscemi - "Boardwalk Empire"
  • Bryan Cranston - "Breaking Bad"
  • Kelsey Grammer - "Boss"
  • Jeremy Irons - "The Borgias"
  • Damien Lewis - "Homeland"

BEST TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

  • "Enlightened" (HBO)
  • "Episodes" (Showtime)
  • "Glee" (Fox)
  • "Modern Family" (ABC)
  • "New Girl" (Fox)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

  • Laura Dern - "Enlightened"
  • Zooey Deschanel - "New Girl"
  • Tina Fey - "30 Rock"
  • Laura Linney - "The Big C"
  • Amy Poehler - "Parks and Recreation"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES - COMEDY OR MUSICAL

  • Alec Baldwin - "30 Rock"
  • David Duchovny - "Californication"
  • Johnny Galecki - "The Big Bang Theory"
  • Thomas Jane - "Hung"
  • Matt LeBlanc - "Episodes"

BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

  • "Cinema Verite" (HBO)
  • "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)" (PBS)
  • "The Hour" (BBC America)
  • "Mildred Pierce" (HBO)
  • "Too Big to Fail" (HBO)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

  • Romola Garai - "The Hour"
  • Diane Lane - "Cinema Verite"
  • Elizabeth McGovern - "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)"
  • Emily Watson - "Appropriate Adult"
  • Kate Winslet - "Mildred Pierce"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

  • Hugh Bonneville - "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)"
  • Idris Elba - "Luther"
  • William Hurt - "Too Big to Fail"
  • Bill Nighy - "Page Eight (Masterpiece)"
  • Dominic West - "The Hour"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

  • Jessica Lange - "American Horror Story"
  • Kelly Macdonald - "Boardwalk Empire"
  • Maggie Smith - "Downton Abbey (Masterpiece)"
  • Sofia Vergara - "Modern Family"
  • Evan Rachel Wood - "Mildred Pierce"

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION

  • Peter Dinklage - "Game of Thrones"
  • Paul Giamatti - "Too Big to Fail"
  • Guy Pearce - "Mildred Pierce"
  • Tim Robbins - "Cinema Verite"
  • Eric Stonestreet - "Modern Family"

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The 69th Annual Golden Globes awards presentation will be broadcast live on Sunday, January 15th, 2012 at 5 p.m. PST on NBC.

Source: The Hollywood Foreign Press Association