The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is a Joke.

Anyone who has yet to see the list of nominees for the 2011 Golden Globes is lucky. I assure you you'll be disgusted by the choices the Hollywood Foreign Press has made. Anyone who says Americans have bad tastes have now been silenced by the choices of the HFPA.

One category in particular stands out: Best Comedy/Musical.

First of all, stop separating the films into two categories, that's your first mistake. Second, don't nominate shitty movies. The only movie I was happy to see make it in was the indie standout The Kids Are All Right. Red is a decent film, not excellent, not bad, so I'll excuse it's nomination. However, I simply can not get over the fact two terrible films and one sub-par movie made the list: Alice In Wonderland, Burlesque, and The Tourist. If anyone's keeping count, 'Alice' was the sub-par film.

The Golden Globes are the only form of revenue for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and that would be why you see big name movies (the billion-dollar grossing Alice In Wonderland). But why then are flops like Burlesque and The Tourist on the list? Perhaps it's because Burlesque was the only notable musical this year and the HFPA likes to throw one in there given the title of the category (remember last year's Nine). The Tourist, though...? I've got nothing.

The site Rottentomatoes.com compiles reviews of all the top, regional, and online critics on their site. The scores for Burlesque, The Tourist, and Alice In Wonderland are, respectively, 37, 20, and 51% (all certified 'Rotten Movies'). How can I take an awards ceremony seriously that rewards producers for making bad movies? It simply makes no sense.

In case you haven't noticed yet, Johnny Depp was in two of the aforementioned films, and he got a nomination for Best Actor in both. What a surprise. Johnny Depp is a fine actor, but his performance in both weren't that amazing. So the point of his nominations? Ratings boost. The same reason they nominated 'Alice', the bigger the movies, the more people watch. Except for that logic is flawed. The vast majority of viewers for the Oscars and Golden Globes are repeat viewers. That's why last year when "Avatar" was nominated, there wasn't a huge climb in ratings by fan boys. Because Fan Boys don't watch kudos casts like the Globes or the Academy Awards. Are a bunch of little girls really going to care to sit three a three hour long telecast to see Johnny Depp a few times? Probably not.

So what should we nominate instead? Well Toy Story 3 is your obvious choice given that it was the highest grossing and best reviewed movie of the year. How to Train Your Dragon deserves more than a Best Animated Feature nomination as well, as it was DreamWorks Animation's finest film ever. The last spot could go to a number of films ranging from Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World to Easy A.

As far as their nominations for Dramas go, you see the same thing with Inception. While Inception was an excellent film, 127 Hours was better, plain and simple. Inception got nominated for the same reason The Dark Knight did two years ago, the fan boys. While Inception is visually stunning, and has a plot that will drive you crazy, the cinematic elements that drive 127 Hours to the finish line aren't as apparent in Inception. I would drop The Fighter and Black Swan as well and throw in True Grit, The Town, or Winter's Bone. Neither of these really surprised me and you can expect the Oscars to leave out The Town as well, but include True Grit and Winter's Bone with their expanded ten nominations.

Really happy with the Best Actor (Drama) category (Go Jesse Eisenberg!). Take Halle Berry out of the Best Actress (Drama) category and we're okay. The whole Best Actor (Musical/Comedy) category is messed up. Keep Paul Giamatti (Barney's Vision) and Kevin Spacey (Casino Jack) just because those dudes are amazing, but throw out both Johnny Depp nominations and Jake Gyllenhaal (Love And Other Drugs). Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right) deserves a serious apology for excluding him from this category. Put Tom Hanks in there for Toy Story 3 if you really can't find anyone better than Depp and Gyllenhaal.

Angelina Jolie was nominated for the same reason Depp was, ratings boost, and she should be excluded from Best Actress (Musical/Comedy). Call me crazy, but Justin Timberlake (The Social Network) deserved a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. If that means taking out Michael Douglas (Wall Street 2), do it. Alas, Best Supporting Actress was the finest nominated category, no changes.

Best Director is okay, but Danny Boyle (127 Hours) should replace either Christopher Nolan (Inception) or Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan). Best Animated Film is a solid lineup as well, expect Toy Story 3 to win with ease. The screenplay category is good except replace Inception with Toy Story 3. I realize the plot is really really complex, but the script itself wasn't anything to brag about. Best Score is all fine and dandy, and haven't seen any of the Foreign Films yet but there is a lot of strife over the nomination of The Concert.

I don't care about the TV nominations, plus they all look pretty solid. The exclusion of the final season of Lost is bullshit, and as long as Glee doesn't beat 30 Rock again, we're fine there.

I will post soon on an updated prediction for the Oscar Nominee and Winners.