Ready for the Golden Globes on Sunday night? Here's what you need to know about the big show It's time again for the glittering party that is the Golden Globe Awards. But what exactly are they? Reliable Oscar bellwether? Celebration of "the best and brightest of movies and television"? A chance to see Hollywood royalty drunk? The relatively loosey-goosey Globes tend to get much wilder and weirder than the Oscars (though they're not exactly the Independent Spirits) -- and that's a good thing, isn't it? Just look at their recent hosts. Ricky Gervais didn't offend enough people the first time, so they brought him back for a second. Now they've scored the coup of getting the beloved Tina Fey and Amy Poehler for another round. That duo was in part responsible for last year's 28-per-cent ratings jump, from 16.8-million viewers to 19.7-million. Also, they're awesome. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has about 90 active members, required to publish at least four articles per year - not necessarily in well-known outlets. After looking into their backgrounds in 2011, Ryan Kearney of now-defunct TBD.com wrote that, rather than being full-time film journalists, one Argentine member was "a composer and jazz writer" and one Russian member was "a bodybuilder who writes fitness books." This is the bunch that nominated both Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie, two highly respected actors and huge box-office names, for "The Tourist" (an abysmal 20 percent positive rating from critics on Rotten Tomatoes.com). This prompted rumors of bribery by the studio in the form of a Vegas trip for voters. And wasn't that movie supposed to be a romantic thriller? It garnered its nominations in the musical/comedy category. An ironic comment, perhaps? Let's begin by declaring that Sunday's Golden Globes results should be taken with a grain of salt, or even tinier, a grain of what The Wolf of Wall Street kept snorting up his nose. The Golden Globes are fun to watch, no question. It's the only movie awards show urging attendees to get drunk and do or say something stupid, by placing champagne magnums on each table, in case the wide-open bar doesn't quench thirsts. Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes show usually ends on time. Nothing wrong with the packaging, but the contents are spoiled. Too often Golden Globe nominations appear to be earned solely on star power so voters can breathe the same air as A-listers. The Globes even divide movies and TV shows into drama and musical/comedy categories, increasing the celebrity volume. So, enjoy the show Sunday night but raise an eyebrow when Leonardo DiCaprio wins best actor in a comedy/musical because he's sexier than Bruce Dern. Or when 12 Years a Slave isn't named 2013"s best drama because it's too American, and friends are more impressed when voters take selfies with Gravity star Sandra Bullock than Lupita N'yongo. This "predictor of the Oscars" stuff is simply overblown. The two voting bodies do not overlap at any point, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has about 6,000 voting members, all moviemaking professionals. Even cutting the Globes slack for choosing two best pictures each year, its winners have only matched the Oscars" three times in the past 10 years. And all three of those ("The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King," "The Artist" and "Argo") were subjects of huge awards-season groundswells, essentially sweeping the major prizes. It's interesting to note, though, that last year, Edmund Helmer of Reuters did a statistical analysis of box office trends after Globe and Oscar wins, and found that grosses tended to jump $14.2-million for Globe recipients as opposed to only $3-million for Oscar winners. Considering that Globes viewership averages less than half that of the Oscars, this is likely a case of correlation not implying causation. The Oscars occurring so late in these films" theatrical life likely has something to do with it, but still ... studios hardly mind getting the stars of their movies out, looking beautiful, in front of 19- or so million viewers. The Globes are what they are. The stars will show up again for the big bash, and sit at tables together and drink copious amounts of wine, and thank the HFPA, and millions of us will watch again. The broadcast begins at 8 p.m. Here are major nominees for the 71st annual Golden Globes: Best film, drama: 12 Years A Slave Captain Phillips Gravity Philomena Rush Best film, musical or comedy: American Hustle Her Inside Llewyn Davis Nebraska The Wolf Of Wall Street Best actor, drama: Chiwetel Ejiofor, "12 Years A Slave" Idris Elba, "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom" Tom Hanks, "Captain Phillips" Matthew McConaughey, "Dallas Buyers Club" Robert Redford, "All Is Lost" Best actor, musical or comedy: Christian Bale, "American Hustle" Bruce Dern, "Nebraska" Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Wolf of Wall Street" Oscar Isaac, "Inside Llewyn Davis" Joaquin Phoenix, "Her" Best actress, drama: Cate Blanchett, "Blue Jasmine" Sandra Bullock, "Gravity" Judi Dench, "Philomena" Emma Thompson, "Saving Mr. Banks" Kate Winslet, "Labor Day" Best actress, musical or comedy: Amy Adams, "American Hustle" Julie Delpy, "Before Midnight" Greta Gerwig, "Frances Ha" Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Enough Said" Meryl Streep, "August: Osage County" Best supporting actor: Barkhad Abdi, "Captain Phillips" Daniel Bruhl, "Rush" Bradley Cooper, "American Hustle" Michael Fassbender, "12 Years A Slave" Jared Leto, "Dallas Buyers Club" Best supporting actress: Sally Hawkins, "Blue Jasmine" Jennifer Lawrence, "American Hustle" Lupita Nyong'o, "12 Years A Slave" Julia Roberts, "August: Osage County" June Squibb, "Nebraska" Best director: Alfonso Cuaron, "Gravity" Paul Greengrass, "Captain Phillips" Steve McQueen, "12 Years A Slave" Alexander Payne, "Nebraska" David O. Russell, "American Hustle" Best foreign language film: Blue is the Warmest Color The Great Beauty The Hunt The Past The Wind Rises Best animated feature: The Croods Despicable Me 2 Frozen Best drama series: Breaking Bad Downton Abbey The Good Wife House of Cards Masters of Sex Best drama actor: Bryan Cranston, "Breaking Bad" Liev Schreiber, "Ray Donovan" Michael Sheen, "Masters of Sex" Kevin Spacey, "House of Cards" James Spader, "The Blacklist" Best drama actress: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife" Tatiana Maslany, "Orphan Black" Taylor Schilling, "Orange Is the New Black" Kerry Washington, "Scandal" Robin Wright, "House of Cards" Best comedy series: The Big Bang Theory Brooklyn Nine-Nine Girls Modern Family Parks and Recreation Best comedy actor: Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development" Don Cheadle, "House of Lies" Michael J. Fox, "The Michael J. Fox Show" Jim Parsons, "The Big Bang Theory" Andy Samberg, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" Best comedy actress: Zooey Deschanel, "New Girl" Lena Dunham, "Girls" Edie Falco, "Nurse Jackie" Julia Louis-Dreyfus, "Veep" Amy Poehler, "Parks and Recreation" Best mini-series or TV movie: American Horror Story: Coven Behind the Candelabra Dancing on the Edge Top of the Lake The White Queen Best mini-series or TV movie actor: Matt Damon, "Behind the Candelabra" Michael Douglas, "Behind the Candelabra" Chiwetel Ejiofor, "Dancing on the Edge" Idris Elba, "Luther" Al Pacino, "Phil Spector" Best mini-series or TV movie actress: Helena Bonham Carter, "Burton and Taylor" Rebecca Ferguson, "The White Queen" Jessica Lange, "American Horror Story: Coven" Helen Mirren, "Phil Spector" Elisabeth Moss, "Top of the Lake"