The Golden Globes: Like the Playoffs or the Preakness if it happened before the Kentucky Derby

What was a joke has become a guilty pleasure 
and the blueprint for the Oscar nominations – 
plus, who knows what they’ll say?

     The Golden Globes show is your favorite relative that you don’t see very often and who has no filter and may either say, drink, or smoke too much and that’s why people watch it.  In terms of importance, it’s like The National Enquirer (tons of fun and it may all come true in 3 – 6 months) to the Oscars’ New York Times (the historical record, but an overlong, self-important, liberal drag).  The Globes are nominated and given
by a few foreign journalists who search out cutting edge trends, but are also pretty plastered during the whole process.  In the past, they might have also taken some bribes/kickbacks, but as Kathy Griffin would point out, this is only “allegedly.”

     Smartly, the Globes honor movies and TV and if they’re a bellwether for the Oscars, they leave the Emmys in the dust in terms of honoring shows when they’re at their peak or most full of potential.  (We’ll review the TV nominations in a future post).  The ‘Academy’ has futzed around with five Best Picture nominees and then, for the past three years, with ten (going back to pre-1944).  The Globes have honored Drama separately from Comedy/Musical.  They’ve been able to nominate ten in the only categories that most viewers will remember forty-eight hours later (Picture, Actress, Actor).  They’ve recognized blockbusters, art house, critics’ darlings, audience favorites, and some absolute crap, but their choices have a voice and point of view, whereas the Oscars feel like what’s left over after the bloodbaths of the Presidential Primaries.

     Here are our predictions.  We’re not underlining titles for the English majors out there because there are too many of them:

Drama – Argo, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Zero Dark Thirty

The Globes spread the love around more than the Oscars, but this will come down to Argo, Lincoln, and Zero Dark Thirty.  Critics are nuts over Zero this season (95% of the audience won’t have had a chance to see it), Lincoln’s had the press, and Argo is like the best of 1970s cinema.  Life of Pi is gorgeous, but there are no big stars and Django is the best, darkest comedy of the past few years so it’s in the wrong category.  I’m voting for Zero, though we loved Argo.

Daniel Day Lewis—
Lincoln

Drama/Actor – Daniel Day-Lewis, Richard Gere, John Hawkes, Joaquin Phoenix, Denzel Washington

Day-Lewis may be the greatest living screen actor under 60 in the English language.  He is chameleonic, witty, and the embodiment of genius in this movie.  It’s one of the supreme performances of the past forty years.

Naomi Watts— The Impossible

Drama/Actress – Jessica Chastain, Marion Cotillard, Helen Mirren, Naomi Watts, Rachel Weisz

This will depend on whether Zero sweeps and takes Chastain along.  In terms of tides, I want to see Naomi Watts win for The Impossible (the tsunami movie).  She hasn’t been recognized before, even though she was wonderful in King Kong and gave one of the most electrifying performances of the past twenty years in Mulholland Drive.

Comedy/Musical – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Les Misérables, Moonrise Kingdom, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, Silver Linings Playbook 

We liked all these movies and while Silver Linings is award-worthy, Les Miz will win.  A big musical with an international cast is catnip to the Hollywood Foreign Press.  If only Django were in this group.

Com-Mus/Actor – Jack Black, Bradley Cooper, Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, Bill Murray

People love Jackman and we’ve all heard that he lost 30 pounds and couldn’t drink for 30 hours, etc., etc, but Black was delicious in the droll and under seen Bernie, while Cooper’s our pick because he was hilarious, dangerous, and looked great in a garbage sack.  

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence— Silver Lining Playbook

Com-Mus/Actress – Emily Blunt, Judi Dench, Jennifer Lawrence, Maggie Smith, Meryl Streep

We love everything these actresses have done over the years, but Dench’s part isn’t leading, no one has seen Smith’s movie, Streep won last year, and Blunt’s performance is lovely but subtle.  That leaves Lawrence, who is a dynamo and richly deserving for this specific performance.

Supporting Actor – Alan Arkin, Leonardo DiCaprio, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Tommy Lee Jones, Christoph Waltz

This is an incredible category this year.  Why weren’t Robert DeNiro or John Goodman nominated?  Hoffman is the co-lead. Tommy Lee Jones nailed Lincoln and Hope Springs, but this is DiCaprio’s category as the sinuous, perverse villain in Django.  Waltz is pretty wonderful as the white knight so they’ll split the vote and Jones will win.

Anne Hathaway— Les Miserables

Supporting Actress – Amy Adams, Sally Field, Anne Hathaway, Helen Hunt, Nicole Kidman

Where’s Rosemarie DeWitt?  Field is great, but Hathaway cut her hair, sang, and looked really cold.  Plus, she’s really good so she wins.

Director – Ben Affleck, Kathryn Bigelow, Ang Lee, Steven Spielberg, Quentin Tarantino

This is between Affleck, who’s having an incredible comeback season, and Bigelow, who didn’t win for The Hurt Locker.  She’ll win this time.

Screenplay – Chris Terrio, Quentin Tarantino, Tony Kushner, David O. Russell, Mark Boal

Tarantino’s is the only screenplay not based on material from another medium.  Kushner created the panoply of 19th century-sounding dialogue from a biography.  It also has the most dialogue of the group so it will probably win.

Song – Skyfall from Skyfall:  great movie, great song, and Adele, i.e. no brainer.

Best Score – enh, only the nominees, nominees’ agents, and nominees’ families care.

Best Animated Film – Brave, Frankenweenie, Hotel Transylvania, Rise of the Guardians, Wreck-It Ralph

We’ve seen none of them, but Alexa really liked Wreck-It Ralph, though Brave has the girl power thing going.  I vote for Ralph.

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Best Foreign Language Film – Amour, A Royal Affair, The Intouchables, Rust and Bone, Kon-Tiki

Where’s The Kid with a Bike?  The Intouchables is too light.  Hands down, Amour wins.

Watch the Golden Globes
on Sunday, January 13
at 8PM ET on NBC
with hosts Amy Poehler
and Tina Fey.