I love awards season. In particular, the Golden Globes has always been my favorite. Sure, I attend mostly Oscar night parties, but there's something unique about the Globes. What is it? Ummmm...oh yeah, mostly everybody is hammered off their ass long before the curtains ever roll up. Makes for some truly hilarious speeches. I also dig the breakdown of their categories, which give special attention to genres that always get short shrift at the Oscars(namely comedies). Today, the Hollywood Foreign Press let fly their nominations, and leading the pack is a film I've been hailing for the past two weeks, Up in the Air.
BEST FEATURE - DRAMA
"Avatar"
"The Hurt Locker"
"Inglourious Basterds"
"Precious"
"Up in the Air"
An interesting blend of styles here, as I'm surprised Avatar is in this category. Nice to see Precious getting a nod here, even if it has no shot at winning. My gut tells me Up in the Air takes it, but I'd personally love to see Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker get the credit it rightly deserves.
BEST FEATURE - COMEDY
"(500) Days of Summer"
"The Hangover"
"It's Complicated"
"Julie & Julia"
"Nine"
Without having seen Nine or It's Complicated, I'm a little behind on the 8-ball here(which infuriates me to no end). As much as I love 500 Days of Summer I think it's going to have a hard time beating out Rob Marshall's musical comedy. The Hangover might have cranked out the most loot, but the nomination is it's real prize this year, and Julie & Julia suffers from only being 50% of a good film.
ACTOR - DRAMA
Jeff Bridges - "Crazy Heart"
George Clooney - "Up in the Air"
Colin Firth - "A Single Man"
Morgan Freeman - "Invictus"
Tobey Maguire - "Brothers"
The buzz swirling around Jeff Bridges right now is crazy(no pun intended), but Morgan Freeman has history on his side and George Clooney has almost universal acclaim on his. This is basically a two-horse race between the two, with Clooney I think edging out for the win.
ACTRESS - DRAMA
Emily Blunt - "The Young Victoria"
Sandra Bullock - "The Blind Side"
Helen Mirren - "The Last Station"
Carey Mulligan - "An Education"
Gabourey Sidibe - "Precious"
There's a groundswell of support for Gaby Sidibe to take the crown, thanks to her powerful and understated performance in Precious. Same goes to Sandra Bullock, who has the benefit of the surprising box office performance of her film on her side. It's arguably the best performance of her career, which could be enough to push her over the top. However, no actress has received more rave reviews than young Carey Mulligan, who carried every single scene of An Education and showed a depth of maturity few matched this year(watch for her small but important role in Brothers, as well). The Globes have a penchant for surprises, and I'm calling for one here as Mulligan takes this one. Hopefully the first of many for her.
ACTOR - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Matt Damon - "The Informant!"
Daniel Day-Lewis - "Nine"
Robert Downey Jr. - "Sherlock Holmes"
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - "500 Days of Summer"
Michael Stuhlbarg - "A Serious Man"
Now this is a toughie. I won't see Sherlock Holmes until next Monday, so I can't comment on how Robert Downey was in it. I doubt he would win anyway. But Damon, Day-Lewis, Gordon-Leavitt, and Stuhlbarg all are deserving candidates here. I don't need to have seen Nine to know that Daniel Day-Lewis is the frontrunner. Michael Stuhlbarg was the best thing about the Coens' off-beat drama, but I think the film lacks the necessary heat to push him forward. I would prefer to see Joseph Gordon-Leavitt take it, but my gut tells me otherwise.
ACTRESS - COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Sandra Bullock - "The Proposal"
Marion Cotillard - "Nine"
Julia Roberts - "Duplicity"
Meryl Streep - "It's Complicated"
Meryl Streep - "Julie & Julia
This is another two-horse race, except both runners are the same person. This one's not even a contest. Meryl Streep gave the best performance of the year by anybody as iconic TV personality, Julia Child. She wins hands down.
DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE
Kathryn Bigelow - "The Hurt Locker"
James Cameron - "Avatar"
Clint Eastwood - "Invictus"
Jason Reitman - "Up in the Air"
Quentin Tarantino - "Inglourious Basterds"
The only nominee I'm totally discounting strangely enough given his history, is Clint Eastwood. His film isn't strong enough to compete with the rest of these heavyweights. Bigelow probably would be the underdog pick, bolstered by the heat generated by her fabulous lead actor. Cameron's Avatar might rely too much on special effects. Tarantino is the popular pick, and for once he has some actual box office to back him up. Reitman's Up in the Air is the best reviewed film of the entire lot, but it's tough to see where his directing hand really shows. I still think he takes it, though.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Matt Damon - "Invictus"
Woody Harrelson - "The Messenger"
Christopher Plummer - "The Last Station"
Stanley Tucci - "The Lovely Bones"
Christopher Waltz - "Inglourious Basterds
There are only three contenders this time around. Matt Damon brings a quiet strength to his role as the rugby captain who becomes Nelson Mandela's right hand man. Harrelson had perhaps the most dramatic turn of all, playing a Casualty Notification Officer trying to cope with alcoholism. However it's Christoph Waltz, as the smarmy and devious Hans Landa who had the most fun performance of the year. In a film that was full of larger than life characters, he still managed to stand out above them all.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz - "Nine"
Vera Farmiga - "Up in the Air"
Anna Kendrick - "Up in the Air"
Mo'Nique - "Precious"
Julianne Moore - "A Single Man"
I'm going to see A Single Man tonight, so maybe I'll have more to say on Julianne Moore's performance tomorrow, but I doubt she stands a chance against the buzzsaw that is Mo'nique's turn in Precious. Playing a sad, pathetic, manipulative shell of a mother, she is the force behind that film's success. By now everybody knows my love for both Vera Farmiga and especially Anna Kendrick, and I'd love to see one of them win, but it's not happening this year.
SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE
Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell - "District 9"
Mark Boal - "The Hurt Locker"
Nancy Meyers - "It's Complicated"
Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner - "Up In The Air"
Quentin Tarantino - "Inglourious Basterds"
Few films came out of nowhere the way Neil Blomkamp's District 9 did. An intelligent, thought-provoking, and highly divisive take on the sci-fi genre, it's the clear runner-up to Up in the Air. Jason Reitman's comedy drama is timely and insightful without being preachy, and paints a unique worldview featuring completely believable fully realized characters. Funny and poignant, heavy yet light hearted at just the right moments. Up in the Air is pretty much a hot knife through butter this year.
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
"Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"
"Coraline"
"Fantastic Mr. Fox"
"The Princess and the Frog"
"Up"
I saw all of these except for Clody, which I think is only there because someone felt they needed to appease the lowerst common denominator. The other four films demonstrate the strength of this year's animated films, and Tim Burton's 9 and Monsters vs. Aliens aren't even on the list! Pixar's Up is probably the one that's going to take it, but my vote would go to Wes Anderson's brilliant stop-motion adventure, Fantastic Mr. Fox, which thankfully lacks Up's emotionally manipulative tendencies.
The rest of the movie nominees are below! Let us know who you think should win. Who was left out? Who shouldn't even be nominated in the first place? For the TV related categories, check out Variety's coverage by clicking here.
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
"Baaria" (Italy) - Medusa Film; Summit Entertainment
"Broken Embraces" (Spain) - El Deseo SA; Sony Pictures Classics
"The Maid" (Chile) - Forastero; Elephant Eye Films
"A Prophet" (France) - Chic Films; Sony Pictures Classics
"The White Ribbon" (Germany) - Wega Films; Sony Pictures Classics
BEST SCORE
Michael Giacchino - "Up"
Marvin Hamlisch - "The Informant!"
James Horner - "Avatar"
Abel Korzeniowski - "A Single Man"
Karen O, Carter Burwell - "Where The Wild Things Are"
BEST ORIGINAL SONG"Cinema Italiano" from "Nine" - Music & Lyrics by: Maury Yeston
"I Want to Come Home" from "Everybody's Fine" - Music & Lyrics by: Paul McCartney
"I Will See You" from "Avatar" - Music by: James Horner, Simon Franglen; Lyrics by: James Horner, Simon Franglen, Kuk Harrell
"The Weary Kind" from "Crazy Heart" - Music & Lyrics by: Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett
"Winter" from "Brothers" - Music by: U2; Lyrics by: Bono
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