Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Dame James's Golden Globe Predictions

Bright and early tomorrow morning, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announce their nominees for the 2008 Golden Globe Awards. You never know what to expect from this wacky awards body and that's part of their charm. Here are my random, stab-in-the-dark predictions as to how things will go tomorrow.

Best Picture (Drama)

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Milk
Slumdog Millionaire

The Globes love star-power, so expect Benjamin Button, The Dark Knight, Doubt and Milk all to do well. Slumdog has no big stars, but its won a couple of major critic awards and that is sometimes enough for them.

Best Picture (Musical/Comedy)
Cadillac Records
Happy-Go-Lucky
Mamma Mia!
Tropic Thunder
Vicky Cristina Barcelona

This category is a tad fucked up, right? Mamma Mia! is a piece of trash but they need an "actual" musical and, apparently, everyone had so much "fun" watching it. Tropic Thunder was a big hit and VCB was Woody's best received comedy in years- plus, as an added bonus, they both are anchored by major stars. I have a sneaking suspicion that the Globes will want to go for one high-brow comedy and Happy-Go-Lucky seems to be that. A nod for Cadillac Records would be strange at this point, but it was just released so it's fresh in their minds and you must remember that this is the same group that nominated Across the Universe for no Goddamned reason.

Best Actor (Drama)
Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road
Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino
Sean Penn, Milk
Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

The usual suspects, minus Richard Jenkins (not a big enough star) and Frank Langella (had to make room for Eastwood and Pitt).

Best Actor (Musical/Comedy)
Michael Cera, Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
Zac Efron, High School Musical 3: Senior Year
James Franco, Pineapple Express
Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey
Sam Rockwell, Choke

The most out-there category of the year. With W. being classified as a comedy, the one sure nomination for Josh Brolin is gone and now it's anyone's game. Hoffman is a legend, but has anyone actually seen or heard anything about Last Chance Harvey? The nods for Cera and Efron may seem like wishful thinking, but they both have huge plusses on their side (Cera has goodwill left from Arrested Development and this was Efron's "breakthrough" year). Franco has a strong shot of getting in just by the fact that he's been so ubiquitous in the past three months. I'm really not sure how well people remember Choke (if at all) so Rockwell has a high chance of getting dropped. So who the hell is there left?

Best Actress (Drama)
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Angelina Jolie, Changeling
Meryl Streep, Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

The HFPA absolutely loves Angelina so expect her to get in over someone with less wattage such as Melissa Leo. Other than that, expect the usual suspects. Yawn.

Best Actress (Musical/Comedy)
Tina Fey, Baby Mama
Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky
Sarah Jessica Parker, Sex and the City: The Movie
Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey

People still have the memory of Tina Fey's Sarah Palin so I think she has a shot with Baby Mama. Meryl Streep is Meryl Streep...enough said. Parker got a nomination here in 2005 for The Family Stone (personally, I loved her but many protested at the time) and she won multiple times for Sex and the City the TV show, so I believe she's as good as in. Hawkins is the critical darling and Thompson is a star, although, yet again, I haven't heard anything about Last Chance Harvey.

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, Milk
Robert Downey, Jr., Tropic Thunder
James Franco, Milk
Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Doubt
Heath Ledger, The Dark Knight

Yawn. I would love a nice little shake up here just for the sake of competition but it's not looking likely.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams, Doubt
Beyonce, Cadillac Records
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis, Doubt
Ashley Tisdale, High School Musical 3: Senior Year
Kate Winslet, The Reader

My favorite category right now. Cruz and Winslet are in just by star power and acclaim. Doubt is going to be a major player tomorrow and I think both Adams and Davis will sneak in. Beyonce has been receiving raves for her performance in Cadillac Records and since she already has two Golden Globe noms, you know they already love her. Do you remember when Emily Blunt got an out-of-nowhere nomination for The Devil Wears Prada when only the bloggers had been behind her? Well, La Tisdale could get this surprise nod (and stands an even better chance if Efron gets a Best Actor nom).

Best Director
Danny Boyle, Slumdog Millionaire
David Fincher, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mike Leigh, Happy-Go-Lucky
Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight
Gus Van Sant, Milk

Not really sure how they're going to go on this one. I have a 4/5 match up with Best Drama Picture and Leigh as the Musical/Comedy spoiler but the HFPA can get realllly random here: Rob Reiner got one for The American President in 1996.

1 comment:

Kayleigh said...

*hand up* I was one of those trashy people who had fun at Mamma Mia. Twice. Not ashamed at all, I bloody loved it. I am rooting for Kate Winslet, Angelina Jolie, Heath Ledger, Michael Sheen, Revolutionary Road, Wall-E and all the lovely Brits.