Ah the Golden Globes, the one awards show of the year where you can talk about everything, dramas, comedies, television, there is a category for it all. Kind of like the Grammys only less so. Now the most notable thing is that which they say almost every year, there is no obvious frontrunner in most categories. This year I would say that there is also no film that really received universally good reviews. Some like Little Miss Sunshine and The Departed received fairly good reviews but in retrospect looking at the vacant landscape these films that were released well before the usual end of the year awards show push have started to look better and better. Among the generally serious topics that emerge during this time of year are African conflicts and dictators, British royalty, World War II, and girl groups. On the television side there are any number of old hands and one shining new beacon of television, Heroes. And once again, no Battlestar Galactica on the awards scene. Some of the nominations bring up a lot of questions like: does the Hollywood foreign press really watch any foreign films or do they just watch Hollywood films in other languages? And, does the press have expanded cable television or just basic cable and HBO?
Comments and picks:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
The most obvious thing in this category is that neither Letters From Iwo Jima nor Flags of Our Fathers were nominated here but Bobby, which was widely panned as being superficial treacle, made the cut. Admittedly this was a weak year but there were better films. The films that did make the cut were Babel, Bobby, The Departed, Little Children, and The Queen. This will come down to The Queen and The Departed and the voters may go for the star power of The Departed. The power of Bobby being nominated at all shows that actors will vote as a block for other actors regardless of the quality of the product and that the Weinsteins still hold significant sway in Hollywood. Just see last year’s surprise Oscar win for the ensemble drama Crash if you wonder about the actor’s voting block later in the awards season.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Helen Mirren is the most nominated actor or actress gaining not two but three nominations, one for film and two for television. It really shows that the quality of television has increased to the point where quality actors and actresses seek out good television roles and don’t see it as a step down for them. Of course the Globes really like to reward young, new, attractive talent and they have their pick from the younger generation with Maggie Gyllenhaal from the little seen Sherrybaby, Penelope Cruz for the Spanish language film Volver, and Kate Winslet for Little Children, though only Cruz is a first time nominee. Old hand Judi Dench, who was nominated last year in the Comedy category, rounds out the nominees in a category with more truly small and independent films than any other category. Helen Mirren is the odds on favorite to win this and every other award this season, but don’t be surprised if the Foreign Press voters go for the younger more photogenic Penelope Cruz.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Where the women were mostly nominated for tiny budget small release pictures the men are mostly from big budget high profile films this year. Leonardo Dicaprio earns the double nod which could be the kiss of death come Oscar time since an actor is only allowed to be nominated for one film at the Academy. Here he earns two nods for his equally intense roles in The Departed and Blood Diamond. But a win in 2005 might put voters off to his winning again. Forest Whitaker has the early buzz as Idi Amin in The Last King of Scotland. Peter O’Toole, for his work as an aged actor in Venus, and Will Smith, as a homeless father in The Pursuit of Happyness, round out the nominations. Expect that to no surprise Forest Whitaker takes home the prize for his powerful performance as the African strongman.
Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Again I cannot stress enough how much I like that comedies get their just time in the spotlight at the Golden Globes instead of being relegated to only animation status as the Oscars seem to do. Though one of my favorite comedies of the year, For Your Consideration, was not nominated, it is a diverse and interesting group that was. Since the category includes musicals Dreamgirls is included here. Thank You For Smoking which came out in ancient times for awards shows gets a well deserved nod as do Little Miss Sunshine and The Devil Wears Prada. It is something of a surprise that Borat made the list but the film is an interesting achievement of sorts and it is good that it is being recognized and given the Globe’s less establishment ethos it seems likely that Borat may take home the prize.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture -Comedy or Musical
I confess myself surprised that Catherine O’Hara was not nominated in either the best actress or best supporting actress categories for her magnificent turn as fading C-lister Marylin Hack in For Your Consideration. Perhaps the general supporting actress category was too full. The nominees are mostly people who have seen an award show or two before except for Beyonce Knowles. Annette Benning and Renee Zellweger are repeat nominees as is Meryl Streep who can’t seem to walk through a picture without getting a nomination these days, much like Jack Nicholson. Streep last won a television award for her 2004 turn in Angels in America. Benning won this category in 2005 which was also Zellweger’s most recent nomination though her win in a different category for Cold Mountain was in 2004. Beyonce Knowles will certainly add some glitz to the red carpet but it is hard to say whether she can stand up to these heavyweights. Toni Collette rounds out the nominations and may take home an award to honor the whole cast and crew of Little Miss Sunshine who look to be shut out in every other category.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Another category with an amazing amount of diversity. Will Ferrell gets a nod for Stranger Than Fiction but the weak reviews will probably kill any win as will the fact that he was nominated last year for his supporting role in The Producers. Johnny Depp has already been nominated once as Jack Sparrow so it doesn’t seem likely he will win this time if he didn’t last time. Plus Depp has been nominated in three of the last four years without ever taking home an award matching Cate Blanchett and Jeremy Piven for recent futility. At least Helen Mirren could do the feat in just one year if she misses out on all of her three nominations. Third time’s a charm maybe? This leaves three first time nominees Sacha Baron Cohen, Aaron Eckhart and Chiwetel Ejiofor to fight it out amongst themselves. Personally I liked Aaron Eckhart’s turn in Thank You For Smoking. If Cohen wins best comedy it is likely that this acting award will go to Eckhart.
Best Animated Feature Film
Though Happy Feet continues to do very well at the box office, for once Pixar will not win out as Monster House takes the prize as best animated feature over Cars. After all, how many penguins can a voter really stomach?
Best Foreign Language Film
Two of the foreign language films are made right here in the USA and it seems likely that Clint Eastwood’s Letters From Iwo Jima will clean up in this category since it was passed over for best picture. Though to be fair Pan’s Labyrinth made many a critics list of top films of the year and probably deserves the award just as much. The Lives of Others from Germany and Volver from Spain are the other two nominees.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Note that Cate Blanchett has been nominated in various film acting categories three of the last four years without a win. This year won’t be her year either. The favorites to win in this category are either the women from Babel Adriana Barraza and Rinko Kikuchi or even more likely newcomer, and former American Idol, Jennifer Hudson for Dreamgirls. Emily Blunt is the fifth nominee for The Devil Wears Prada.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Once again the supporting categories are a mishmash since they are not divided between comedy and drama. If you had asked five or ten years ago if Ben Affleck, Marky Mark, and Eddie Murphy were going to be nominated for best supporting actor Globes people would have laughed at you. This time Eddie Murphy is the frontrunner for his role in Dreamgirls. Ben Affleck’s turn as the man of steel in Hollywoodland was notable and it is good that the voters didn’t forget about a film that came out several months ago. Mark Wahlberg and Jack Nicholson are nominated for their roles in The Departed as is Brad Pitt for Babel. Notably absent is Djimon Hounsou for his work in Blood Diamond and anyone from Little Miss Sunshine.
Best Director - Motion Picture
The Best Director category is interesting because Clint Eastwood is nominated twice for Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima though neither film is nominated for Best Picture. It is never a good idea to bet against Eastwood but Martin Scorsese is the lead horse in this race. Though The Departed was somewhat uneven and is a remake of an equally good foreign film, Scorsese branded it as his own and there comes a time when even stodgy awards shows take note of a director’s signature style. The result of this should be even more interesting come Oscar time when the long snubbed Scorsese gets yet another nomination there. The other nominees for best director are Stephen Frears for The Queen and Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu for Babel.
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
For once the Best Screenplay category looks remarkably like the Best Picture category. Usually screenplay categories are clearing houses for also-rans. Note that this is the one category contracted from the Academy Awards which has screenplay awards for both adapted and original screenplays. The Departed was already adapted from the film Infernal Affairs and The Queen is an envisioning of real life actions. Coupled with the fact that these two may win several other awards they don’t seem likely to win here. That leaves Little Children, Notes on a Scandal, and Babel as the real questions and it seems likely that the dense Babel will win the screenplay award.
Best Original Score - Motion Picture
Again this year there was no clear cut score that roused hearts and minds and crept into popular culture like in some past years. For instance, is it just me or are there a number of commercials and television promos that sound like they stole music from the first Pirates of the Caribbean? The nominees include Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel and Hans Zimmer for The Da Vinci Code as well as Alexandre Desplat for The Painted Veil, Clint Mansell for The Fountain, and Carlos Siliotto for Nomad.
Best Original Song - Motion Picture
I don’t really have an opinion about most of these but at least this year there will a reason for Beyonce to perform a song at an awards show. Actually there is an interesting group of popular artists here though most likely Beyonce or the cute and fuzzy penguin song will win the prize. The nominees are
Related posts:
- Golden Globes 2007 - Television
- Golden Globes Review 2006
- Golden Globe Redux 2007
- 2005 Golden Globes In Retrospect
- Golden Globe Picks 2005
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