Print
Email
Share
Talk about jumping the gun. We’re barely out of Thanksgiving, with Christmas still a good 10 days off, and the Golden Globes have already determined the best of the best for 2009…at least within their limited junket whoring, celebrity shmooshing purview. Every year, the Hollywood Foreign Press shore up their guest list for the coming immovable banquet, betting that fame and equally known names will trump talent every time - and for the most part, they’re wrong. The Globes have never been a wholly accurate gauge of future Oscar potential, even when the winners allude to the eventually Academy victors. No, like many other publicized Guild and Society recognitions, it’s a self-serving PR move, neither capable of, nor possibly able to, determine true merit.
With that in mind, let’s look at the lists that will be debated on between now and the moment AMPAS decides that the Winter Olympics are less of a distraction, beginning with the biggest categories of the year:
Best Motion Picture - Drama
Nominees:
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Up in the Air
Perhaps the only real “surprise” here is the strong showing for Avatar, a film that as of two weeks ago was the biggest unknown quantity of this awards season. While the Foreign Press have been kind to Cameron in the past, the love they’ve shown for his latest sci-fi magnum opus is sure to spur significant Oscar consideration. Tarantino’s nod could also be seen as something of a novelty, if only because of the polarizing nature of the film itself (and given its surreal subject matter, the European reaction specifically).
Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Nominees:
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine
Every year, the Globes pay lip service to laugher while nominating something safer and more certain come trophy time. Nine is this year’s cautious bet, guaranteed to beat out the far superior (500) Days and Hangover. What It’s Complicated is doing here is anyone’s guess, considering the critical drubbing it’s about to receive among the mainstream media in America (don’t worry, it’s coming). The dark horse? Julie and Julia, which is much more of a disjointed bio-pic about the famed French Chef than it is a real ribtickler.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Nominees:
Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart
George Clooney for Up in the Air
Colin Firth for A Single Man
Morgan Freeman for Invictus
Tobey Maguire for Brothers
Maguire’s acknowledgement must come as sour consolation to a film clearly aiming for higher overall consideration. Still, when you look at who he is up against - including massive current PR push beneficiary Bridges - it’s quite the accomplishment. While Freeman does a decent job in the Eastwood look at South Africa after Mandela, it’s really a race between Clooney and Firth, with gentleman George narrowly beating out his Brit counterpart.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Nominees:
Emily Blunt for The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock for The Blind Side (2009)
Helen Mirren for The Last Station (2009)
Carey Mulligan for An Education (2009)
Gabourey ‘Gabby’ Sidibe for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by
Sapphire (2009)
Bullock and Blunt have no chance. Mirren’s got her Queen-ly rewards, so look for her to fall fast. Basically, this category comes down to two film novices, both of whom give amazing performances in emotionally complicated efforts. Look for Ms. Sidibe to win this one handily.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Nominees:
Matt Damon for The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis for Nine
Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt for (500) Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg for A Serious Man
Talk about a crap shoot! Downey Jr. must have naked pictures of Golden Globes members to warrant his turn in Ritchie’s revisionist look at the famous sleuth. He’s good, but far from award worthy (Jude Law as Watson on the other hand…). In some ways, this is a way station for also ran films (Serious Man, Informant!) that won’t see another nomination anywhere. And if Day-Lewis wins, it will be a matter of reputation over reality (he is perhaps the least convincing thing about Rob Marshall’s misguided musical).
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Nominees:
Sandra Bullock for The Proposal
Marion Cotillard for Nine
Julia Roberts for Duplicity
Meryl Streep for It’s Complicated
Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia
This one is a reach. Cotillard is the best thing about Nine. The rest of the movie hurts her chances (and besides, her’s is a supporting turn at most). Streep soars in Julie and then does a Norbit about face for Complicated. Roberts is clearly trading on her former star cred while Bullock’s inert performance in the subpar Summer comedy is just one step away from All About Steve. If they really wanted to give it to Madam Meryl, they didn’t have to make it so obvious.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Nominees:
Matt Damon for Invictus
Woody Harrelson for The Messenger
Christopher Plummer for The Last Station
Stanley Tucci for The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz for Inglourious Basterds
Another bone thrown at a film (Lovely Bones) which deserves better. And Damon is a cipher in comparison to Freeman. Since many have not seen Plummer’s or Harrelson’s performances, gauging their chances is tough. Beside, Waltz owned this award the minute he showed up at that frantic French farmhouse. If he doesn’t win EVERY award this season, it’s a crime.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Nominees:
Penélope Cruz for Nine
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
Mo’Nique for Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
Julianne Moore for A Single Man
Ms. Moore is on screen for about six seconds in Man, and she’s less than stellar. Ms. Kendrick deserves kudos for staying strong when sparring with Big Bad George, and Farmiga gets props for playing both with and against type. The less said about Ms. Cruz’s burlesque as dirty old man Viagra excuse for acting the better. Again, like Mr. Waltz before, Mo’Nique earned her trophy from the first moment she hurled a frying pan at her child.
Best Director - Motion Picture
Nominees:
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
James Cameron for Avatar
Clint Eastwood for Invictus
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds
Is this the first time that a pair of ex-spouses were ever nominated in the same category (this being Hollywood, it seems hard to believe)? While QT and Reitman deserve serious consideration, it will wind up being a race between epic imagination and authentic real world suspense. Toss in the gender equity factor and Ms. Bigelow gets it.
Best Screenplay - Motion Picture
Nominees:
District 9: Neill Blomkamp, Terri Tatchell
The Hurt Locker: Mark Boal
Inglourious Basterds : Quentin Tarantino
It’s Complicated: Nancy Meyers
Up in the Air: Jason Reitman, Sheldon Turner
Take a look at these five nominees, revert back to the days of Sesame Street, and try to figure out which one doesn’t belong with the other. If you guessed the misguided mess of a supposed script coughed up by Ms. Meyers, give yourself a shiny gold star! The other four are all works of invention and literary depth. A lax RomCom about “divorce with benefits” hardly seems worthy of similar consideration.
Best Animated Film
Nominees:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up
Yea, Mr. Fox! Double Yea for Coraline! While Disney continues its typical domination of this category (with substantial support from Pixar), don’t count out the savvy stop motion efforts sitting right along side the honorees from the House of Mouse. Cloudy has no chance, though it was the rare family film that was both funny and visually inventive without being cloy or conniving.
Best Foreign Language Film
Nominees:
Broken Embraces/Los abrazos rotos
Baarìa
The White Ribbon/Das weisse Band - Eine deutsche Kindergeschichte
The Maid/La nana
A Prophet/Un prophète
This seems to be a three way race between Cannes winner Ribbon, critic darling Almodovar, and Cinema Paradiso helmer Giuseppe Tornatore. Of course, having not seen either The Maid or A Prophet makes such a statement a lot easier to support. Still, Ribbon is getting most of the critical buzz of recent, and with Summer Hours not in the running, don’t be surprised if Michael Haneke’s sinister masterpiece about Germany at the turn of the century doesn’t walk away with this one.
