The time is here, once again, for the least respected/most enjoyed awards ceremony of the year: The Golden Globes Sunday, NBC, 8/7C. Once again, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has cobbled together a lisyt of nominees that both amazes and confounds.
Nobody has a clue as to how or why the HFPA makes its selections; the party is usually what matters to the attendees – who will still say nice things if they win [though some of the acceptance speeches might not be entirely coherent – the consumption of alcoholic beverages begins pretty much immediately upon being seated].
Anyroad, here are just a few thoughts on the nominees and possible winners.
FILM
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The King’s Speech, The Social Network
Three of my five favorite films of the year are on this list. Black Swan lost me with its obvious and less than compelling final scene; The Fighter was a much better than average boxing/dysfunctional family movie; Inception used the tropes of a heist film to explore the workings of the sleeping subconscious; The King’s Speech told the simple tale of a man who had to overcome a stammer to take over the family business, and The Social Network used the story of the creation of Facebook to explore Shakespearean themes like greed, power and betrayal.
Inception should win, but The Social Network will.
Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Alice in Wonderland, Burlesque, The Kids Are All Right, RED, The Tourist
Alice in Wonderland was a dizzying sequel to Lewis Carroll’s famous books and featured a grown Alice having to relearn the lessons of her childhood; Burlesque was the tale of a girl who wanted to become a star in an entertainment form that barely survives today; The Kids Are All Right found the children of a lesbian couple wondering about their biological father; RED was a violent, funny parable about underestimating the capabilities of older folks, and The Tourist was a late period Hitchcock type of mistaken identity/caper flick.
Burlesque doesn’t even belong on any awards list, so that’s one curious HFPA choice.
Although The Tourist made my list of favorites, I’m not sure it’s actually a comedy – though it might be a bit light to be nominated as a drama. The same goes for Alice. Which brings us down to The Kids Are All Right and RED.
The Kids Are All Right should win, but RED has a shot from a purely entertainment standpoint.
Best Animated Feature Film
Despicable Me, How to Train Your Dragon, The Illusionist, Tangled, Toy Story 3
Despicable Me – about a supervillain who rethinks his position when three little girls adopt him – isn’t even the best supervillain-redeems-himself movie of the year [that would be Megamind], so that’s a curious choice. How To Train Your Dragon – about a Viking boy who’s more of a scholar than a barbarian and figures out that dragons aren’t all bad – made my list of favorites; The Illusionist is tale of friendship between a young woman and a third-rate magician [from the maker of amazing The Triplets of Belleville], that had a very limited release in December; Tangled is Disney’s update of Rapunzel – and the best thing Disney has done in fifteen years, and Toy Story 3 manages to be a coming-of-age story, a prison break film and a tale about hope and renewal – without seeming to be anything less than a single, well told tale.
If I had seen The Illusionist, I’d be able to comment on its place on this list, but of the films I’ve seen Toy Story 3 is the best, so it should win – but it won’t be much of an upset if dragon takes the Golden globe.
Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful (Mexico/Spain), The Concert (France), The Edge (Russia), I Am Love (Italy), In a Better World (Denmark)
I have seen none of these films.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jesse Eisenberg/The Social Network, Colin Firth/The King’s Speech, James Franco/127 Hours, Ryan Gosling/Blue Valentine, Mark Wahlberg/The Fighter
Jesse Eisenberg, James Fracno and Mark Wahlberg give the best performances of their careers and Ryan Gosling gives another brilliant Ryan Gosling performance. Unfortunately for them, Colin Firth gives a performance for the ages as Prince Albert/King George VI. Even if one of the other brilliant performances is granted the Golden Globe, it will still be an incredible upset. Firth is that good.
Colin Firth should win.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Johnny Depp/The Tourist, Johnny Depp/Alice in Wonderland, Paul Giamatti/Barney’s Version, Jake Gyllenhaal/Love and Other Drugs, Kevin Spacey/Casino Jack
I have yet to see Casino Jack or Barney’s Version. Of the three performances left, I see it as a tossup between Depp’s Mad Hatter and Jake Gyllenhaal’s slick Viagra salesman. Either could win and I’d be happy.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Halle Berry/Frankie and Alice, Nicole Kidman/Rabbit Hole, Jennifer Lawrence/Winter’s Bone, Natalie Portman/Black Swan, Michelle Williams/Blue Valentine
Again, a solid group of performances. Despite Black Swan being a disappointment, Portman was awesome. So, for me, it comes down to her and Jennifer Lawrence for Winter’s Bone. And again, either will work for me.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Annette Bening and Juilianne Moore/The Kids Are All Right, Anne Hathaway/Love and Other Drugs, Angelina Jolie/The Tourist, Emma Stone/Easy A
Another group of fine performances that comes down to a two person race: Annette Bening for Kids and Emma Stone for Easy A. I’d like to see Stone win, but Bening is at least as deserving.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale/The Fighter, Michael Douglas/Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, Andrew Garfield/The Social Network, Jeremy Renner/The Town, Geoffrey Rush/The King’s Speech
I didn’t see Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps. The trailer almost put me to sleep.
Of the remaining four, Renner and Bale had the showiest roles; Garfield and Rush had the most heart. When push comes to shove, I have to go with Andrew Garfield – but this is a tight race all the way.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams/The Fighter, Helena Bonham Carter/The King’s Speech, Mila Kunis/Black Swan, Melissa Leo/The Fighter, Jacki Weaver/Animal Kingdom
For me, this category comes down to Melissa Leo and Jacki Weaver. Both roles are powerful, manipulative women who subjugate their families through the sheer force of their personalities – with moments of seeming vulnerability to deepen the emotional hooks they have sunk into their family members.
Melissa Leo should win, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jacki Weaver take the Golden Globe.
Best Director – Motion Picture
Darren Aronofsky/Black Swan, David Fincher/The Social Network, Tom Hooper/The King’s Speech, Christopher Nolan/Inception, David O. Russell/The Fighter
In terms of pure technique, this race comes down to Christopher Nolan and David Fincher. I prefer Nolan, but if he doesn’t win, Fincher will.
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy/127 Hours, Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg/The Kids Are All Right, Christopher Nolan/Inception, David Seidler/The King’s Speech, Aaron Sorkin/The Social Network
If only because of the dialogue, Aaron Sorkin will win here.
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
Bound to You/Burlesque, Coming Home/Country Strong, I See the Light/Tangled, There’s a Place for Us/Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, You Haven’t Seen the Last of Me/Burlesque
Even though I haven’t seen all the films in this category, I have heard all the songs – and none of them can be called inspiring. I See the Light is the strongest.
Best Original Score – Motion Picture
The King’s Speech, Alice in Wonderland, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Inception
The Social Network should win. Trent Reznor and Atticus Rose have created a truly unique and counterintuitive score that enhances every second of The Social Network without even seeming to be there – which is what a score is all about.
TELEVISION
Best Television Series – Drama
Boardwalk Empire, Dexter, The Good Wife, Mad Men, The Walking Dead
Another solid category. The HFPA is getting better at this stuff.
This is the first season where Mad Men didn’t make my favorites list, but everything else did. It only had six episodes, but The Walking Dead should win because it’s the only series that questioned the nature of man and asked important questions about good and evil, community and identity without seeming to be saying anything.
Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy
30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, The Big C, Glee, Modern Family, Nurse Jackie
The big Bang Theory is only funny when Mayim Bialik is on; Nurse Jackie ceased being funny in season one and glee is a hit-or-miss show. 30 rock continues to rock the satire, The Big C looked at the effects of cancer in a surprisingly real – and often hilarious – way, and Modern Family continues to provide fresh variations on the traditional family sitcom.
The big C should win, but I expect glee or Modern family to do so.
Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Carlos, The Pacific, Pillars of the Earth, Temple Grandin, You Don’t Know Jack
The Pillars of the Earth was an old-fashioned grand mini-series – only with sex; Temple Grandin was a brilliant rendering of a unique life and career; The Pacific was the all too real story of World War II in the Pacific Ocean theater of war. I haven’t seen Carlos, or You don’t Know Jack.
I’d love to see Pillars win just because it was so entertaining, but both Temple Grandin and The Pacific are more deserving from a quality standpoint.
I expect The Eacific to win.
Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama
Steve Buscemi/Boardwalk Empire, Bryan Cranston/Breaking Bad, Michael C. Hall/Dexter, Jon Hamm/Mad Men, Hugh Laurie/House
None of the nominees in this category could be considered a disappoint if they won. However, Bryan Cranston’s Walter White is the character who faced the biggest chances over the course of this last season, so I expect him to walk away with the Golden Globe.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama
Julianna Margulies/The Good Wife, Elisabeth Moss/Mad Men, Piper Perabo/Covert Affairs, Katey Sagal/Songs of Anarchy, Kyra Sedgwick/The Closer
This is the category where the HFPA really slipped. Where’s Anna Torv [Fringe]? Where’s Lisa Edelstein [House]? Where’s Ellen Pompeo [Grey’s Anatomy]? I could go on…
Of this lot, I’d have to go with Kyra Sedgwick – but if Julianna Margulies won, it wouldn’t be the end of all things.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Alec Baldwin/30 Rock, Steve Carell/The Office, Thomas Jan/Hung, Matthew Morrison/Glee, Jim Parsons/The Big Bang Theory
I prefer Alec Baldwin or Steve Carell. Anyone else is a joke.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy
Toni Collette/United States of Tara, Edie Falco/Nurse Jackie, Tina Fey/30 Rock, Laura Linney/The Big C, Lea Michele/Glee
Toni Collette is amazing in United States of Tara. If she doesn’t win, then Laura Linney should. Edie Falco doesn’t belong on this list.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Idris Elba/Luther, Ian McShane/Pillars of the Earth, Al Pacino/You Don’t Know Jack, Dennis Quaid/The Special Relationship, Edgar Ramirez/Carlos
Ian McShane – because I haven’t seen the others.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Hayley Atwell/Pillars of the Earth, Claire Danes/Temple Grandin, Judi Dench/Return to Cranford, Romola Garai/Emma, Jennifer Love Hewitt/The Client List
Clair Danes. Period. Full stop.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Scott Caan/Hawaii Five-O, Chris Colfer/Glee, Chris Noth/The Good Wife, Eric Stonestreet/Modern Family, David Strathairn/Temple Grandin
This category sucks as a category. Drama, Comdies and mini-series/TV Movies each get separate categories for Best Actor and Actress, but the supporting categories have everything tossed into the mix. It’s bull$#!+!
Best performance from thes incredibly different projects? Eric stonestreet.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hope Davis/The Special Relationship, Jane Lynch/Glee, Kelly MacDonald/Boardwalk Empire, Julia Stiles/Dexter, Sofia Vergara/Modern Family
The category also sucks as a category [see above].
Flip a coin between Jane Lynch and Sofia Vergara.
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