Happy 2014 Dear Readers! This is my first article
back since a little bit of a break (and a happy engagement to my beautiful fiancé),
and we get to jump into my favorite time of year to write, Oscar Season! Man it’s
been a crazy-good year at the movies and I think a common theme this year will
be that there is simply not enough room for all the great films, performances,
and achievements to get awarded as they should this year. Defiantly a year
where we are sad that there can be only one… highlander… I mean winner. As we
head toward March 2nd and this year’s Academy Awards ceremony we are
going to dive deep into many of the categories, but for now we are taking a
quick look at tonight’s Golden Globes awards.
The
Golden Globes are the first stop on the road to Oscar glory; it’s a good
predictor of what may happen (although it’s far, far from perfect). The Globes
are the first ones to give out there awards; although SAG, the DGA, WGA, BAFTA,
Critics Choice, and Independent Spirit Awards will all be given out along the
way. But The Globes are where we start, they are possibly the second most prestigious
award given in Hollywood and commonly referred to as the “most entertaining
night in Hollywood” as no one takes them too seriously. The Golden Globes are
given out by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a collection of reporters
from all-over the world covering Hollywood’s entertainment industry, and awards
separated into 4 categories Drama, Musical/Comedy, Film, and Television.
Today
we are going to take a quick look at each of the awards being given out this
evening and my prediction of who will win and who should win each category,
keep in mind we are a month away from The Oscars and a lot can change between
now and then.
Films highlighted in RED took home the award!
Best
Motion Picture, Drama
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Rush
Who
Will Win: 12
Years A Slave
Who
Should Win: 12
Years A Slave
Comments:
Although
Gravity is an amazing film, a great
technical achievement and emotionally engaging to boot, 12 Years a Slave is simply too good and too important of a film to
lose. Don’t sleep on Philomena this
is one of the year’s best small films and the fact that it’s in this category
is a huge achievement.
Best
Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks
Kate Winslet – Labor Day
Who
Will Win: Sandra
Bullock – Gravity
Who
Should Win: Judi
Dench – Philomena OR Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks
Comments:
Bullock
winning is just the kind of thing the Globes would do, she’s a big name in
Hollywood who’s given a great performance; The Globes, at times, are all about politics
and popularity. It’s not a stretch to say that Dench and Thompson are amazing
Actresses and both give emotional and moving performances this year and are
very deserving.
Best
Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Idris Elba – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All is Lost
Who
Will Win: Chiwetel
Ejiofor
Who
Should Win: Matthew
McConaughey
Comments:
This
awards season I’m tossing my support behind McConaughey, who has been slowing rebuilding
his career and making a string of amazing chocies, Dallas Buyers Club is a landmark performance and is captivating as
anything ever put on screen. Why him over Ejiofor? Although he gives an equally
landmark performance, I find myself leaning toward McConaughey because of the
total character built, I can easily imagine what McConaughey’s character is
doing when not on screen, that’s how fleshed out that character is vs. Ejiofor
who is nothing short of brilliant but seems to lack just a few of nuances given
by McConaughey
Best
Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street
Who
Will Win: American
Hustle
Who
Should Win: Inside
Llewyn Davis
Comments:
Three
of my favorite films of this year are in this category; Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Nebraska
are all beyond amazing films. If I had to pick one of them it would be Davis. American Hustle has taken
Hollywood by storm and is, honestly, the safe choice. It’s a film that does
plays in familiar ground very well. It’s good, not great; it’s an acting master
class and Hollywood has fallen in love with it. American Hustle is my least favorite of these five very good films.
Best
Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County
Who
Will Win: Amy
Adams – American Hustle
Who
Should Win: Amy
Adams – American Hustle
Comments:
For
all the really strong categories this year, this is not one of them. These performances
are all above average, but nothing seems to super stand out. I could see Streep
winning just because she’s Streep, but Adams should have this one in the bag.
Best
Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Joaquin Phoenix – Her
Who
Will Win: Bruce
Dern -- Nebraska
Who
Should Win: All
of them.
Comments:
Oh
wow, these are five of my favorite performances of the year. This is a plethora
of acting goodness. I would be happy with any of them, I think Dern will pull
of the win for no other reason than he’s 77 and may not be here again; but
Isaac, Phoenix, DiCaprio, and Bale are all amazing.
Best
Animated Feature Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Who
Will Win: Frozen
Who
Should Win: Frozen
Comments: A surprisingly
small field for animated feature films, considering there have been a few good
film left off this list, namely Monsters
University and The Wind Rises. That
being said, Frozen is easily the best
animated film of this year, one of the best film of year in general and should
win this category going away.
Best
Foreign Language Film
Blue is the Warmest Color
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
The Wind Rises
Who
Will Win: The
Wind Rises
Who
Should Win: Blue is the Warmest Color
Comments:
The
front runner for the Oscar is not nominated, Belgium’s The Broken Circle Breakdown; Denmark’s The Hunt could sweep in and take this with its solid late buzz,
France’s Blue is the Warmest Color is
the Palm d’Or winner for this year’s Cannes film festival and one of the 10
best films I’ve seen this year (and sadly due to some dumb rules not eligible
for this year’s Academy Awards) and should pull of the win here. But I think
The Globes will go sentimental pick and honor film legend Hayao Miyazaki and
his last film The Wind Rises.
Best
Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
June Squibb – Nebraska
Who
Will Win: Lupita
Nyong’o
Who
Should Win: Lupita
Nyong’o
Comments:
This
is almost a lock, Nyong’o is stellar and heart-breaking and memorable all at
the same time. She’s great and should easily take this home. However, if there
is a spoiler to be played Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle could come
in and take this away because, as usual, she is incredible in every scene
steeling moment she appears in that film.
Best
Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl – Rush
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Who
Will Win: Michael
Fassbender
Who
Should Win: Jared
Leto
Comments:
This
is a wide open race between 5 very good actors, giving 5 very good
performances. Fassbender is my guess at who will win, but that is a true guess.
Leto stands out as someone who is a total chameleon in his part, but is fairly
disliked in Hollywood (ahh politics), and Abdi, Bruhl and Cooper are all great
in their parts. I’m looking forward to actually seeing who takes this award
home.
Best
Director, Motion Picture
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne – Nebraska
David O. Russell – American Hustle
Who
Will Win: Alfonso
Cuaron – Gravity
Who
Should Win: Alfonso
Cuaron – Gravity
Comments:
It
would be very hard to vote for Cuaron this year, Gravity is a great film and great step forward for filmmaking. The
amazing thing is that Cuaron wrote and a script that needed more technology
then what he had, and instead of shying away from making the film, he invented
new technology to create the film .
Best
Screenplay, Motion Picture
Spike Jonze – Her
Bob Nelson – Nebraska
Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan – Philomena
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave
Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell –
American Hustle
Who
Will Win: Jeff
Pope and Steve Coogan – Philomena
Who
Should Win: Spike Jonze – Her OR Bob Nelson – Nebraska
Comments:
Jonze
and Nelson both created amazing scripts about personal stories involving there
honest and compelling characters and a fascinating story. This should be all
you need to win, however it might not be enough to push them over the top. This
is a category where little films get there due, which is why I think this is
where Philomena gets his due.
Best
TV Series, Drama
Breaking Bad
Downton Abbey
The Good Wife
House of Cards
Masters of Sex
Who
Will Win: Breaking
Bad
Who
Should Win: Breaking
Bad
Comments:
A
bunch of good shows here, but this is the year of Breaking Bad and I would be shocked if The Globes don’t take advantage
of their last chance to toss awards at the show.
Best
Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife
Tatiana Maslany – Orphan Black
Taylor Schiling – Orange is the New Black
Kerry Washington – Scandal
Robin Wright – House of Cards
Who
Will Win: ?
Who
Should Win: ?
Comments:
When
it comes to this category I’ve seen very little of each of these shows, not
nearly enough to say who should or would win. If I was guessing I would
Julianna Margulies is going to win, but am rooting for Tatiana Maslany of
Orphan Black as I very much enjoyed the pilot episode of this show.
Best
Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan
Michael Sheen – Masters of Sex
Kevin Spacey – House of Cards
James Spader – The Blacklist
Who
Will Win: Bryan
Cranston – Breaking Bad
Who
Should Win: Bryan
Cranston – Breaking Bad
Comments:
The
year of Breaking Bad will end with a
Cranston win.
Best
TV Series, Musical or Comedy
The Big Bang Theory
Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Girls
Modern Family
Parks and Recreation
Who
Will Win: Girls
Who
Should Win: Parks
and Recreation
Comments:
It’s
hard to beat an HBO show and I’m not sure anyone will beat the culturally penetrating
Girls. I would easily say Parks and Recreation has been the
funniest and most underrated show on TV for years and I would love it if it
finally got its due. Both The Big Bang
Theory and Modern Family are
holding strong for traditional sitcoms and Brooklyn
Nine-Nine is a holding strong for a freshman series on FOX but let’s give
it some time to grow.
Best
Actress in TV Series, Musical or Comedy
Zooey Deschanel – The New Girls
Lena Dunham – Grils
Edie Falco – Nurse Jackie
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Veep
Amy Poehler – Parks and Recreation
Who
Will Win: Julia
Louis-Dreyfus – Veep
Who
Should Win: Amy
Poehler – Parks and Recreation
Comments:
Veep’s
leading lady has been getting a lot of accolades for this part, and awards
shows love award “comedy” shows that are not actually funny, and Veep fits that bill. But Poehler has
been snubbed for years as Leslie Knope on Parks
and Recreation, and she should take this home.
Best
Actor in a TV Series, Musical or Comedy
Jason Bateman – Arrested Development
Don Cheadle – House of Lies
Michael J. Fox – The Michael J. Fox Show
Jim Parsons – The Big Bang Theory
Andy Samberg – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Who
Will Win: Jim
Parsons – The Big Bang Theory
Who
Should Win: Take
your pick!
Commentary: In a category where
all things are equal it’s to really say who’s above the rest, these gentlemen
all give good performances but I can’t say one defines himself above the rest.
So I say Parsons, because he’s my favorite of these guys.
ENJOY THE GOLDEN GLOBES!
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