Thursday, January 14, 2010

My Golden Globes Predictions (part 2)


Here's part 2 of my Golden Globe predictions.

Best Supporting Actor
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 (will and should win)
First of all, I think there should be separate categories for Drama and Musical/Comedy supporting actors and actresses. Waltz has it in the bag playing the Nazi villain with the right amount of ambiguity, insanity and charm. I've only seen The Messenger and Harrelson was good in it but nowhere as outstanding at Waltz.

Best Supporting Actress
Nominees:
Penelope Cruz for Nine
Vera Farmiga for Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick for Up in the Air
Mo'nique for Precious (will win)
Julianne Moore for A Single Man (should win)
Take out Anna Kendrick and put in Inglourious Basterds's stunning and fierce Melanie Laurent. Kendrick was good but nowhere near as good as Vera Farmiga and I think having both actresses from the same film is overkill. Mo'nique's win, like Christoph's, is a lock so I guess it doesn't matter anyway. Julianne Moore is overdue an award and her small role in ASM is rather remarkable and heartbreaking. 

Best Director
Nominees:
Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker 
James Cameron for Avatar (will and should win)
Clint Eastwook for Invictus
Jason Reitman for Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds
The big question is: will Kathryn Bigelow be the first woman to win a major directing award? Or will her ex-husband win an award for creating an entire planet and mythology? Both films have almost universal critical acclaim. I think Avatar has the edge due to its revolutionary CGI work and its stunning action sequences. It'd be nice to see Tarantino or Reitman win but, with as Avatar as competition, it seems unlikely. 

Best Screenplay
Nominees:
District 9
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds (will and should win)
It's Complicated
Up in the Air
The IB screenplay is funny and chilling, with several long dialogue-heavy scenes that often change tone at the drop of a hat. Tarantino has also written many layered, complex characters with legitimate motivations and unique dialects. I only wish that (500) Days of Summer had taken District 9's spot but I guess two romantic-comedies is pushing it. UITA had a really nice screenplay, one that will be studied in years to come. I haven't seen It's Complicated but judging from writer/director Nancy Meyer's previous work (What Women Want, The Holiday and her masterpiece Something's Gotta Give), I'm sure it's a hilarious and insightful work. 

Best Animated Feature
Nominees:
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog (pictured; should win)
Up (will win)
If any of these 5  flicks win the award, I will be happy. Up has the edge because it's a Pixar film that slmost shouldn't have worked. Wht kid wants to see a movie about an old man? But Up is funny, insightful and deeply adventurous. Coraline, Cloudy with a Chance and Fantastic Mr. Fox have totally revolutionized animated filmmaking but I think that since The Princess and the Frog successfully brought back a dead style (the two-dimensional musical), it deserves the win.

The ceremony airs this Sunday night at 5pm on NBC. I hope you enjoyed my predictions. Post your thoughts. 

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