The 2015 Golden Globes Winners Announced!

The 72nd annual Golden Globes were held last night and while no one film dominated throughout, several managed to get their presence felt. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler were back for the third and final time to host the wildest party in Hollywood, except they were gone for most of the evening. We needed more of the duo the last time around. The Cecil B. DeMille award honoree this year was George Clooney who bounced back nicely after Monuments Men tanked.  He was introduced by two longtime friends, Julianna Margulies and Don Cheadle, who argued amongst each other on who was the better friend.  Clooney gave a great speech, talking about everything from actors lost in the past year (Laura Bacall and Robin Williams) to free speech in Paris.

Boyhood, with three big wins for Best Film - Drama,  Director, and Supporting Actress, put its foot forward as the Oscar frontrunner. Other awards worthy films like Foxcatcher, The Imitation Game didn't win a single award and others like Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel showed that they're competitors again.  As for the actors, Julianne Moore, for Still Alice, looks to be on course I hope for her first ever Oscar. She's long overdue. Michael Keaton, for Birdman, and Eddie Redmayne, for The Theory of Everything, are also serious contenders for Best Actor now. But then I think so was Leonardo DiCaprio last year with The Wolf of Wall Street. He wasn't able to replicate his Golden Globes success.

Two big surprises of the night came in the animated feature and foreign film categories. How To Train Your Dragon 2, to my pleasant surprise, won the big honor right on the heels of its BAFTAs snub. The LEGO Movie has some competition. So does Ida as Russia's Leviathan won best foreign film.  The stage has been set for the rest of the awards, SAG, Critics Awards, BAFTAs to show what they've got and of course, let's not forget the grand daddy of them all, the Oscars announces its own nominations this Thursday. Get ready!

Here's the full list of winners in film below:

Best director

Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava Duvernay, Selma
Alejandro González Iñárritu
David Fincher, Gone Girl

Best motion picture drama

Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

Best motion picture – comedy or musical

The Grand Budapest Hotel
Birdman
Into the Woods
Pride
St Vincent

Best actress in a motion picture drama

Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best actor in a motion picture drama

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo, Selma

Best actor in a motion picture comedy or musical

Michael Keaton, Birdman
Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice
Christoph Waltz, Big Eyes

Best supporting actress in a motion picture

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best screenplay

Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, and Armando Bo, Birdman
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Gillian Flynn, Gone Girl
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game

Best animated feature film

How to Train Your Dragon 2
Big Hero Six
The Book of Life
Boxtrolls
The Lego Movie

Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical

Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
Helen Mirren, The Hundred-Foot Journey
Julianne Moore, Map to the Stars
Quvenzhané Wallis, Annie

Best original song

Glory, John Legend and Common (Selma)
Big Eyes, Lana del Rey (Big Eyes)
Mercy Is, Patti Smith and Lenny Kaye (Noah)
Opportunity, Greg Kurstin, Sia Furler, and Will Gluck (Annie)
Yellow Flicker Beat, Lorde (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay — Part 1)

Best original score

Jóhann Jóhannsson, The Theory of Everything
Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Gone Girl
Antonio Sanchez, Birdman
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar

Best supporting actor in a Motion Picture

JK Simmons, Whiplash
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher

Best foreign language film

Force Majeure Turist (Sweden)
Gett: The Trial of Viviane (Israel)
Ida (Poland/Denmark)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines Madanriinid (Estonia)

2014 Golden Globe Award Winners

The 71st Golden Globe awards were held this past Sunday and as usual it did not disappoint.  The show was hosted for the second time in a row by Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who in their inimitable style "crushed it", with their jokes (Gravity is "the story of how George Clooney would rather float away in space and die than spend any more time with a woman his own age.") or hijacking the stage as teenager "Randy" and his mom.

The presenters were just as lively with Robert Downey Jr. promising us that no matter what happened that night, he was leaving home a winner or my favorite Emma Thompson who appeared on stage with a martini in one hand and a pair of Louboutins in another.  The red on the shoes, she told us, was her blood.  And she chose the martini over the shoes when it came to presenting the award!

(Photo: Getty Images)

Emma Stone (who's currently working with Woody Allen on the upcoming Magic in the Moonlight) and Diane Keaton (who worked with Allen from Annie Hall to Interiors) presented the Cecil B. DeMille award to an absent Woody Allen, who usually never attends awards functions. 

(Photos: Just Jared/The Hollywood Reporter)

Now, onto the awards, American Hustle won the most with 3 including best comedy/musical, 12 Years a Slave won for best drama, Gravity had the best director and Her had the best screenplay.  The acting awards went out to Dallas Buyers Club, Blue Jasmine, The Wolf of Wall Street and American Hustle, while Frozen won the best animated feature.

(Photos: E! Online/Getty Images)

Here's the full list of the feature film winners:

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
“12 Years a Slave”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

Matthew McConaughey, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Cate Blanchett, “Blue Jasmine”

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
“American Hustle”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Leonardo DiCaprio, “The Wolf of Wall Street”

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
Alfonso Cuaron, “Gravity”

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Frozen”

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

“The Great Beauty” (Italy)


BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
Spike Jonze, “Her”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Jared Leto, “Dallas Buyers Club”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Amy Adams, “American Hustle”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“Ordinary Love,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Music by: Bono, The Edge, Adam Clayton, Larry Mullen, Jr., Brian Burton
Lyrics by: Bono

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
Alex Ebert, “All Is Lost”

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
Jennifer Lawrence “American Hustle”

71st Golden Globe nominations announced!

We're deep in awards season now with critics awards being announced left and right and the major awards nominations lining up one after the other.  After the Screen Actors Guild nominations, it's the turn of the 71st Golden Globe nominations which were announced this past Thursday. And as usual there are some big surprises and snubs in the nominations.  American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave, Captain Phillips have made a strong showing here and films like Philomena, Gravity and Inside Llewyn Davis have picked up the expected nominations.  The surprises, for me, had to be Martin Scorsese losing out one of the best director nomination, Hayao Miyazaki's final feature The Wind Rises winning a best foreign film slot (that's a great surprise, by the way) and Pixar being shut out of the Best Animated Feature.  It will be DreamWorks, Disney and Universal battling it out for the big prize. 

Once again, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will be hosting the awards show for the second time in a row which will be held on January 12th, 2014.

 
Best motion picture, drama
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Gravity
Philomena
Rush

Best motion picture, musical or comedy 
American Hustle
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
The Wolf of Wall Street

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

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

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

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

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

Best supporting Actor in a motion picture
Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Daniel Brühl - Rush
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Director – motion picture
Alfonso Cuarón - Gravity
Paul Greengrass - Captain Phillips
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
Alexander Payne - Nebraska
David O. Russell - American Hustle

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

Best Foreign Language Film 
Blue is the Warmest Color
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
The Wind Rises

Best Animated Feature film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
"Atlas" - The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
"Let It Go" - Frozen
"Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
"Please Mr. Kennedy" - Inside Llewyn Davis
"Sweeter Than Fiction" - One Chance

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alex Ebert - All is Lost
Alex Heffes - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Steven Price - Gravity
John Williams - The Book Thief
Hans Zimmer - 12 Years a Slave

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Return as Hosts for the Golden Globes

(Photo: Just Jared)

The 'anything-goes' awards aka the Golden Globes (with dinner and drinks) just got more street cred. How come? This year's super hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have signed on more hosting duties for the next two years! That's Golden Globes 3, everyone else 0. 

The Golden Globes 2013 winners!

The Golden Globes can be a great many things but you can't deny their entertainment factor.  Hostesses Tina Fey and Amy Poehler's funny monologue started off the night well signaling that unlike previous years, the host wouldn't alienate the audience at home and in the ballroom. And as always, it gave us great moments from Jodie Foster's incredible speech to surprises win in significant categories by Argo and some not so great moments (the HFPA president's speech comes to mind).

The two Oscar frontrunners, Lincoln and Life of Pi, walked away with only one award each while Les Miserables and Argo gained some momentum.  The acting awards also seemed to lean a certain way except in the Best Actress category where a 85-year-old and a nine year old could have some say come Oscar night.   The hardest category to predict, for me, will be Best Director. 

Highlights for the night for me was probably anytime Tina and Amy were onscreen (could they present the awards to everyone next year?), Will Ferrell and Kristen Wiig showing their hilarious knowledge of Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical category ('You get out of here!') and unofficially auditioned for next year's hosting gig, Adele's joie de vivre to former President Bill Clinton presenting the clip to Lincoln (I really thought Lincoln had it in the bag right then.)

And the line of the night belonged to Poehler who exclaimed, "Wow! What an exciting special guest! That was Hillary Clinton's husband!" as the former president left the stage.  Yes, Amy, he really was. 

Let's see the Oscars try to top that.

The winners listed below:

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Argo

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Les Miserables

Best Director
Ben Affleck, Argo

Best Screenplay 
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

Best Performance By An Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty

Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

Best Performance By An Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook

Best Animated Feature
Brave

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria)

Best Performance By An Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables

Best Performance By An Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Original Score 
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi

Best Original Song
Skyfall, Skyfall - Music by: Adele, Paul Epworth Lyrics by: Adele, Paul Epworth

70th Annual Golden Globe Awards - Tina Fey and Amy Poehler Video

Two of the funniest women in showbiz, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, show us a sneak peek of the Golden Globes if they both spoke in classical Hollywood voices.  They've totally nailed the accents! 

Both of them are up against each other in the Best Actress category in a television comedy and I can't wait to see how that turns out, will it be like the Emmys when all them turned it into their own version of a pageant?  The Golden Globes will air on January 13, 2013. 

The Golden Globe 2013 nominations!

The Golden Globe nominations were announced today and it looks like Django Unchained, Lincoln, Argo and Zero Dark Thirty are leading the pack with nominations in acting as well as screenplay, director and best picture.  The HFPA also have two separate categories for Drama and Comedy so the nominations get spread out.  Though I also feel bad for the supporting actor/actress categories, it's drama and comedy both thrown in together and it usually is the drama actors and actresses that have the upper hand.  

What I'm glad to see is five solid choices for Best Drama Motion Picture that spills into director and screenplay as well.  But what is Salmon Fishing in the Yemen doing in the Best Comedy category? I really thought the film was disappointing and not a great showcase for the actors in it.  

I'm delighted to see the recognition for Judi Dench in The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Jack Black in Bernie.  Both of them shone in their respective films.  Somebody really does like Maggie Smith a whole lot, she's got both the TV and the film nominations to prove it.  

But as always, the Golden Globes are remembered more for the party and the impromptu moments that occur onstage and off then the actual awards themselves.  This year is Cecile B. de Mille Lifetime Achievement Award will be given to Jodie Foster.  Francesca Eastwood, daughter of Clint, will be Miss Golden Globe 2013 and of course Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (both nominees for Best Actress -  Comedy for Television) will host the 70th awards show on January 13th, 2013, only 3 days after the Oscar nominations are announced.  

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook


Best Director
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained

Best Screenplay 
Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Chris Terrio, Argo


Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight

Best Performance By An Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea

Best Performance By An Actor in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson

Best Performance By An Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs

Best Animated Feature
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

Best Foreign Language Film
Amour (Austria)
A Royal Affair (Denmark)
The Intouchables (France)
Kon-Tiki (Norway/UK/Denmark)
Rust and Bone (France)

Best Performance By An Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy

Best Performance By An Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained

Best Original Score 
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Tom Tykwer, Johnny Klimek, Reinhold Heil, Cloud Atlas
John Williams, Lincoln

Best Original Song
For You, Act of Valor - Music by: Monty Powell, Keith Urban Lyrics by: Monty Powell, Keith Urban
Not Running Anymore, Stand Up Guys - Music by: Jon Bon Jovi Lyrics by: Jon Bon Jovi
Safe & Sound, The Hunger Games - Music by: Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett Lyrics by: Taylor Swift, John Paul White, Joy Williams, T Bone Burnett
Skyfall, Skyfall - Music by: Adele, Paul Epworth Lyrics by: Adele, Paul Epworth
Suddenly, Les Miserables - Music by: Claude-Michel Schonberg Lyrics by: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schonberg

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler to host the Golden Globes!

(Photo: Jezebel)

Two of the funniest women on television and in showbiz, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler will be hosting the upcoming Golden Globes.  Take that Oscars! You stole their thunder by announcing the nominations before them and they've retaliated by having better hosts (Sorry Seth MacFarlane!).  Fey and Poehler are easily the best part of an awards show if they are presenting and having them host is the cherry on a very large cake.  I can't wait to see them host, it will be so worth it to wake up so early in morning for them.   The Golden Globes will air on January 13th, 2013.  

Golden Globe Winners 2012!

Best Drama 
The Descendants

Best Comedy/Musical
The Artist

Best Animated Film
The Adventures of Tintin

Best Actor in a Drama
George Clooney, The Descendants

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical
Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Supporting Actor
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Actress in a Drama
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Director
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Best Foreign Film
A Separation - Iran

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture
Ludovic Bource, The Artist

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture
"Masterpiece," W.E.

Recap: This was a very odd show, in that, there was no one movie leading the way.  Although with three awards from this night, The Artist can be considered a leader.  There were no real upsets unless you count Meryl Streep winning over Viola Davis.  I think she herself was shocked too.  It was lovely to see the montage of Morgan Freeman's work and think of so many iconic movies he's been in: Glory, Unforgiven, Shawshank Redemption, Driving Miss Daisy and of course playing God in Bruce Almighty.  Since he's Morgan Freeman and can't narrate his own montage, who does he get?  Dame Helen Mirren and Sir Sidney Poitier, very amazing!  Besides this, it seemed a very ho-hum sort of night with the awards being handed out matter of fact.  I was longing for the shows of past years, this one kinda put me to sleep.  So, that's it for this year and now we set our eyes on the Oscars, hopefully it'll be more entertaining with Billy Crystal back as host. 

Predicting the Golden Globes!

Despite what the blog title says, this won't be really about predicting the winners, it'll be about attempting to predict them.  This is Golden Globes we are taking about, there are wild cards hidden in the race all the time.  Let's have a look at the nominees.

Best Drama

The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Who will win: A couple of days ago, I would have said that War Horse might have won this category.  But since it's no-show in the cinematographers' and directors' guilds, I'm guessing its ship has sailed. Either The Descendants or Hugo is winning here and if any film is going to upset, it's The Help. 

Best Comedy/Musical

50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn

Who will win: The Artist! If it loses here, it will big news.  Who might upset The Artist's sure thing? The Bridesmaids.  Because sometimes, the Globes just like to be different.

Best Animated Film

Rango
The Adventures of Timtin
Puss in Boots
Cars 2
Arthur Christmas

Who will win: Rango, no doubt.  Close second, The Adventures in Tintin.

Best Actor in a Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

Who will win: Brad Pitt, although the Globes do seem to love George Clooney.  

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Brendan Gleeson, The Guard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love

Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

Who will win: A lot of people online have been commenting that Ryan Gosling could be a surprise winner for Crazy, Stupid, Love and why not? It was a highly entertaining movie and it was nice to see Gosling's not-so-serious side.  I could be completely wrong about this.

Best Supporting Actor




Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn

Albert Brooks, Drive

Jonah Hill, Moneyball

Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

Who will win: I'm going to go out on a limb here and say Jonah Hill for Moneyball. 


Best Actress in a Drama

Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs

Viola Davis, The Help

Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

Who will win: Viola Davis.  A role like hers in The Help comes around once in a while.  Though I feel bad for Meryl Streep, she routinely gives in such tremendous performances, everyone takes her for granted.  

Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy

Jodie Foster, Carnage

Charlize Theron, Young Adult

Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids

Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Kate Winslet, Carnage

Who will win: While I hope Kristen Wiig could break through here for Bridesmaids, I have a feeling that this award belongs to Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn. She has been getting nominated for almost every role throughout her career (kind of like Meryl Streep) but never really won the big awards.  She might be due here.  

Best Director


Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

Who will win: I am hoping it will be Martin Scorsese but I am prepared to hear Michel Hazanavicius' name.

Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants

Steve Zallian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis, Moneyball

George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March

Who will win: The team behind The Descandants, although I would love to see Woody Allen win this. 

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture

Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski, W.E.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse

My take: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for a consecutive win from last year.

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture

“Hello Hello,” Gnomeo & Juliet
“The Keeper,” Machine Gun Preacher
“Lay Your Head Down,” Albert Nobbs
“The Living Proof,” The Help
“Masterpiece,” W.E.

Who will win: Since the only song I am aware of is Mary J. Blige's 'The Living Proof' from The Help, I'll say it's her.

Golden Globes nominees named!

24 hours after the SAG awards were just announced comes the naming of the nominees for the Golden Globes.  Here we go again!

Best Drama

The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

My take: 6 nominees, yet no Harry Potter again.  I still will hold out hope for the BAFTAs and perhaps some Oscar acknowledgement too.  However, all these movies are top contenders here.

Best Comedy/Musical

50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn

My take: Midnight in Paris is gaining some traction and showing up on critics lists here and there and thank god for Bridesmaids and 50/50 gaining recognition.  It's nice to have some actual comedies in this category.

Best Animated Film

Rango
The Adventures of Timtin
Puss in Boots
Cars 2
Arthur Christmas

My take: This year, I don't think Pixar is going to take the big prize.  Rango was the best animated film this year.  I'm not sure The Adventures of Tintin belongs here as much of the film contains motion-captured performances.  Maybe they weren't sure where to put it.  

Best Actor in a Drama

George Clooney, The Descendants

Brad Pitt, Moneyball

Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March

Michael Fassbender, Shame

Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar

My take: I have no complaints here.  Every single nominee is deserving.

Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical

Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Brendan Gleeson, The Guard

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 50/50

Ryan Gosling, Crazy, Stupid, Love

Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

My take: I don't think I have heard of The Guard, I'll have to look it up.  Nice to see Owen Wilson's name on the list.  Ryan Gosling is a double nominee here in both comedy/musical and drama categories and he still had another great movie in Drive out too.  Great year for him.  

Best Supporting Actor

Kenneth Branagh, My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method

My take: The sole nominee for Drive is with Albert Brooks.  Viggo Mortensen is the dark horse here, could sneak in and win it.  

Best Actress in a Drama
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin

My take: It's between Viola and Meryl this year.  Everyone else should just be happy to be there.  

Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy
Jodie Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Kate Winslet, Carnage

My take: Carnage came out of nowhere, it wasn't showing up on many critics' lists.  The real competition is between Charlize and Kirsten.  

Best Director

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

My take: All well deserved nominees but I think it boils to Martin Scorsese and Michel Hazanavicius for the big prize.  

Best Screenplay for a Motion Picture

Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris

Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, Kaui Hart Hemmings, The Descendants

Steve Zallian, Aaron Sorkin, Stan Chervin, Michael Lewis, Moneyball

George Clooney, Grant Heslov, Beau Willimon, The Ides of March

My take: All great screenplays here and I truly think Woody Allen has a great shot at this.  Or else it could be between The Descendants or The Ides of March.

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture

Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Abel Korzeniowski, W.E.
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Howard Shore, Hugo
John Williams, War Horse

My take: W.E. came out nowhere, didn't it? However, I think Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross are due to repeat their success from last year's The Social Network.  

Best Original Song in a Motion Picture

“Hello Hello,” Gnomeo & Juliet
“The Keeper,” Machine Gun Preacher
“Lay Your Head Down,” Albert Nobbs
“The Living Proof,” The Help
“Masterpiece,” W.E.

My take: No clue about this category, I was only previously aware of Mary J. Blige's 'The Living Proof' from The Help.