Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Golden Globes...(sigh)

Proof that the Golden Globes act as Hollywood's biggest party, and nothing more, is evident in this year's nominations for the "best" film, musical or comedy.

I didn't like Alice in Wonderland, but many of you did, so I'll let that slide. But Burlesque...? The Tourist....? Red?! Really? 

Look, the Globes serve a purpose: they're a perfectly decent hor'dourve to the Oscars. Hell, I usually agree with the Golden Globe winners more often than I do the Oscars, and the speeches are often much more colorful, thanks much in part to the constant flowing of the booze.

But they aren't credible, and rarely sway Oscar votes. Ninety some odd foreign journalists vote for the winners of the Golden Globes, which is a fancy way of saying that the awards are a contest of hype. Whoever has the most buzz on voting day, wins. Simple as that. 

But after the award's 2008 ceremony, in which Mickey Rourke, Colin Farrell, Kate Winslet, Sally Hawkins, Bruce Springsteen, Gabriel Bryne, and... Kate Winslet all took home trophies, my faith was temporarily restored.

Simply put: will I watch the Golden Globes? Hell yes. But I won't spend as much time mulling over them as others.

2010 Golden Globe nominees:

Motion Picture – Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Solid list. I'm rooting for The Fighter to be good, but I doubt it'll dethrone Black Swan as my favorite film of the year.
Yup, that's Natalie Portman.
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky- Black Swan
David Fincher- The Social Network
Tom Hooper- The King's Speech
Christopher Nolan- Inception
David O. Russell- The Fighter

Although Black Swan is my favorite of the year, you simply cannot write off Nolan's game-changing vision. Inception is the 2001 of our time.
Christopher Nolan
Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Alice and Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right
Red
The Tourist

(sigh)

Best Actor – Drama
Jesse Eisenberg- The Social Network
Colin Firth- The King's Speech
James Franco- 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling- Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg- The Fighter

Firth will win the Oscar without breaking a sweat, but the Globes often take more risks. Franco... maybe?
Colin Firth
Best Actress – Drama
Halle Berry- Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman- Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrenece- Winter's Bone
Natalie Portman- Black Swan
Michelle Williams- Blue Valentine

Portman's performance is the best acting of the year, so she gets my vote. But look out for Lawrence, her quiet, cold performance in the excellent Winter's Bone is being remembered, despite an early-year release.
Jennifer Lawrence
Best Actor – 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

Uhh. Uhhhhh. Spacey? As if. Depp's been nominated for 10 of these damn things. He'll probably take it for Alice.

Best Actress – Musical or Comedy
Annette Bening- The Kids Are All Right
Anne Hathaway- Love and Other Drugs
Angeline Jolie- The Tourist
Julianne Moore- The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone- Easy A

It's Bening's Oscar to lose, but wouldn't it be great to see Stone nab the Globe?
Emma Stone in Easy A
Best Supporting Actor
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

Bale all the way. Although, Renner is more than worthy as well.

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Adams- The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter- The King's Speech
Mila Kunis- Black Swan
Melissa Leo- The Fighter
Jacki Weaver- Animal Kingdom

From what I hear, Leo is the Oscar frontrunner. But Kunis... damn. Damn.
Mellisa Leo and Christian Bale
Best Screenplay
127 Hours
Inception
The Kids Are All Right
The King's Speech
The Social Network

Inception should be rewarded for all of its flawless aspects (via Best Picture or Best Director). Give this to Aaron Sorkin, for his mile-a-minute Social Network script, arguably a character in and of itself.

Sorkin on The Social Network set

Original Score
127 Hours
Alice in Wonderland
Inception
The King's Speech
The Social Network

No Clint Mansell for Black Swan? Is there a typo here?

Every Television Category
Because most of these categories simply regurgitate the same nominee's every year, I chose not to handicap them.  But you can see all the categories here.

For more about this year's Oscar race, click here.

2 comments:

  1. so the musical comedy category is seriously lacking...agree with that, but i am having the hardest time trying to pick "good" movies for that category...i think this year as a whole was really lacking

    but Burlesque?!?...hahah what a joke!

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  2. In the 10 years I've been writing movie reviews, 2010 has easily been the worst year for cinema.

    The Globes' Musical or Comedy categories are always a joke, and that's part of the show's charm, but those nominees are just embarrassing.

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