The host of this year’s ceremony, Ricky Gervais once said that the Golden Globes are just like the Oscars but without all that esteem. The Golden globes have long been accused of sucking up to stars with overflowing champagne and weird nominations. But this is far from the truth. In the recent years with some help from Tina fey and Amy peohler, the globes have consistently redeemed itself. This year in particular is a litmus test for the Globes as the race for the Oscars is a confusing and wide open road with no clear frontrunners.
While Spotlight was said to have an overwhelming lead in the past few months for Best Picture, The Big Short has risen leaps and bounds and is giving Spotlight a tough fight in this category along with The Martian. The biggest fight is in the Best Supporting Actor Category, where once Michael Keaton was said to be a lock for winning…And today there are chances he won’t even land a nomination come January 14th. In these tough and confusing times, it’s the Golden Globes to our rescue. Golden Globes officially kick-starts the Award Season (No People’s Choice Award, you are not legitimate) and hence this year all eyes are on it to get a pulse of the voting pattern come Oscar Night. Like every year I have tried predicting what the awards will look like and we will find out if I am right in a few hours.
Best Film, Drama
For months Spotlight had been leading the Best Picture Race unopposed. But after Mad Max Fury Road won at National Board of Film review and many critics, including me cited it as their favourite film of the year, the equations changed. For the Oscars, Mad Max and The Big Short would be the biggest threat to Spotlight. But not at the Globes. The globes are selected by The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which are a group of foreign based journalists. And why wouldn’t they pick the “Journalist Film of The year- Spotlight”.
Nominees and their chance of winning (1 means most likely to win)
1. Spotlight
2. Mad Max: Fury Road
3. Carol
4. The Revenant
5. Room
Best Film, Musical/Comedy
Unlike most years, the competition is more tight this year in the comedy category with Big Short and The Martian both going neck to neck. When the Golden globe nominations were announced a month ago, it looked like Martian was locked for a win. But in today’s times when the Fed has just raised the Federal Funds rate in the aftermath of the Financial Crisis, The big Short has become socially relevant. Plus it’s funny and entertaining inspite of it dealing with a serious topic.
1. The Big Short
2. The Martian
3. Trainwreck
4. Joy
5. Spy
Best Actor, Drama
Whenever the topic of Best actor comes up, Leonardo Di Caprio is everyone’s favourite topic. But the truth is that the Globes have been kind to him with 2 wins- one for The Wolf of Wall Street in the Comedy category and once for Aviator in 2005 in Drama. This year he is leading unopposed in both categories combined unlike in 2014, when Matthew McCaughey was the one leading overall. There is no 2nd choice, but if forced it would be Michael Fassbander.
1. Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
2. Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
3. Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
4. Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
5. Will Smith, Concussion
Best Actor, Musical/Comedy
Nominations in this category prove why Golden Globes are called the drunk cousin of the Oscars- who nominates Al Pacino for Danny Collins, and what the hell is Infinitely Polar bear?! Given the weirdness that is this category it’s a clear win for Matt Damon, who was a major reason for the success of the Martian.
1. Matt Damon (“The Martian”)
2. Christian Bale (“The Big Short”)
3. Mark Ruffalo (“Infinitely Polar Bear”)
4. Steve Carell (“The Big Short”)
5. Al Pacino (“Danny Collins”)
Best Director
The best director race this year is between 2 veteran directors who have never been acknowledged for their amazing work over decades. Currently it is more tilted towards Ridley Scott famous for his Alien movies but even if George Miller wins, it will be deserving.
1. Ridley Scott, The Martian
2. George Miller, Mad Max
3. Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
4. Alejandro Iñárritu, The Revenant
5. Todd Haynes, Carol
Best Actress, Drama
The most competitive category this year has been the Actress Race. To add to the competition, The Golden globes went against the production houses and nominated Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander in the leading category even though their producers are campaigning them as supporting, knowing there is no competition in the supporting category. This robbed Charlotte Ramping of her nomination for 45 years, which will mostly get an Oscar nomination. My favourite in this category is Saorise Ronan for playing the Irish immigrant with such fervour. Cate Blanchett in Carol is perhaps the best performance of the year, but the odds are just not in her favour. With Rooney Mara also nominated in here, they will cancel some of each other’s votes. The actress to look out for in the long run though is Alicia Vikander with 2015 saw her in films like The man from U.N.C.L.E, Burnt, The Danish Girl and Ex- Machine for which she may win the supporting actress category at the Golden Globes.
1. Brie Larson, Room
2. Rooney Mara, Carol
3. Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
4. Cate Blanchett, Carol
5. Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl
Best Actress, Musical/Comedy
The fight is between the recent besties, Jennifer Lawrence and Amy Schumer, although in my opinion Melissa McCarthy deserves it more than either of the 2. Given the bad reviews Joy has got, Amy Schumer should be the winner.
1. Amy Schumer (“Trainwreck”)
2. Jennifer Lawrence (“Joy”)
3. Lily Tomlin (“Grandma”)
4. Maggie Smith “(“The Lady in the Van”)
5. Melissa McCarthy (“Spy”)
Best Supporting Actor
The nominations for this category were a shock. After the SAG, this was the 2nd time that no actor from Spotlight managed a nod in this category possibly due to division of votes. That leaves us with the most difficult category to predict at the globes this year. The logical choice at the Globes would be Stallone- the globes love stars, but Mark Rylance is giving him tough competition.
1. Sylvester Stallone (“Creed”)
2. Mark Rylance (“Bridge of Spies”)
3. Idris Elba (“Beasts of No Nation”)
4. Paul Dano (“Love & Mercy”)
5. Michael Shannon (“99 Homes”)
Best Supporting Actress
This category may look very different at the Oscars with Rooney Mara and Alicia Vikander being nominated for their roles in Carol and Danish girl. But at the globes, the fight is between Jennifer Jason Leigh and Alicia Vikander. Between the two it’s a neck to neck fight, slightly tipped in Alicia’s favour.
1. Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
2. Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
3. Helen Mirren, Trumbo
4. Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs
5. Jane Fonda, Youth
Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
1. Spotlight
2. The Big Short
3. Steve Jobs
4. The Hateful Eight
5. The Room
Best Animated Feature Film
Inside Out it is. Is it even a question? Although some people have liked Anomalisa, but it winning over Inside Out will be crazy. Only The Oscars can make such crazy choices in the Animated Category (The Lego movie).
1. Inside Out
2. Anomalisa
3. The Good Dinosaur
4. The Peanuts Movie
5. Shaun the Sheep Movie
Best Score
Carol had the highest number of nominations at the globes and will end up with only 1 win in this category.
1. Carter Burwell, Carol
2. Alexandre Desplat, The Danish Girl
3. Ennio Morricone, The Hateful Eight
4. Daniel Pemberton, Steve Jobs
5. Ryuichi Sakamoto, Alva Noto, The Revenant
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
My favourite in this category like everyone else is See You Again, the heartfelt tribute to Paul Walker from Fast and Furious 7. But Sam Smith’s Writing’s on the Wall is gaining momentum and Love me like you do is the love anthem of the year. It’s a tough call but I will go with See You Again.
1. "See You Again" Furious 7
2. "Writing's on the Wall" Spectre
3. "Love Me Like You Do" 50 Shades of Grey
4. "One Kind of Love" Love and Mercy
5. Simple Song No. 3" Youth
Best Motion Picture, Foreign Language
Son of Saul has been the critics favourite right after it premiered at Cannes and there is no reason why it won’t win.
1. Son of Saul
2. Mustang
3. The club
4. The Brand New Testament
5. The Fencer
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
BEST TV SERIES DRAMA
Winner- Mr. Robot
2nd Choice- Game of Thrones
BEST TV SERIES- COMEDY/MUSICAL
Winner- VEEP
2nd choice- Transparent
BEST ACTOR IN A TV SERIES, DRAMA
Winner- Jon Hamm, Mad Men
2nd Choice- Rami Malek, Mr. Robot
BEST ACTRESS, TV SERIES, DRAMA
Winner- Taraji P. Henson, Empire
2nd choice- Viola Davis, How to Get Away With Murder
BEST ACTOR, TV SERIES, COMEDY
Winner- Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent
2nd Choice- Aziz Ansari, Master of None
BEST ACTRESS, TV Series, COMEDY
Winner- Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
2nd choice- Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR, TV SERIES
Winner- Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
2nd choice- Tobias Menzies, Outlander
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS, TV SERIES
Winner- Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
2nd choice- Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Best TV Movie or Limited Series- Fargo
Best Actor in a Limited Series or TV Movie- Idris Elba, Luther
Best Actress in a Limited Series or TV Movie- Lady gaga, American Horror Story
The Golden Globes will be televised live at Sunday 8 PM EST (Indian Time 5:30 AM, Monday). Oscar Nominations are due on 14th January. Enjoy the week!
