The Big Picture's Golden Globe Predictions

The Golden Globes are Sunday night, and it may or may not provide a road map for the Oscars. This year more than others, the awards season is worth watching. That's because so many things still seem to be up in the air, pardon the pun. Best Picture favorites have changed a couple times, there's no consensus on the lead acting categories, and Best Director provides a lot of intrigue, as well. The ballots were all due this past Wednesday, so even though the nominations were announced before Avatar was released, there was plenty of time for the Hollywood Foreign Press to see it if they happened to miss it during the press screenings. But will they love it more than American film critics, who this weekend named The Hurt Locker Best Picture and awarded Best Director to Kathryn Bigelow? I think they will, and a look at the past decade reveals that the HFPA sings its own tune, with only three Best Pictures going on to win the Oscar. The Best Actress category is also one to keep your eye on. Meryl Streep is in the comedy subset for Julie & Julia, and Carey Mulligan should win for An Education among dramatic performances. But Sandra Bullock just tied Streep in the Critics Choice awards, and she's in Mulligan's field. Can she pull off the upset? Our winners are in bold. Feel free to leave your own predictions below in the comments section. The Globes are almost impossible to predict correctly; they love wild cards. Motion Picture, Drama
Avatar
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical
(500) Days of Summer
The Hangover
It’s Complicated
Julie & Julia
Nine Actress, Drama
Emily Blunt, The Young Victoria
Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side
Helen Mirren, The Last Station
Carey Mulligan, An Education
Gabby Sidibe, Precious Actor, Drama
Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart
George Clooney, Up in the Air
Colin Firth, A Single Man
Morgan Freeman, Invictus
Tobey Maguire, Brothers Actor Comedy/Musical
Matt Damon, The Informant
Daniel Day Lewis, Nine
Robert Downey Jr., Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, (500) Days of Summer
Michael Stuhlbarg, A Serious Man Actress, Comedy
Sandra Bullock, The Proposal
Marion Cotillard, Nine
Julia Roberts, Duplicity
Meryl Streep, Julie & Julia
Meryl Streep, It’s Complicated Director
Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker
James Cameron, Avatar
Clint Eastwood, Invictus
Jason Reitman, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, Nine
Vera Farmiga, Up in the Air
Anna Kendrick, Up in the Air
Mo’nique, Precious
Julianne Moore, A Single Man Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, Invictus
Woody Harrelson, The Messenger
Christopher Plummer, The Last Station
Stanley Tucci, The Lovely Bones
Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds Best Animated Film
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
The Princess and the Frog
Up Screenplay
Neill Blomkamp & Terri Tatchell, District 9
Mark Boal, The Hurt Locker
Nancy Meyers, It’s Complicated
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds Original Score
Michael Giacchino, Up
Marvin Hamlisch, The Informant
James Horner, Avatar
Abel Krozeniowski, A Single Man
Karen O. and Carter Burwell, Where the Wild Things Are
Foreign Language Film
Baria
Broken Embraces
The Maid
Un Prophete
The White Ribbon Original Song
“Cinema Italiano,” Nine
“I Want To Come Home,” Everybody’s Fine
“I See You,” Avatar
“The Weary Kind,” Crazy Heart
“Winter,” Brothers

Comments

[SEAN]

Pretty much agree with all your picks...

Hopefully Avatar will pick up Best Pic for the Globe & The Hurt Locker will pick up the Oscar...

[MRPigg]

Nothing too bold about your predictions, but the only sure things this awards season right now are the two supporting acting categories, which I would assume at this point are also slam dunk winners for the Academy Awards. I'm not sure about awarding Avatar the best picture and not giving the directing award to Cameron. Bigelow once looked like she had a great shot at being the first female to nab that directing win, but with Cameron there and with the overwhelming critical and commercial success of his film... I don't know anymore.

Anyone remember the enormous buzz for Up in the Air? Yeah, that was before all the critics started giving all their awards to The Hurt Locker and before Cameron's film made half a billion dollars. Oh, well. Clooney got his Oscar already (and he was better in Michael Clayton ), and Rietman will be back eventually.

[wedding]

very good film