Our Golden Globes Picks Feature a Big Upset

With the Golden Globes on the way this weekend, we thought we'd take a crack at predicting the winners. We're normally pretty good in that regard, but that doesn't take much or mean much.

So here are our picks, with a little commentary: Best Picture (Drama):
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Slumdog Millionaire Should Win: Slumdog Millionaire
Will Win: Slumdog Millionaire The momentum is not artificial. People genuinely seem affected by the film, and it's exceedingly well-made. In terms of its production, only Benjamin Button is more adventurous among the nominees, but despite being a great love story conceptually, it's not nearly the love story Slumdog is in practice, nor is anything at all in 2008 as life-affirming. Best Picture (Musical or Comedy):
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona Should Win: In Bruges
Will Win: In Bruges? I suppose Mamma Mia! would be a popular choice to win, but it's so clearly inferior to everything else in the category. We know Globes voters loved In Bruges, because it picked up three nominations, but Focus did zero to promote the film when it was out and isn't exactly bending over backwards for it now. The truth is, you could argue for everything in this category. I'm just picking an upset.

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The Big Picture's Top Ten Films of 2008

Today, we begin our week-long look back at 2008 at the movies. Every day, between now and Christmas, we'll go over some of the best and worst of the year. Today is our top ten films of 2008, tomorrow the ten worst. On Sunday the 21st, we'll rank our top performances, which leads into Monday's list of the ten best directors of the year. Tuesday, we'll chart the best posters and trailers, and Wednesday we'll name our winners and losers, a general list that needs no explanation.

And finally, on December 25th, The Big Picture Awards, our annual, totally non-influential honors. And now, our feature presentation... My immediate impression of the year in movies is not an overly good one. That isn't meant as a backhanded compliment; we were spoiled by 2007, a year in which my top ten list ballooned to 17 movies before I whittled it down. But this year, the tough choices were what to include rather than what to exclude. Some of these movies didn't leave a bookmark in my mind when I saw them that they could be among the very best of the year. That's the way it turned out, though, and here they are. We won't give you full reviews here, because the reviews are already cataloged here. This is more of a recap of why each movie stands out and why I feel it deserves the ranking it received. 1 - Slumdog Millionaire I came away from Slumdog Millionaire thinking it was among the two best films I'd seen in 2008. That's a good feeling, especially since it had been almost nine months since the last time I had felt as strongly. Then I saw it again a couple of weeks later, and felt a little more strongly about it. I became more familiar with Danny Boyle's storytelling, and started watching the performances more carefully. As luck would have it, I hosted a screening of the film five days later, so I had a chance to watch it a third time. That didn't necessarily give it an advantage; I always watch as many films in or near my top ten multiple times before I make the list. So, it was going to happen anyway. But as I watched the film again, I noticed the things you don't notice the first time in, especially with a movie so rich in texture, culture, and color. I paid attention to the sound. The music is part of that, but there are great punctuations in every scene that keep them moving and give the film a very distinct rhythm. I was more impressed than ever. The story is undoubtedly strong, the message and its impact unavoidable. The performances, all by actors I'd never seen (with the exception of Ifran Khan), were beautifully in step with their surroundings. And then, finally, the film can viewed separately from the emotional journey it is, and be appreciated for the technical artistry at work in so many departments, from cinematography and editing, to the music and sound, to the costumes and background casting. Slumdog Millionaire is as close to perfect as we saw in 2008.

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Phoenix Critics Favor 'Slumdog Millionaire'

As a member of the Phoenix Film Critics Society, I can tell you that I have disagreed with our picks for Best Picture and all the rest as much as I have agreed. And this year, by and large, this list is pretty solid.

Now, the Society has a lot more categories than most other organizations of its kind, so we won't share all of the awards with you. There are over 20, and if you care to read them all, head over to the brand new PFCS website, where the final tally is waiting for you.Once again, a lot of the same names keep popping up in familiar places, which should start to tell you something. There are a couple wrinkles, like In Bruges winning three awards and Marisa Tomei picking up Best Supporting Actress, but every group has its wild cards, I suppose.Best Picture:
Slumdog Millionaire Best Actor:
Sean Penn - Milk Best Actress:
Meryl Streep - Doubt Best Supporting Actor:
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight Best Supporting Actress:
Marisa Tomei - The WrestlerBest Ensemble Acting:
Milk Best Director:
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire

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'In Bruges' Tops British Independent Film Awards Nominees

Last Friday, we presented all the nominees for the Gotham Independent Film Awards, and today, we're going across the pond for the British Independent Film Awards. In Bruges, which has been my top film of the year since February, is one of two films to earn seven nominations; Hunger joins it at the top of the heap.

Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson are both nominees in the Best Actor category, Ralph Fiennes is deservedly nominated for both In Bruges and The Duchess as a supporting actor, and Martin McDonagh is doubly nominated, for Best Debut Director and for his fantastic In Bruges script.Seriously, rent that damn movie. I have no idea why Focus Features wanted to release the movie so badly and then held it to a total of 232 theaters in the United States. Overseas, the film made over $20 million but here in the U.S., it could only bring in $7.8 million. What an absolute waste.

Of the nominated films I've seen, I can't disagree with any of them. The Duchess has great performances, Man on Wire is one of the five best movies I've seen all year, so even though it's a documentary, its inclusion among the Best British Independent Film nominees is justified, the kids in Son of Rambow were great, and Sally Hawkins definitely belongs in any discussion including the words "Best Actress" this year.

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