The 2014 Golden Globe Awards will take place this Sunday, January 12 and we will be live-blogging and announcing the winners as they happen, but I felt before we do that we may as well revisit the nominees and attempt to do a little predicting.
I should warn you, predicting the Golden Globes is something I find near impossible so if you’re the betting type I’m not sure I would look at these predictions as anything more than a bit of fun to ponder and debate in the comments below. It’s not like predicting the Oscars, where you know the people deciding the awards. Who exactly is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA)? In fact, when I mention the HFPA did you even know they were the ones that put on the Golden Globes or did you think it was something more prestigious?
Truth of the matter is, as far as I know, the HFPA is made up of foreign journalists that get carted around to press junkets and set visits and are catered to at every turn. The nominees at the Golden Globes very often reflect such behavior though this year the list of nominees isn’t too bad unless you beging to wonder what makes the HFPA consider Her and Nebraska comedies instead of dramas, or wonder if they even watched Labor Day before nominating Kate Winslet… I mean, why not nominate Julianne Hough for Safe Haven while you’re at it?
But now we’re just being negative, let’s be a little more positive shall we? If there is one thing the Globes are good for it’s that they’re not taken as seriously by the celebrities on hand. Everyone is eating and drinking and pretty much having a good time. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosting again should be worth it. That said, let’s look at some predictions…
I have listed the nominees below with my predicted winners in bold red text.
BEST PICTURE (DRAMA)
I took to Twitter to ask for some predictions for a few of these categories and when I asked about Best Picture (Drama) the crowd opted for 12 Years a Slave with a small group predicting Gravity. I have to agree with the audience on this one with a belief Gravity will continue to be looked at as more of a major technical achievement, though a win here could go a long way toward boosting its Oscar prospects.
- 12 Years a Slave
- Captain Phillips
- Gravity
- Philomena
- Rush
BEST PICTURE (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
There was little question when I polled the Twitter audience on this one as American Hustle came out the clear front-runner and I agree, though I hold out hope for Her, which is clearly loved by the critical base, but the star power behind American Hustle seems like it’s just too much for the HFPA to pass up.
- American Hustle
- Her
- Inside Llewyn Davis
- Nebraska
- The Wolf of Wall Street
BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
I can’t see this going to anyone but Chiwetel Ejiofor, though I also wouldn’t be surprised should Matthew McConaughey pull off an upset. A win for any one of the other three nominees, however, would serve as a surprise.
- 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 (DRAMA)
Cate Blanchett all the way. Care to disagree?
- Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
- Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
- Judi Dench (Philomena)
- Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)
- Kate Winslet (Labor Day)
BEST ACTOR (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
Here’s a line-up I find really hard to predict, but I think you have to go with the most obvious, which in this case is Leonardo DiCaprio. However, a surprise win for Bale or Phoenix wouldn’t necessarily floor me. By the way, I also took this one to the Twitter audience and DiCaprio came away the massive favorite.
- Christian Bale (American Hustle)
- Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
- Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
- Oscar Isaac (Inside Llewyn Davis)
- Joaquin Phoenix (Her)
BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY/MUSICAL)
With this being her fifth Golden Globe nomination do you think it’s about time Amy Adams came away with a win or will this be a ninth win for Meryl Streep? I’ve got to go with Adams and boy does that make predicting the Best Actress field at the Oscars tough. In one corner you have Streep and Weinstein while in the other you have Adams and the chance to give her a fifth Oscar nomination (something a Globe win would definitely help), from which she would most likely, once again, walk away with a loss. The heartbreak…
- Amy Adams (American Hustle)
- Julie Delpy (Before Midnight)
- Greta Gerwig (Frances Ha)
- Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Enough Said)
- Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
SUPPORTING ACTOR
You could make a case for both Fassbender and Bruhl, but I have to stick with Jared Leto here and what I expect will be a sweep of the major award shows.
- Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
- Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
- Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)
- Daniel Bruhl (Rush)
- Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips)
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
I wanted so bad to predict Lupita Nyong’o for Supporting Actress, but it feels like a major risk for a group that largely targets safer material, which is why I’m going for Jennifer Lawrence, though I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Roberts pull off an upset.
- Sally Hawkins (Blue Jasmine)
- Jennifer Lawrence (American Hustle)
- Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave)
- Julia Roberts (August: Osage County)
- June Squibb (Nebraska)
DIRECTOR
I took to Twitter for this category as well and the response was nearly unanimous for Alfonso Cuaron, but I have to say I see it going a different direction, that being toward David O. Russell as I see the Globes strongly supporting American Hustle, which is also why I think Lawrence above is the safer pick.
- Alfonso Cuaron (Gravity)
- Paul Greengrass (Captain Phillips)
- Steve McQueen (12 Years a Slave)
- Alexander Payne (Nebraska)
- David O. Russell (American Hustle)
ANIMATED FILM
If it’s anything other than Frozen I’d be floored.
- The Croods
- Despicable Me 2
- Frozen
SCREENPLAY
Again, going with American Hustle, though it’s clearly not the best script on the board.
- Spike Jonze (Her)
- Bob Nelson (Nebraska)
- Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan (Philomena)
- John Ridley (12 Years a Slave)
- David O. Russell and Eric Singer (American Hustle)
FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Outside of The Wind Rises this is a pretty great field of films, but I think the love all year for Blue is the Warmest Color propels it to the win.
- Blue is the Warmest Color
- The Great Beauty
- The Hunt
- The Past
- The Wind Rises
ORIGINAL SCORE
This is a really tough one and if I was going by personal preference the winner would be All is Lost, but I just don’t think it’s popular enough to take the win. In that case it seems the strongest contenders would be Gravity and 12 Years a Slave, which boiled down even further is a race between Steven Price and Hans Zimmer. I’m going with Zimmer.
- All Is Lost
- Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
- Gravity
- The Book Thief
- 12 Years a Slave
ORIGINAL SONG
There’s every possibility this goes to any one of the other contenders, but I have to go with “Let It Go” from Frozen.
- “Atlas” from The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
- “Let It Go” from Frozen
- “Ordinary Love” from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
- “Please Mr. Kennedy” from Inside Llewyn Davis
- “Sweeter Than Fiction” from One Chance
And that does it for me. No, I’m not going to predict the television nominees as I definitely wouldn’t have any idea who to predict, though I’ll offer out a few thoughts when we do our live blog on Sunday night. However, if you want to check out all the movie and TV nominees you can click here. Otherwise, let’s hear your predictions in the comments below.
