Golden Globe Nominations Commentary
Bear with me, folks. I've never done a nominations commentary before, but I thought that for a change it would be fun. This is the first of many changes the website will be offering, the others you will see in the coming days and weeks.
But it is that time of year again-where studios are bringing in their last minute award barters, and suddenly everything is good until next month when we get the bottom of the barrel releases. And of course, as usual, I disagree with about sixty percent of the nominations, but my new IF I PICKED THE NOMINEES column won't be out until the beginning of the new year.
The nominees for Best Picture-Drama
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
First of all, I'm confused as to why there are seven nominees in this category. I have yet to see "The Great Debaters" (Dec. 25) or "There Will Be Blood" (Dec 26). "The Great Debaters" does have Denzel Washington behind and in front of the camera, but personally I am thinking this could be this years "We Are Marshall"-a final inspirational movie of the year that just pops up. Honestly, "There Will Be Blood" could be the last movie I see this year, and I'd be excited for it. The anticipation is building. As far as the other nominees-"American Gangster" is extremely underwhelming, and was not worthy of any awards at all. "Atonement" is prime Oscar bait-love story, war story, epic romance-but Oscar consideration, except for about three categories, is not exactly something I'd say its cut out for (although many will disagree). I have a similar problem with "Eastern Promises," which I thought was a terrific thriller, but not something I'd hand statues out to. "Michael Clayton' and "No Country for Old Men" are two of the best movies of the year for me-no problems there. Films that sadly missed the cut that I'd see to see up there are "The Assassionation of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Gone Baby Gone," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," and "3:10 to Yuma."
The nominees for Best Actress-Drama.
Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie – Away From Her
Jodie Foster – The Brave One
Angelina Jolie – A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley – Atonement
Now there are four nominees out of these five that I would seriously question. Blanchett was very good in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," (just about one of the only things good about that movie), as was Foster and Jolie in their films. Knightley I felt could have been played by several different actresses, and nothing in her rather brief performance stood out to be. However Julie Christie, who should surely win out of these five, gave a very tender and beautiful performance in the under seen indie "Away from Her." But who else could have been nominated? What about Marcia Gay Harden, who delivered two under seen but wonderful performances in "Canvas" and "Rails & Ties'? What about Samantha Morton, who blew me away in "Control?" Or Laura Linney is the terrific "Jindabyne?"
Nominees for Best Actor-Drama
George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
James McAvoy – Atonement
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
Denzel Washington – American Gangster
Probably the hardest category of all-there were so many GREAT male performances this year, its hard to narrow it down to just five. But these five won't do. I can accept Clooney-perfect as the agressive lonely "fixer" in the middle of a huge case. I haven't seen "There Will Be Blood" yet, but based on trailers its safe to say that Lewis will be great. McAvoy was as good in "Atonement" as he was in "The Last King of Scotland." But Mortensen and Washington. I can accept the former more, but Washington practically slept through "American Gangster," doing everything that he normally would do in a movie-act tough, throw stuff, rarely smile. What about John Cusack, who really gave a career switch as a father who is accepting the death of his wife in Iraq in the powerful "Grace Is Gone?" What about Brad Pitt who was powerful in "Jesse James?" Or even Casey Alfleck, in a career changing year, in "Gone Baby Gone?" Or Sam Rockwell, who is always shafted, who delivered great work in "Joshua?" I swear if "Snow Angels" was released this year instead of next, we'd be hearing his name a lot more. Or lastly, Frank Langella, who was brilliant in "Starting Out in the Evening." Any of these would be fine. It's a tough year, but they did it all wrong.
Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeny Todd
What? Across the Universe? A film I thought was unreleasable. "Charlie Wilson's War?" Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but its nothing award worthy-well, more on that later. I can perhaps accept "Hairspray," and "Juno" was absolutely wonderful. "Sweeny Todd" isn't out yet. But we missed out on several worthy comedies that the category really is supposed to be about-for me the best comedy of the year was "Superbad," which is not only funny but very very true. Many would argue that "Knocked Up" was superior, but that was more of a blase experience for me. I personally was stunned by a wonderful comedy called "King of California," Or "The Savages?" All of these are superior to all of these films, with the exception of "Juno," the only true film on this list I can call a nominee-this years "Little Miss Sunshine" of break out indie films.
Best Actress-Musical/Comedy
Amy Adams – Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray
Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd
Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose
Ellen Page – Juno
I can applaud them for recognizing Amy Adams. The Blonsky portion I can strongly question. But I really think, and even hope, that this is Ellen Page's year-a performance so quick and sassy and full of life in "Juno." She is an extremely talented young actress, from when I saw her first in "Hard Candy" back in 2006. Marion Cotillard was given front runner choice back in June, but "La Vie en Rose" quickly died down. I didn't even think it was a very good movie. What about Parker Posey, whose work in "Broken English" is the stuff of indie dreams?
Best Actor-Musical/Comedy
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl
Tom Hanks – Charlie Wilson's War
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Savages
John C. Reilly – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
My only quip-I have only seen three of the nominees so far-is where the hell is Michael Douglas? A performance so full of energy and life in "King of California" thrown out-probably for Tom Hanks, from is very good in "Charlie Wilson's War," but not something I'd throw to the top. I am extremely curious to see "Walk Hard" next weekend. Reilly has always been a terrfic actor, comedy or drama or even musical-kind of like a James Cagny of today-so I want to see what he does with this. I was kind of crossing my fingers of Ben Kingsley, whose work as a drunken hit man in "You Kill Me" wasn't as good as "The Matador," but still worthy.
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There
Julia Roberts – Charlie Wilson's War
Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton
A very strong category this year, only hardly any of the right nominees for picked. Blanchett seems to be a lock-her portrayal of Dylan was my favorite in the film, and she did a great job. However Saoirse Ronan is the young frontrunner of the year-this years Abagail Breslin. Amy Ryan is getting credit after some terrific past performances like in "Keane," but I'm honestly surprised by how far she's gotten with "Gone Baby Gone." She's won heaps of supporting actress awards, which doesn't make Blanchett have the lock I thought. Swinton was good in "Clayton," but not great, and Julia Roberts is clearly getting the nom because of who she is. Her brief, yet important, role in "Charlie Wilson's War" isn't anything to write home about.
Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck – The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson's War
John Travolta – Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton
If Travolta were not on this list, this is the best category we have. Affleck, Bardem (who I think has it), Hoffman, and Wilkinson are all at the top of their game here, and I think Travolta's makeup garnered him the nom here more than the performance. But who to replace him? Perhaps William Hurt was made "Mr. Brooks" delightfully evil and dark. Steve Zahn, whose work in "Rescue Dawn" is the stuff that make nobodies into somebodies. Or Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild?" Or any of the male cast in "No Country for Old Men!" Or even Robert Downy Jr. in the completely disregarded "Zodiac." But Travolta. Eh. . .
Best Animated Feature
Bee Movie
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie
Not much to complain about here. "Ratatouille" is my pick for actually being a great film, but the other two are fun outings. I think "Beowulf" would have been a bit richer choice, for the actual landmark in animation it went through.
Best Foreign Language Film
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Kite Runner
Lust, Caution
Persepolis
I'll be seeing "The Kite Runner" tomorrow, so I'll hold off on that (even though its status as a foreign film equals my confusion last year when "Letters from Iwo Jima" won this.) Could "4 Months. . ." win this, having already won top prize at Cannes. "Persepolis" is another strong film. But I hope they steer clear of "Lust, Caution" a movie I didn't even like-but Ang Lee is friendly with award shows, and for some reason this film was highly regarded as one of his best. There have been some great foreign films this year-including the wonderful "The Band's Visit" which can't win an Oscar, or "The Bothersome Man" from Norway. I'm wondering where some other movies are, like "Gone with the Woman' from Toronto, the official entry from Norway for the Oscars. Or even the Swedish wonder "You, the Living."
I'm going to leave it at that. My nominees are coming at year's end, as well as my predictions for the Oscars when the time comes. For now, a final though: even in a great year for film, the awards always manage to screw it up.
But it is that time of year again-where studios are bringing in their last minute award barters, and suddenly everything is good until next month when we get the bottom of the barrel releases. And of course, as usual, I disagree with about sixty percent of the nominations, but my new IF I PICKED THE NOMINEES column won't be out until the beginning of the new year.
The nominees for Best Picture-Drama
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
First of all, I'm confused as to why there are seven nominees in this category. I have yet to see "The Great Debaters" (Dec. 25) or "There Will Be Blood" (Dec 26). "The Great Debaters" does have Denzel Washington behind and in front of the camera, but personally I am thinking this could be this years "We Are Marshall"-a final inspirational movie of the year that just pops up. Honestly, "There Will Be Blood" could be the last movie I see this year, and I'd be excited for it. The anticipation is building. As far as the other nominees-"American Gangster" is extremely underwhelming, and was not worthy of any awards at all. "Atonement" is prime Oscar bait-love story, war story, epic romance-but Oscar consideration, except for about three categories, is not exactly something I'd say its cut out for (although many will disagree). I have a similar problem with "Eastern Promises," which I thought was a terrific thriller, but not something I'd hand statues out to. "Michael Clayton' and "No Country for Old Men" are two of the best movies of the year for me-no problems there. Films that sadly missed the cut that I'd see to see up there are "The Assassionation of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," "Gone Baby Gone," "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," and "3:10 to Yuma."
The nominees for Best Actress-Drama.
Cate Blanchett – Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie – Away From Her
Jodie Foster – The Brave One
Angelina Jolie – A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley – Atonement
Now there are four nominees out of these five that I would seriously question. Blanchett was very good in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," (just about one of the only things good about that movie), as was Foster and Jolie in their films. Knightley I felt could have been played by several different actresses, and nothing in her rather brief performance stood out to be. However Julie Christie, who should surely win out of these five, gave a very tender and beautiful performance in the under seen indie "Away from Her." But who else could have been nominated? What about Marcia Gay Harden, who delivered two under seen but wonderful performances in "Canvas" and "Rails & Ties'? What about Samantha Morton, who blew me away in "Control?" Or Laura Linney is the terrific "Jindabyne?"
Nominees for Best Actor-Drama
George Clooney – Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
James McAvoy – Atonement
Viggo Mortensen – Eastern Promises
Denzel Washington – American Gangster
Probably the hardest category of all-there were so many GREAT male performances this year, its hard to narrow it down to just five. But these five won't do. I can accept Clooney-perfect as the agressive lonely "fixer" in the middle of a huge case. I haven't seen "There Will Be Blood" yet, but based on trailers its safe to say that Lewis will be great. McAvoy was as good in "Atonement" as he was in "The Last King of Scotland." But Mortensen and Washington. I can accept the former more, but Washington practically slept through "American Gangster," doing everything that he normally would do in a movie-act tough, throw stuff, rarely smile. What about John Cusack, who really gave a career switch as a father who is accepting the death of his wife in Iraq in the powerful "Grace Is Gone?" What about Brad Pitt who was powerful in "Jesse James?" Or even Casey Alfleck, in a career changing year, in "Gone Baby Gone?" Or Sam Rockwell, who is always shafted, who delivered great work in "Joshua?" I swear if "Snow Angels" was released this year instead of next, we'd be hearing his name a lot more. Or lastly, Frank Langella, who was brilliant in "Starting Out in the Evening." Any of these would be fine. It's a tough year, but they did it all wrong.
Best Motion Picture-Musical or Comedy
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeny Todd
What? Across the Universe? A film I thought was unreleasable. "Charlie Wilson's War?" Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed it, but its nothing award worthy-well, more on that later. I can perhaps accept "Hairspray," and "Juno" was absolutely wonderful. "Sweeny Todd" isn't out yet. But we missed out on several worthy comedies that the category really is supposed to be about-for me the best comedy of the year was "Superbad," which is not only funny but very very true. Many would argue that "Knocked Up" was superior, but that was more of a blase experience for me. I personally was stunned by a wonderful comedy called "King of California," Or "The Savages?" All of these are superior to all of these films, with the exception of "Juno," the only true film on this list I can call a nominee-this years "Little Miss Sunshine" of break out indie films.
Best Actress-Musical/Comedy
Amy Adams – Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky – Hairspray
Helena Bonham Carter – Sweeney Todd
Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose
Ellen Page – Juno
I can applaud them for recognizing Amy Adams. The Blonsky portion I can strongly question. But I really think, and even hope, that this is Ellen Page's year-a performance so quick and sassy and full of life in "Juno." She is an extremely talented young actress, from when I saw her first in "Hard Candy" back in 2006. Marion Cotillard was given front runner choice back in June, but "La Vie en Rose" quickly died down. I didn't even think it was a very good movie. What about Parker Posey, whose work in "Broken English" is the stuff of indie dreams?
Best Actor-Musical/Comedy
Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl
Tom Hanks – Charlie Wilson's War
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Savages
John C. Reilly – Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
My only quip-I have only seen three of the nominees so far-is where the hell is Michael Douglas? A performance so full of energy and life in "King of California" thrown out-probably for Tom Hanks, from is very good in "Charlie Wilson's War," but not something I'd throw to the top. I am extremely curious to see "Walk Hard" next weekend. Reilly has always been a terrfic actor, comedy or drama or even musical-kind of like a James Cagny of today-so I want to see what he does with this. I was kind of crossing my fingers of Ben Kingsley, whose work as a drunken hit man in "You Kill Me" wasn't as good as "The Matador," but still worthy.
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett – I'm Not There
Julia Roberts – Charlie Wilson's War
Saoirse Ronan – Atonement
Amy Ryan – Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton – Michael Clayton
A very strong category this year, only hardly any of the right nominees for picked. Blanchett seems to be a lock-her portrayal of Dylan was my favorite in the film, and she did a great job. However Saoirse Ronan is the young frontrunner of the year-this years Abagail Breslin. Amy Ryan is getting credit after some terrific past performances like in "Keane," but I'm honestly surprised by how far she's gotten with "Gone Baby Gone." She's won heaps of supporting actress awards, which doesn't make Blanchett have the lock I thought. Swinton was good in "Clayton," but not great, and Julia Roberts is clearly getting the nom because of who she is. Her brief, yet important, role in "Charlie Wilson's War" isn't anything to write home about.
Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck – The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem – No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Charlie Wilson's War
John Travolta – Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson – Michael Clayton
If Travolta were not on this list, this is the best category we have. Affleck, Bardem (who I think has it), Hoffman, and Wilkinson are all at the top of their game here, and I think Travolta's makeup garnered him the nom here more than the performance. But who to replace him? Perhaps William Hurt was made "Mr. Brooks" delightfully evil and dark. Steve Zahn, whose work in "Rescue Dawn" is the stuff that make nobodies into somebodies. Or Hal Holbrook in "Into the Wild?" Or any of the male cast in "No Country for Old Men!" Or even Robert Downy Jr. in the completely disregarded "Zodiac." But Travolta. Eh. . .
Best Animated Feature
Bee Movie
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie
Not much to complain about here. "Ratatouille" is my pick for actually being a great film, but the other two are fun outings. I think "Beowulf" would have been a bit richer choice, for the actual landmark in animation it went through.
Best Foreign Language Film
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
The Kite Runner
Lust, Caution
Persepolis
I'll be seeing "The Kite Runner" tomorrow, so I'll hold off on that (even though its status as a foreign film equals my confusion last year when "Letters from Iwo Jima" won this.) Could "4 Months. . ." win this, having already won top prize at Cannes. "Persepolis" is another strong film. But I hope they steer clear of "Lust, Caution" a movie I didn't even like-but Ang Lee is friendly with award shows, and for some reason this film was highly regarded as one of his best. There have been some great foreign films this year-including the wonderful "The Band's Visit" which can't win an Oscar, or "The Bothersome Man" from Norway. I'm wondering where some other movies are, like "Gone with the Woman' from Toronto, the official entry from Norway for the Oscars. Or even the Swedish wonder "You, the Living."
I'm going to leave it at that. My nominees are coming at year's end, as well as my predictions for the Oscars when the time comes. For now, a final though: even in a great year for film, the awards always manage to screw it up.
posted by Eric at
2:11 AM
4 Comments:
Great commentary, I don't get why Cusack is being screwed by all the award noms. He was brilliant.
Sorry to Joile fans. ...but I just hated the movie.
Back when "Grace Is Gone" premiered at Sundance, everyone was saying how Cusack was a lock for a Best Actor nom.
We'll see what happens with the Oscar noms (the globes have always been a spark of controversy), but it really doesn't look good. When actors like Denzel Washington could get nominated for playing the same role over and over again, it's a shame that Cusack can't switch things up a bit and get some actual acclaim.
I agree that the overall snubs (so far) for Jesse James is weird. It was one of the best of the year, but it's nice that at least Affleck is getting recognized. Although Pitt deserves something, too, in my opinion.
Hairspray got lucky because it opens and closes with great numbers. Everything else is...eh.
And I fear Grace, Blood, and Juno will not reach me and I really want to see them.
Adam,
I don't know where you are, but I have a feeling Juno will get a Little Miss Sunshine release. It made a massive amount of money over this weekend, and with all the award buzz.
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