Golden Globe Noms: What I Think
“Atonement,” a British love-and-war period drama, led the Golden Globe nominations announced today, with seven nods. Here’s a list of the movie nominations and my comments on each category:
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — 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). Response: The Blanchett nomination makes no sense. Odds are that this is Christie’s to lose, but she’s reluctant to campaign.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama: George Clooney Michael Clayton), Daniel Day-Lewis (There Will Be Blood), James McAvoy (Atonement), Viggo Mortensen (Eastern Promises), Denzel Washington (American Gangster). Response: They nominate Washington and Clooney but blow off Benicio del Toro, who gave the year’s most powerful performance? Yes, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which presents the Globes, loves stars, so I should shut up about this.
Best Motion Picture — Musical Or Comedy: Across The Universe, Charlie Wilson’s War, Hairspray, Juno, Sweeney Todd. Comment: I’d love Juno to pull off the upset here, but fear that Sweeney will prevail.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy: Amy Adams, Nikki Blonsky, Helena Bonham Carter, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page. Comment: All good performances, but Cotillard deserves to win. She needs to spend January and February in Los Angeles campaigning her ass off.
Best Supporting Actor: Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Travolta, Tom Wilkinson. Comment: The HFPA likes foreigners almost as much as movie stars, which is why Bardem will win.
Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett, Saoirse Ronan, Julia Roberts, Amy Ryan, Tilda Swinton. Comment: Am hoping Blanchett doesn’t win, but given her inexplicable nod for Best Actress for the Elizabeth movie the HFPA obviously loves her.
Best Screenplay: Diablo Cody Juno), Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (No Country for Old Men), Christopher Hampton (Atonement), Ronald Harwood (The Diving Bell & the Butterfly), Aaron Sorkin (Charlie Wilson’s War). Comment: The Coens will probably win, but (as with the Oscars) if Juno’s going to win anything it’s for this category.
