My Golden Globes 2018 Predictions & printable ballot sheet

NOTE: This post is about the Golden Globes that were Awarded early in 2018 not the ones that will be given out in 2019. For the Golden Globes announced December 2018 (to be awarded in Jan 2019) please go to this year’s page HERE.

Here I go with trying to predict the winners at this weekend’s Golden Globes! The ceremony hosted by Seth Meyers will be aired on the evening of Sunday, January 7th.

You can have a go at predicting the winners too with my printable PDF ballot sheet by clicking here or on the PDF logo. It’s 2-pages, one for the movies categories and one for television.

The usual system applies, 1st choice, 2nd choice, P for my preferred winner. They can later be scored 2pts for correct first choice, 1pt for a correct second choice, and no points for a correct preferred winner as that’s just for interest’s sake.

As I’ve not seen a lot of these (though I’ve just finished ‘Feud: Bette and Joan’ which was excellent) I’ll be far off with my predictions and can’t really pick a favourite in some areas if I’ve not seen any of the nominees, so there’s a lot of guesswork and basing my picks on what I’ve heard and read.

UPDATED: Jan 8th to list the winners.

FILM

Best Motion Picture, Drama

P. Dunkirk
2. The Post
1. The Shape of Water
Call Me by Your Name
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Winner

Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy

The Disaster Artist
P2. Get Out
The Greatest Showman
I, Tonya
1. Lady Bird – Winner

Best Director

1. Guillermo del Toro, The Shape of Water – Winner
Martin McDonagh, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
P2. Christopher Nolan, Dunkirk
Ridley Scott, All the Money in the World
Steven Spielberg, The Post

Best Actor, Motion Picture, Drama

2. Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Tom Hanks, The Post
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
1. Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour – Winner

Best Actress, Motion Picture, Drama

Jessica Chastain, Molly’s Game
2. Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
1. Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Winner
Meryl Streep, The Post
Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World

Best Actor, Motion Picture, Comedy

Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes
P. Ansel Elgort, Baby Driver
1. James Franco, The Disaster Artist – Winner
Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman
2. Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out

Best Actress, Motion Picture, Comedy – This is an incredible list of nominees 

Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul
2. Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
1. Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird – Winner
Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes
Helen Mirren, The Leisure Seeker

Best Supporting Actor, Motion Picture

1. Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Armie Hammer, Call Me by Your Name
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Winner
2. Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World

Best Supporting Actress, Motion Picture

Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Hong Chau, Downsizing
2. Allison Janney, I, Tonya – Winner
1. Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water

Best Screenplay

The Shape of Water
1. Lady Bird
2. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Winner
The Post
Molly’s Game

Best Original Song

“Home,” Ferdinand
“Mighty River,” Mudboumd
1. “Remember Me,” Coco
“The Star,” The Star
2. “This Is Me,” The Greatest Showman – Winner

Best Original Score

Carter Burwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
1. Alexandre Desplat, The Shape of Water – Winner
Jonny Greenwood, Phantom Thread
John Williams, The Post
2P. Hans Zimmer, Dunkirk

Best Animated Feature

The Boss Baby
2. The Breadwinner
1. Coco – Winner
Ferdinand
Loving Vincent

Best Foreign Language Film

A Fantastic Woman
2. First They Killed My Father
In the Fade – Winner
Loveless
1. The Square

TELEVISION

Best Television Series, Drama

1. The Handmaid’s Tale – Winner
This Is Us
2. The Crown
Game of Thrones
P. Stranger Things

Best Television Series, Comedy

Black-ish
1P. The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Winner
Master of None
SMILF
2. Will & Grace

Best Limited Series or Television Movie

1. Big Little Lies – Winner
2P. Feud: Bette and Joan
Fargo
Top of the Lake: China Girl
The Sinner

Best Actress, Limited Series or Television Movie

1. Nicole Kidman, Big Little Lies – Winner
Reese Witherspoon, Big Little Lies
P. Jessica Lange, Feud: Bette and Joan (Of the two leads Lange gets the bigger and meatier role and she’s superb).
Susan Sarandon, Feud: Bette and Joan
2. Jessica Biel, The Sinner

Best Actor, Limited Series or Television Movie

1. Robert De Niro, The Wizard of Lies
Kyle MacLachlan, Twin Peaks
Jude Law, The Young Pope
2. Ewan McGregor, Fargo – Winner
Geoffrey Rush, Genius

Best Actress, Television Series, Drama

1. Elisabeth Moss, The Handmaid’s Tale – Winner
2. Claire Foy, The Crown
Katherine Langford, 13 Reasons Why
Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Deuce
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander

Best Actor, Television Series, Drama

2P. Freddie Highmore, The Good Doctor
1. Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us – Winner
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Best Actress, Television Series, Comedy

Pamela Adlon, Better Things
2. Alison Brie, GLOW
1P. Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Winner
Issa Rae, Insecure
Frankie Shaw, SMILF

Best Actor, Television Series, Comedy

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
2. Aziz Ansari, Master of None – Winner
Kevin Bacon, I Love Dick
William H. Macy, Shameless
1. Eric McCormack, Will & Grace

Best Supporting Actress, Television Series

1. Laura Dern, Big Little Lies – Winner
2. Ann Dowd, The Handmaid’s Tale
Chrissy Metz, This Is Us
Michelle Pfeiffer, The Wizard of Lies
Shailene Woodley, Big Little Lies

Best Supporting Actor, Television Series

Christian Slater, Mr. Robot
2. David Harbour, Stranger Things
P. Alfred Molina, Feud: Bette and Joan
1. Alexander Skarsgard, Big Little Lies – Winner
David Thewlis, Fargo

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Golden Globe Nominations 2018

NOTE: This post is about the Golden Globes that were Awarded early in 2018 not the ones that will be given out in 2019. For the Golden Globes announced December 2018 (to be awarded in Jan 2019) please go to this year’s page HERE. For the printable ballot go to our page HERE.

Awards season kicks into full swing this week with the announcement of the nominees for the Golden Globes. As ever it’s an interesting mix due to their division of Drama and Comedy/Musical as well as the TV categories.

I’ve seen hardly any of these so I have very little to comment on them so far though there are a lot that I’m hearing interesting things about and so I’m hoping I’ll get the chance to see. I’ll knock up a ballot sheet over the next few days and share it HERE for you to have a go at picking your winners.

Here are the nominees in full:

Movies

Best Motion Picture – Drama

“Call Me by Your Name”

“Dunkirk” – I saw this a few months ago and am waiting to watch on home release next week before finishing my review.

“The Post”

“The Shape of Water”

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

“The Disaster Artist”

“Get Out” – This may be the one to keep an eye on over the awards season, I think it’ll get a fair few nominations. 

“The Greatest Showman” – The one full-on musical, usually would stand out but it has tough competition from the others. 

“I, Tonya”

“Lady Bird”

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Jessica Chastain, “Molly’s Game”

Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water” – If anyone can beat Meryl, I’m guessing Sally Hawkins is the lady to do it based on the trailers and things I’ve heard, the role has some elements that get the attention of award voters.

Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Meryl Streep, “The Post” – You almost never bet against Meryl, though Sally Hawkins has an interesting role. 

Michelle Williams, “All the Money in the World”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me by Your Name”

Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread” – Normally the frontrunner and with this reportedly being his final film I wouldn’t be surprised, but there’s so much buzz around Gary Oldman’s performance that we might see the unexpected. 

Tom Hanks, “The Post”

Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour” – He looks unrecognisable, playing a famous British historical figure, wartime setting, all the keys to success are there. 

Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Judi Dench, “Victoria & Abdul”

Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”

Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”

Emma Stone, “Battle of the Sexes”

Helen Mirren, “The Leisure Seeker”

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”

Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”

Ridley Scott, “All The Money in the World”

Steven Spielberg, “The Post”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy

Steve Carell, “Battle of the Sexes”

Ansel Elgort, “Baby Driver” – Elgort takes this role on perfectly and makes it work beautifully but I don’t think it’s an award winner. 

James Franco, “The Disaster Artist”

Hugh Jackman, “The Greatest Showman”

Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out” – He’s excellent but I don’t think the role will win when against these others. 

Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”

Hong Chau, “Downsizing”

Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”

Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”

Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”

Armie Hammer, “Call Me by Your Name”

Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water” – I have heard a lot of praise for Jenkins’ performance, he’s always good.

Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World” – Fascinating, this has been screened for voters to get it included despite just wrapping on the reshoots, so may not win but is a news story in itself.

Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best Original Score in a Motion Picture

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

“The Shape of Water”

“Phantom Thread”

“The Post”

“Dunkirk”

Best Screenplay in a Motion Picture

“The Shape of Water”

“Lady Bird”

“The Post”

“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

“Molly’s Game” – It’s by Aaron Sorkin, I expected he would get nominated here and will at the Oscars too I predict, though not win.

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language

“A Fantastic Woman”

“First They Killed My Father”

“In the Fade”

“Loveless”

“The Square”

Best Animated Film

“The Boss Baby” – Pffft, I saw this, it’s really mediocre, only included for the unintended satirical aspects of Alec Baldwin’s connection to depicting Donald Trump and the baby being a businessman, it’s not an enduring film. 

“The Breadwinner”

“Ferdinand”

“Coco” – Clearly the winner. 

“Loving Vincent” – Visually this stands out from the rest and the craftsmanship will appeal to voters but it’s against a Pixar film. 

Best Original Song
Home (Ferdinand)

Mighty River (Mudbound)

Remember Me (Coco)

The Star (The Star)

This is Me (The Greatest Showman)

TV

Best TV series – Drama

“The Crown”

“Game of Thrones”

“The Handmaid’s Tale” – The only new entrant in this category from last year and possibly the one to win as I’ve heard so much about this show. The book was fascinating, I studied it over a decade ago, so I’m not surprised. 

“Stranger Things” – Loved the first season, saving the second for binging on a cold day over the holidays.

“This Is Us”

Best Performance by Actress in a TV series – Drama

Caitriona Balfe, “Outlander”

Claire Foy, “The Crown”

Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Deuce”

Katherine Langford, “13 Reasons Why”

Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV Series – Drama

Sterling K. Brown, “This is Us”

Freddie Highmore, “The Good Doctor” – I’ve seen the first two episodes and enjoyed them.

Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul”

Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan”

Jason Bateman, “Ozark”

Best TV series – Musical or Comedy

“Black-ish”

“Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” – As a fan of ‘GilmoreGirls,’ I watched and really enjoyed this season, it’s hugely different from Gilmore Girls but the strong female lead and sharp humour shine through.

“Master of None”

“SMILF”

“Will & Grace” – Remember, the HFPA love this, the leads are presenting this year, it has a better chance than a very recently revived show usually would.  

Best Performance by an Actor in a TV series – Musical or Comedy (No Jeffrey Tambor or Transparent this year for various reasons so there’s going to be a new winner after that show dominated for a while)

Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”

Aziz Ansari “Master of None”

Kevin Bacon, “I Love Dick”

William H. Macy, “Shameless”

Eric McCormack, “Will and Grace”

Best Performance by an Actress in a TV series – Musical or Comedy

Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”

Alison Brie, “Glow”

Issa Rae, “Insecure”

Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”

Frankie Shaw, “SMILF”

Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

“Big Little Lies”

“Fargo”

“Feud: Bette and Joan” – This has just started airing on TV here so I’m going to watch it soon, it looks great.

“The Sinner”

“Top of the Lake: China Girl”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Robert De Niro, “The Wizard of Lies”

Jude Law, “The Young Pope”

Kyle MacLachlan, “Twin Peaks”

Ewan McGregor, “Fargo”

Geoffrey Rush, “Genius” – He has no chance, there are allegations against him at the moment, causing him to step down from things, there’s no chance voters can give him a win. 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Jessica Biel, “The Sinner”

Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies”

Jessica Lange, “Feud: Bette and Joan”

Susan Sarandon, “Feud: Bette and Joan”

Reese Witherspoon, “Big Little Lies”

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Alfred Molina, “Feud”

Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies”

David Thewlis, “Fargo”

David Harbour, “Stranger Things”

Christian Slater, “Mr. Robot” – Apparently this latest season has been a full return to form for the show. 

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television

Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”

Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”

Chrissy Metz, “This is Us”

Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Wizard of Lies”

Shailene Woodley, “Big Little Lies”

BAFTA Predictions 2016

Often a good indicator of what’s to come at the Oscars, the BAFTAs take place about a fortnight before the Academy Awards, this year exactly a fortnight on Sunday the 14th of February.

I’ve seen about half of the nominees, links to my reviews are below. In the past few days I’ve also seen ‘Steve Jobs’, ‘Spotlight’, ‘The Big Short’ and ‘Room’. Reviews of these will be coming this week, I didn’t want to rush them just for the sake of publishing before the BAFTAs, these films deserve decently written reviews. In short, they are all very good, the writing and performances in ‘Steve Jobs’ are great, the ensemble cast of ‘Spotlight’ are superb especially when taken as a whole. Above all these, ‘Room’ is outstanding and deserves lots of praise and wins, I’ll elaborate in my review by the end of the week but if you have chance to see it do, it’s vanishing from cinemas all too rapidly so take the chance if you have it.

Here are my predictions, using my preferred scoring system of 1st choice (2 points if correct), 2nd choice (1 point if correct) and ‘P’ for personal preference of which film would get my vote (which carries no points but is there for interest and expression). There are also notes in italics for certain films and choices. There are 24 categories thus a maximum score of 48 points.

Please get involved and share your predictions and thoughts in the comments.

BEST FILM

THE BIG SHORT Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Brad Pitt
P. BRIDGE OF SPIES Kristie Macosko Krieger, Marc Platt, Steven Spielberg
CAROL Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley
1. THE REVENANT Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Arnon Milchan, Mary Parent, Keith Redmon
2. SPOTLIGHT Steve Golin, Blye Pagon Faust, Nicole Rocklin, Michael Sugar

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

45 YEARS Andrew Haigh, Tristan Goligher
AMY Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees
1. BROOKLYN John Crowley, Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Nick Hornby
THE DANISH GIRL Tom Hooper, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Anne Harrison, Gail Mutrux, Lucinda Coxon
2 P. EX MACHINA Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
THE LOBSTER Yorgos Lanthimos, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Efthimis Filippou – I didn’t love this, it was absurdly funny in parts and the premise was original, but I had to close my eyes for the final scene which was literally my worst nightmare!

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

1 P. ALEX GARLAND (Director) Ex Machina – I think this is outstanding, though Garland’s not being ‘new’ to the industry may go against him as it feels less like a début though it is for him as director.
DEBBIE TUCKER GREEN (Writer/Director) Second Coming
2. NAJI ABU NOWAR (Writer/Director) RUPERT LLOYD (Producer) Theeb
SEAN MCALLISTER (Director/Producer), ELHUM SHAKERIFAR (Producer) A Syrian Love Story
STEPHEN FINGLETON (Writer/Director) The Survivalist

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

1. THE ASSASSIN Hou Hsiao-Hsien
2. FORCE MAJEURE Ruben Östlund
P. THEEB Naji Abu Nowar, Rupert Lloyd
TIMBUKTU Abderrahmane Sissako
WILD TALES Damián Szifron

DOCUMENTARY

1 P. AMY Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees – Definitely the frontrunner.
CARTEL LAND Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin
2. HE NAMED ME MALALA Davis Guggenheim, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
LISTEN TO ME MARLON Stevan Riley, John Battsek, George Chignell, R.J. Cutler
SHERPA Jennifer Peedom, Bridget Ikin, John Smithson

ANIMATED FILM

1 P. INSIDE OUT Pete Docter – Completely has this one with little doubt.
MINIONS Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
2. SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE Mark Burton, Richard Starzak

DIRECTOR

THE BIG SHORT Adam McKay
BRIDGE OF SPIES Steven Spielberg
CAROL Todd Haynes
2 P. THE MARTIAN Ridley Scott
1. THE REVENANT Alejandro G. Iñárritu

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY – All the ones I’ve seen have been great screenplays, it’s a close call.

BRIDGE OF SPIES Matthew Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
2 P. EX MACHINA Alex Garland
THE HATEFUL EIGHT Quentin Tarantino
INSIDE OUT Josh Cooley, Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve
1. SPOTLIGHT Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY – This is also a difficult one, I’m torn between 3 good options.

2. THE BIG SHORT Adam McKay, Charles Randolph
BROOKLYN Nick Hornby
CAROL Phyllis Nagy
1 P. ROOM Emma Donoghue – I’ve seen this now, my review is coming this week, it’s superbly written and of the 3 in this category that I’ve seen it’s my personal favourite for this award.
STEVE JOBS Aaron Sorkin – I’d usually pick anything by Sorkin to win but this year is so good.

LEADING ACTOR

BRYAN CRANSTON Trumbo
EDDIE REDMAYNE The Danish Girl
1. LEONARDO DICAPRIO The Revenant
P. MATT DAMON The Martian
2. MICHAEL FASSBENDER Steve Jobs

LEADING ACTRESS

ALICIA VIKANDER The Danish Girl
1 P. BRIE LARSON Room
CATE BLANCHETT Carol
MAGGIE SMITH The Lady in the Van
2. SAOIRSE RONAN Brooklyn

SUPPORTING ACTOR

BENICIO DEL TORO Sicario
CHRISTIAN BALE The Big Short
2. IDRIS ELBA Beasts of No Nation – Interesting to see a nomination for Netflix and Idris.
MARK RUFFALO Spotlight
1 P. MARK RYLANCE Bridge of Spies – I loved this, a perfect supporting performance, probably the winner.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

2 P. ALICIA VIKANDER Ex Machina – Nominated in two categories, this is her more likely win, but the votes may be too split for her over the two nominations. 
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH The Hateful Eight
JULIE WALTERS Brooklyn
KATE WINSLET Steve Jobs
1. ROONEY MARA Carol

ORIGINAL MUSIC

BRIDGE OF SPIES Thomas Newman
1. THE HATEFUL EIGHT Ennio Morricone – It’s a Morricone score, that counts for a lot.
THE REVENANT Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
2 P. SICARIO Jóhann Jóhannsson
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS John Williams

CINEMATOGRAPHY

BRIDGE OF SPIES Janusz Kamiński
CAROL Ed Lachman
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD John Seale – This could win but I don’t have a 3rd choice provision.
2. THE REVENANT Emmanuel Lubezki – Shooting in natural light outdoors is impressive.
1 P. SICARIO Roger Deakins – I was so impressed by how good this film looked, plus if AMPAS won’t give him an award, hopefully BAFTA will!

EDITING

THE BIG SHORT Hank Corwin
BRIDGE OF SPIES Michael Kahn
1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Margaret Sixel – The action scenes (a.k.a. the whole film) showed skilful editing.
THE MARTIAN Pietro Scalia
2 P. THE REVENANT Stephen Mirrione – I liked how it held some shots and avoided cuts in a way that drew us in, maybe more a strength of direction and cinematography but the editor must have been involved. 

PRODUCTION DESIGN

BRIDGE OF SPIES Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo
2. CAROL Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Colin Gibson, Lisa Thompson
P. THE MARTIAN Arthur Max, Celia Bobak
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Rick Carter, Darren Gilford, Lee Sandales

COSTUME DESIGN – It’s more than likely going to Sandy Powell but for which film?

BROOKLYN Odile Dicks-Mireaux
1. CAROL Sandy Powell
2 P. CINDERELLA Sandy Powell
THE DANISH GIRL Paco Delgado
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Jenny Beavan

MAKE UP & HAIR

BROOKLYN Morna Ferguson, Lorraine Glynn
CAROL Jerry DeCarlo, Patricia Regan
THE DANISH GIRL Jan Sewell
2. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Lesley Vanderwalt, Damian Martin
1 P. THE REVENANT Sian Grigg, Duncan Jarman, Robert Pandini – Good injury and hair work.

SOUND

BRIDGE OF SPIES Drew Kunin, Richard Hymns, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom
1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Scott Hecker, Chris Jenkins, Mark Mangini, Ben Osmo, Gregg Rudloff, David White
THE MARTIAN Paul Massey, Mac Ruth, Oliver Tarney, Mark Taylor
THE REVENANT Lon Bender, Chris Duesterdiek, Martin Hernandez, Frank A. Montaño, Jon Taylor, Randy Thom
2 P. STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Matthew Wood, Stuart Wilson

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

P. ANT-MAN Jake Morrison, Greg Steele, Dan Sudick, Alex Wuttke – Lovely to see this nominated.
EX MACHINA Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, Andrew Whitehurst
1. MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Andrew Jackson, Dan Oliver, Tom Wood, Andy Williams
2. THE MARTIAN Chris Lawrence, Tim Ledbury, Richard Stammers, Steven Warner
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Neal Scanlan

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION – Sadly not seen any of these yet so wouldn’t be fair to pick blindly.

EDMOND Nina Gantz, Emilie Jouffroy
MANOMAN Simon Cartwright, Kamilla Kristiane Hodol
PROLOGUE Richard Williams, Imogen Sutton

BRITISH SHORT FILM – Sadly not seen any of these either so again not picking blindly.

ELEPHANT Nick Helm, Alex Moody, Esther Smith
MINING POEMS OR ODES Callum Rice, Jack Cocker
OPERATOR Caroline Bartleet, Rebecca Morgan
OVER Jörn Threlfall, Jeremy Bannister
SAMUEL-613 Billy Lumby, Cheyenne Conway

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

BEL POWLEY
BRIE LARSON – Not likely to win as ‘Room’ may not have the widest appeal though she’s great.
DAKOTA JOHNSON
1. JOHN BOYEGA – Probably has it in the bag as EVERYONE has seen ‘The Force Awakens‘ and liked him in it (I’ve seen it 3 times now despite not being much of a Star Wars fan!).
2 P. TARON EGERTON – I’ll be supporting the local lad from my town!

My 2016 Golden Globes Predictions

Golden Globes 2016

I’m having a go at predicting the winners of this years Golden Globes as a warm-up for the main Awards events next month, namely the BAFTAs and Academy Awards.

Though my focus is primarily on films at this time of year I’ll take a shot at the TV categories too though there are many I’ve not seen at all. My winner predictions are in BOLD, mainly reflecting my personal preferences in most cases more than what I’d be confident will win as I’ve not yet seen enough of the nominees to be very confident, plus I’ve added a few notes of my thoughts as well.

Film categories

Best motion picture – drama
Carol – Apparently this is beautifully put together but I’m not sure it’ll win.
Mad Max: Fury Road – Seen this, my review coming soon.
The Revenant
Room – I’ve not seen this yet but the trailers have made me really want to.
Spotlight – I’m hearing talk of this as being a frontrunner at upcoming awards

Best motion picture – comedy or musical
The Big Short
Joy – Didn’t look much like a clear-cut comedy from the trailers, this categorization has me expecting something different when I see the film from what I first thought.
The Martian – My review coming soon, it’s so much more than a comedy though, therefore in this category it’s an exceptionally strong film but if voters take the ‘comedy’ aspect into account it may not be the best outright ‘comedy’.
Spy – It was funny but not genius enough, though more a ‘comedy’ than The Martian.
Trainwreck – This doesn’t really appeal to me, but I must admit I’m looking forward to seeing Schumer team up with Jennifer Lawrence for Jen’s first proper comedy role, I have a feeling that could be something quite special.

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – drama
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Will Smith, Concussion

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – drama
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room – As it’d be difficult for voters to pick between the Carol leads, and as the trailer really got to me I’m picking this, her performance looks stunning & emotive from what I’ve seen.
Rooney Mara, Carol
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn – Apparently her performance is superb but maybe too understated to get votes.
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – comedy or musical
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Steve Carell, The Big Short
Matt Damon, The Martian – I would predict a win for Matt Damon as he was excellent.
Al Pacino, Danny Collins – My review coming soon, he’s good but not a wing performance.
Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – comedy or musical
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Melissa McCarthy, Spy
Amy Schumer, Trainwreck – American audiences really seem to love her, it was a hugely successful comedy, so I think there’s a good shot for Schumer winning here.
Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van – Lovely to see Maggie Smith not overlooked, the one benefit of these extra categories but I doubt she’ll win.
Lily Tomlin, Grandma – This would be my back-up choice but the film may be tackling too controversial a subject.

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies – I’m really happy to see this nomination and couldn’t agree with it more, true I’ve not seen the others but he deserves the win.
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture
Jane Fonda, Youth
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina – She gets it very right, more details coming in my review soon.
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Best director – motion picture (I see this being one of the closest categories)
Todd Haynes, Carol
Alejandro G Inarritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
George Miller, Max Max: Fury Road – This was a slightly less expected nomination, but a popular film and director, possibly a back-up choice.
Ridley Scott, The Martian – Everything comes together well, his best in a very long time.

Best screenplay – motion picture
The Big Short
The Hateful Eight
Room
Spotlight
Steve Jobs

Best animated feature film
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out – Clearly the frontrunner, not doubts here at all.
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best foreign language film – I’ve not seen any of these yet
The Brand New Testament
The Club
The Fencer
Mustang
Son of Saul – This is the one I’m hearing most about so I’ll guess it’s most popular.

Best original score – motion picture
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Hateful Eight – Ennio Morricone, seems like a decent choice.
The Revenant
Steve Jobs

Best original song – motion picture
Love Me Like You Do, Ellie Goulding – Fifty Shades of Grey
One Kind of Love, Brian Wilson – Love & Mercy
See You Again, Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth – Fast & Furious 7 – Paul Walker died, this carries far more emotion because of that so I think it could win.
Simple Song #3, Sumi Jo – Youth
Writing’s On the Wall, Sam Smith – Spectre

Television categories

Best television series – drama
Empire
Game of Thrones
Mr Robot – Up against GoT and Empire I’m not sure it’ll win but a strong contender and the only one I’ve watched.
Narcos
Outlander

Best television series – comedy or musical
Casual
Mozart in the Jungle
Orange is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Transparent – Still seems to be topical and widely reported on
Veep

Best mini-series or motion picture made for television
American Crime
American Horror Story: Hotel
Fargo – Again widely and enthusiastically talked about on the /Film podcast and other sites, so worth a guess
Flesh and Bone
Wolf Hall

Best performance by an actor in a television series – drama
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Rami Malek, Mr Robot – Again not sure but he’s new to the nominee list, Malek is so central to the show and is in almost every scene so worked hard for the nomination and would deserve the win.
Wagner Maura, Narcos
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Best performance by an actress in a television series – drama
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder – I think she’s great but doubt she’s gonna win
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Taraji P Henson, Empire – Seems to have created an iconic character though I’ve not seen it I can’t avoid hearing about her performance
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best performance by an actor in a television series – comedy or musical
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart
Rob Lowe, The Grinder
Patrick Stewart, Blunt Talk
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent – Again, topical performance, seems very popular at awards so probably going to win.

Best performance by an actress in a television series – comedy or musical
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens – Only one I’ve seen and though very good (and wonderfully references her mother in one episode) I doubt it’s the best performance in the category.
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep – Hasn’t she won a few times? Possibly will again.
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie – Interestingly nominated in a film category too.

Best performance by an actor in a mini-series or motion picture made for television
Idris Elba, Luther – Again only one I’ve seen and I think he’s excellent as Luther, so would be a worth winner.
Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall – Also nominated in films as Supporting Actor (which he should win for).
Patrick Wilson, Fargo

Best performance by an actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for television
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
Sarah Hay, Flesh and Bone
Queen Latifah, Bessie

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Tobias Menzies, Outlander
Christian Slater, Mr Robot – Interesting role, he’s very enigmatic, only one I’ve seen

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television – None particularly stands out in my mind
Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Regina King, American Crime
Judith Light, Transparent
Maura Tierney, The Affair

The awards ceremony is on the evening of Jan 10th 2016, so I’ll see how close my predictions come to the final results then. Why not have a go yourself? Feel free to post your predictions and thoughts below.

I intend to start reviewing more of these over the coming weeks, especially now that the BAFTA nominations list is out and the Academy Awards nominations are coming later this week so I can see which films to focus on. I have a few that I’ve seen with reviews in progress but in some cases I’d like to see them again or at least take time to write up the reviews properly before posting them. Follow my progress on this blog to see how I get on with this years ‘best’ films!

BAFTA Nominations 2016

The nominees for this year’s BAFTAs were announced this morning and I got up nice and early to watch the live stream. There aren’t many huge surprise nominations, though there are some surprising omissions and as to be expected there is a strong trend towards British actors and films which means this list is somewhat different from the Golden Globes (due to be awarded on Sunday) and I expect will look quite different too from the Academy Awards nominees being announced next week.

It’s really good to see films such as ‘Ex Machina’ having a strong presence on the list, as well as ‘Amy’ which can be seen on UK television tonight (Friday Jan 8th). What doesn’t appear at all is ‘SPECTRE’, surprising after the previous success of ‘Skyfall’ though that film was in a pivotal year and came as more of a surprise whereas ‘SPECTRE’ is more a repetition of the same quality. I also thought ‘The Lobster’ would feature more, though I wasn’t a fan of it much it seemed to go down very well with critics.

The awards will be given out on February 14th when I will spend Valentine’s day with my enduring love, films, and I’ll post my predictions before the ceremony begins.

Here’s the list of nominees in full and my reviews of many are coming over the next few weeks:

BEST FILM

THE BIG SHORT Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Brad Pitt
BRIDGE OF SPIES Kristie Macosko Krieger, Marc Platt, Steven Spielberg
CAROL Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley
THE REVENANT Steve Golin, Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Arnon Milchan, Mary Parent, Keith Redmon
SPOTLIGHT Steve Golin, Blye Pagon Faust, Nicole Rocklin, Michael Sugar

OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM

45 YEARS Andrew Haigh, Tristan Goligher
AMY Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees
BROOKLYN John Crowley, Finola Dwyer, Amanda Posey, Nick Hornby
THE DANISH GIRL Tom Hooper, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Anne Harrison, Gail Mutrux, Lucinda Coxon
EX MACHINA Alex Garland, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich
THE LOBSTER Yorgos Lanthimos, Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday, Efthimis Filippou – I didn’t love this, it was absurdly funny in parts and the premise was original, but I had to close my eyes for the final scene which was literally my worst nightmare and I’ve not eaten steak since!

OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER

ALEX GARLAND (Director) Ex Machina
DEBBIE TUCKER GREEN (Writer/Director) Second Coming
NAJI ABU NOWAR (Writer/Director) RUPERT LLOYD (Producer) Theeb
SEAN MCALLISTER (Director/Producer), ELHUM SHAKERIFAR (Producer) A Syrian Love Story
STEPHEN FINGLETON (Writer/Director) The Survivalist

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

THE ASSASSIN Hou Hsiao-Hsien
FORCE MAJEURE Ruben Östlund
THEEB Naji Abu Nowar, Rupert Lloyd
TIMBUKTU Abderrahmane Sissako
WILD TALES Damián Szifron

DOCUMENTARY

AMY Asif Kapadia, James Gay-Rees – Definitely the frontrunner.
CARTEL LAND Matthew Heineman, Tom Yellin
HE NAMED ME MALALA Davis Guggenheim, Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald
LISTEN TO ME MARLON Stevan Riley, John Battsek, George Chignell, R.J. Cutler
SHERPA Jennifer Peedom, Bridget Ikin, John Smithson

ANIMATED FILM

INSIDE OUT Pete Docter – Completely has this one with little contest.
MINIONS Pierre Coffin, Kyle Balda
SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE Mark Burton, Richard Starzak

DIRECTOR

THE BIG SHORT Adam McKay
BRIDGE OF SPIES Steven Spielberg
CAROL Todd Haynes
THE MARTIAN Ridley Scott
THE REVENANT Alejandro G. Iñárritu

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

BRIDGE OF SPIES Matthew Charman, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
EX MACHINA Alex Garland
THE HATEFUL EIGHT Quentin Tarantino
INSIDE OUT Josh Cooley, Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve
SPOTLIGHT Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

THE BIG SHORT Adam McKay, Charles Randolph
BROOKLYN Nick Hornby
CAROL Phyllis Nagy
ROOM Emma Donoghue
STEVE JOBS Aaron Sorkin

LEADING ACTOR

BRYAN CRANSTON Trumbo
EDDIE REDMAYNE The Danish Girl
LEONARDO DICAPRIO The Revenant
MATT DAMON The Martian
MICHAEL FASSBENDER Steve Jobs

LEADING ACTRESS

ALICIA VIKANDER The Danish Girl
BRIE LARSON Room
CATE BLANCHETT Carol
MAGGIE SMITH The Lady in the Van
SAOIRSE RONAN Brooklyn

SUPPORTING ACTOR

BENICIO DEL TORO Sicario
CHRISTIAN BALE The Big Short
IDRIS ELBA Beasts of No Nation – A nomination for Netflix and Idris, putting them on the radar for the Oscars possibly. 
MARK RUFFALO Spotlight
MARK RYLANCE Bridge of Spies – I loved this, a perfect supporting performance, probably the winner.

SUPPORTING ACTRESS

ALICIA VIKANDER Ex Machina – Nominated in two categories, this is her likelier win, but the votes may be too split for her over the two nominations. 
JENNIFER JASON LEIGH The Hateful Eight
JULIE WALTERS Brooklyn
KATE WINSLET Steve Jobs
ROONEY MARA Carol

ORIGINAL MUSIC

BRIDGE OF SPIES Thomas Newman
THE HATEFUL EIGHT Ennio Morricone
THE REVENANT Ryuichi Sakamoto, Carsten Nicolai
SICARIO Jóhann Jóhannsson
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS John Williams

CINEMATOGRAPHY

BRIDGE OF SPIES Janusz Kamiński
CAROL Ed Lachman
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD John Seale
THE REVENANT Emmanuel Lubezki
SICARIO Roger Deakins

EDITING

THE BIG SHORT Hank Corwin
BRIDGE OF SPIES Michael Kahn
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Margaret Sixel
THE MARTIAN Pietro Scalia
THE REVENANT Stephen Mirrione

PRODUCTION DESIGN

BRIDGE OF SPIES Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo
CAROL Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Colin Gibson, Lisa Thompson
THE MARTIAN Arthur Max, Celia Bobak
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Rick Carter, Darren Gilford, Lee Sandales

COSTUME DESIGN

BROOKLYN Odile Dicks-Mireaux
CAROL Sandy Powell
CINDERELLA Sandy Powell
THE DANISH GIRL Paco Delgado
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Jenny Beavan

MAKE UP & HAIR

BROOKLYN Morna Ferguson, Lorraine Glynn
CAROL Jerry DeCarlo, Patricia Regan
THE DANISH GIRL Jan Sewell
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Lesley Vanderwalt, Damian Martin
THE REVENANT Sian Grigg, Duncan Jarman, Robert Pandini

SOUND

BRIDGE OF SPIES Drew Kunin, Richard Hymns, Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Scott Hecker, Chris Jenkins, Mark Mangini, Ben Osmo, Gregg Rudloff, David White
THE MARTIAN Paul Massey, Mac Ruth, Oliver Tarney, Mark Taylor
THE REVENANT Lon Bender, Chris Duesterdiek, Martin Hernandez, Frank A. Montaño, Jon Taylor, Randy Thom
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS David Acord, Andy Nelson, Christopher Scarabosio, Matthew Wood, Stuart Wilson

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS

ANT-MAN Jake Morrison, Greg Steele, Dan Sudick, Alex Wuttke – Lovely to see this nominated!
EX MACHINA Mark Ardington, Sara Bennett, Paul Norris, Andrew Whitehurst
MAD MAX: FURY ROAD Andrew Jackson, Dan Oliver, Tom Wood, Andy Williams
THE MARTIAN Chris Lawrence, Tim Ledbury, Richard Stammers, Steven Warner
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Chris Corbould, Roger Guyett, Paul Kavanagh, Neal Scanlan

BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION

EDMOND Nina Gantz, Emilie Jouffroy
MANOMAN Simon Cartwright, Kamilla Kristiane Hodol
PROLOGUE Richard Williams, Imogen Sutton

BRITISH SHORT FILM

ELEPHANT Nick Helm, Alex Moody, Esther Smith
MINING POEMS OR ODES Callum Rice, Jack Cocker
OPERATOR Caroline Bartleet, Rebecca Morgan
OVER Jörn Threlfall, Jeremy Bannister
SAMUEL-613 Billy Lumby, Cheyenne Conway

THE EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)

BEL POWLEY
BRIE LARSON – Not likely to win as ‘Room’ may not have the widest appeal though she’s great.
DAKOTA JOHNSON
JOHN BOYEGA – Probably has it in the bag as EVERYONE has seen the film and liked him in it.
TARON EGERTON – I’ll be supporting the the local lad from my town, as are the town council!

Golden Globes Nominees 2016

Golden Globes Nominees 2016

I don’t usually give a lot of weight to the Golden Globes, I much prefer the BAFTAs and Academy Awards. However, this year I am looking at their (early) nominations as a warm-up, giving me an idea of the films and performances that will go on to get the more prestigious nominations next month and highlighting which of the many films I may try to watch before the Oscars in February.

Film categories

Best motion picture – drama
Carol
Mad Max: Fury Road – My review coming soon.
The Revenant
Room – I’ve not seen this yet but the trailers have made me really want to.
Spotlight

Best motion picture – comedy or musical
The Big Short
Joy – Didn’t look much like a clear-cut comedy from the trailers, this categorization has me expecting something different when I see the film from what I first thought.
The Martian – My review coming soon, much more than a comedy though.
Spy
Trainwreck

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – drama
Bryan Cranston, Trumbo
Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant
Michael Fassbender, Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne, The Danish Girl
Will Smith, Concussion

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – drama
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Rooney Mara, Carol
Saoirse Ronan, Brooklyn
Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

Best performance by an actor in a motion picture – comedy or musical
Christian Bale, The Big Short
Steve Carell, The Big Short
Matt Damon, The Martian – I would predict a win for Matt Damon at this moment in time.
Al Pacino, Danny Collins
Mark Ruffalo, Infinitely Polar Bear

Best performance by an actress in a motion picture – comedy or musical
Jennifer Lawrence, Joy
Melissa McCarthy, Spy
Amy Schumer, Trainwreck
Maggie Smith, The Lady in the Van – Lovely to see Maggie Smith not overlooked, the one benefit of these extra categories.
Lily Tomlin, Grandma

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a motion picture
Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies – I’m really happy to see this nomination and couldn’t agree with it more.
Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone, Creed

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a motion picture
Jane Fonda, Youth
Jennifer Jason Leigh, The Hateful Eight
Helen Mirren, Trumbo
Alicia Vikander, Ex Machina
Kate Winslet, Steve Jobs

Best director – motion picture
Todd Haynes, Carol
Alejandro G Inarritu, The Revenant
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
George Miller, Max Max: Fury Road – This is a slightly less expected nomination, but a popular film.
Ridley Scott, The Martian

Best screenplay – motion picture
The Big Short
The Hateful Eight
Room
Spotlight
Steve Jobs

Best animated feature film
Anomalisa
The Good Dinosaur
Inside Out – Clearly the frontrunner.
The Peanuts Movie
Shaun the Sheep Movie

Best foreign language film – I’ve not seen any of these yet
The Brand New Testament
The Club
The Fencer
Mustang
Son of Saul

Best original score – motion picture
Carol
The Danish Girl
The Hateful Eight
The Revenant
Steve Jobs

Best original song – motion picture
Love Me Like You Do, Ellie Goulding – Fifty Shades of Grey
One Kind of Love, Brian Wilson – Love & Mercy
See You Again, Wiz Khalifa featuring Charlie Puth – Fast & Furious 7
Simple Song #3, Sumi Jo – Youth
Writing’s On the Wall, Sam Smith – Spectre

Television categories

Best television series – drama
Empire
Game of Thrones
Mr Robot – Up against GoT and Empire I doubt it’ll win but a strong contender for dark horse.
Narcos
Outlander

Best television series – comedy or musical
Casual
Mozart in the Jungle
Orange is the New Black
Silicon Valley
Transparent
Veep

Best mini-series or motion picture made for television
American Crime
American Horror Story: Hotel
Fargo
Flesh and Bone
Wolf Hall

Best performance by an actor in a television series – drama
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Rami Malek, Mr Robot – Again a dark horse for the win, Malek is so central to the show and is in almost every scene so worked hard for the nomination and would deserve the win.
Wagner Maura, Narcos
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan

Best performance by an actress in a television series – drama
Caitriona Balfe, Outlander
Viola Davis, How to Get Away with Murder
Eva Green, Penny Dreadful
Taraji P Henson, Empire
Robin Wright, House of Cards

Best performance by an actor in a television series – comedy or musical
Aziz Ansari, Master of None
Gael Garcia Bernal, Mozart
Rob Lowe, The Grinder
Patrick Stewart, Blunt Talk
Jeffrey Tambor, Transparent

Best performance by an actress in a television series – comedy or musical
Rachel Bloom, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Jamie Lee Curtis, Scream Queens
Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep
Gina Rodriguez, Jane the Virgin
Lily Tomlin, Grace and Frankie

Best performance by an actor in a mini-series or motion picture made for television
Idris Elba, Luther
Oscar Isaac, Show Me a Hero
David Oyelowo, Nightingale
Mark Rylance, Wolf Hall
Patrick Wilson, Fargo

Best performance by an actress in a mini-series or motion picture made for television
Kirsten Dunst, Fargo
Felicity Huffman, American Crime
Lady Gaga, American Horror Story: Hotel
Sarah Hay, Flesh and Bone
Queen Latifah, Bessie

Best performance by an actor in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television
Alan Cumming, The Good Wife
Damian Lewis, Wolf Hall
Ben Mendelsohn, Bloodline
Tobias Menzies, Outlander
Christian Slater, Mr Robot

Best performance by an actress in a supporting role in a series, mini-series or motion picture made for television
Uzo Aduba, Orange is the New Black
Joanne Froggatt, Downton Abbey
Regina King, American Crime
Judith Light, Transparent
Maura Tierney, The Affair

Interesting as always, the HFPA have nominated some films and performances that might not have been fully expected. As every year their differentiation between comedy/musical & drama has led to a few nominees that wouldn’t have gotten a look-in if there were just one category with five or so nominees, and a few such as Idris Elba and Mark Rylance getting double nominations spanning over film and TV. I don’t put a huge amount of stock in the Globes, but there’s an interesting mix here with the potential (though small) for films that seem likely to get overlooked at the Oscars to triumph over frontrunners on the awards night in one month’s time, January 10th.

I intend to start reviewing more of these next month, I have a few that I’ve seen in progress but in some cases I’d like to see them again or at least take time to write up the reviews properly before posting them.

I suppose the awards season is now officially underway!

Oscar Nominee: Saving Mr. Banks

Saving Mr. Banks (2013)

Dir:  John Lee Hancock

If P. L. Travers didn’t like her books being adapted, I wonder what she would have thought about this part of her life being turned into a film?

In the early 1960’s, Mary Poppins author P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson) was facing financial disaster, and after 20 years of being pursued by Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) for the rights to adapt Mary Poppins into a film, she finally conceded to discuss the idea. However, she was completely against it, and hated animation, so this film shows the battle between Travers and Walt Disney himself, while delving a little into the author’s life and why she held the character so dear that she wouldn’t sign away the rights.

The film makes frequent indications to things that may have had an influence on parts of the Mary Poppins books and film, some of these are subtle, most are very direct. Travers’ tough childhood is shown, with frequent sequences of her growing up in Australia, with particular focus on her relationship with her father (Colin Farrell), who is clearly shown to be Mr Banks from the books, and why she wants things done perfectly.

Emma Thompson (‘Brave’) brilliantly gets the character right in terms of her snappy difficult nature, this is shown by a tape recording played in the end credits of the real Mrs Travers discussing the script with the writers. There are many scenes that take lots of dramatic licence when showing her alone in her hotel room and such, and these are the parts that have been most hotly discussed and debated, giving the impression that she may have been ‘won over’ by certain things. Regardless of the factual accuracy or not, Thompson is great, and manages to play the role in a way that is both likable and unlikable in near enough equal measure, which is vital in getting it right as by all accounts those involved in the production of ‘Mary Poppins’ found Travers to be infuriating and unpleasant.

Tom Hanks (‘Captain Phillips’) is also on excellent form here as Walt Disney, whose chain-smoking is only alluded to here by a smokers cough and off-screen stubbing out, as Disney now have a no smoking on screen policy. Hanks conveys all the charm expected while trying to appease ‘Pam’, but also nicely gets across the frustration and tougher side to the character when he digs his own heels in a little more. A scene between the two leads near the end actually had me welling up with tears as they share a tender moment and both actors are excellent at drawing the viewer in, listening and watching intently.

There’s a very strong supporting cast here too, with the likes of Bradley Whitford (‘Little Manhattan‘) Jason Schwartzman (‘Moonrise Kingdom’) and Paul Giamatti (‘Ides of March‘, ‘Rock of Ages‘). They all take their roles very well, especially as they’re playing real people (with the exception of Giamatti’s limo driver Ralph who was an amalgam of real drivers). I think the casting for the entire film was excellent really, and though I’m not familiar with all of the historical figures, from research, I have been impressed by the decent likenesses, and how the performances reflect what the real people said about this period in their lives.

It was nice to see in the end credits that Richard M. Sherman, played in the film by Jason Schwartzman, served as a musical consultant. Many of the original songs used in ‘Mary Poppins’ are performed, while the score also riffs on the original music quite a lot, which works nicely. Nominated for ‘Best Original Score’ at this weeks Academy Awards, I don’t think it’ll win, especially with how much it draws on the Poppins score, but still it works within the context of the film itself. Interestingly, as a co-production between Disney and BBC Films, this is one of 3 films this year produced by BBC films to be nominated at the Academy Awards, alongside ‘Philomena‘ and ‘The Invisible Woman’.

Much more poignant and emotional than expected. I think she may have actually liked this a little, especially as it wasn’t animated.

Oscar Nominee: Captain Phillips

Captain Phillips (2013)

Dir: Paul Greengrass

Wow… that escalated quickly and far beyond what I expected!

Directed by Paul Greengrass (“Bourne Ultimatum”, “United 93”), this is based on the real events in 2009 when an American container ship was boarded by Somali pirates, and Captain Richard Phillips (Tom Hanks, ‘Saving Mr Banks’) was held at gunpoint while attempting to ensure the safety of the crew and follow protocols to get the pirates to leave.

It is a story that was apparently widely reported in the press, but more in the U.S. rather than here, and so I didn’t know what happened, and I deliberately avoided reading up on the events before I saw the film. This was a good decision, as I really felt a sense of jeopardy throughout and was at the edge of my seat! Things play out in a way that goes far beyond what you might expect from my brief synopsis above, and escalate to a level I wouldn’t even have dreamt of!

The fact this was directed by Paul Greengrass is important. His style is brilliant, a quite distinctive use of cameras that closely resembles a documentary style. The motion of the cameras here works along with the motion of the sea, both giving the intended impression of realism, but also reinforcing the location out at sea. In some cinemas there have been reports of people vomiting due to feeling seasick, which I think is more a compliment to how well it is shot, rather than an issue.

There’s been a bit of dispute from the rest of the crew as to how accurately the film portrays the heroism of Captain Phillips. I wasn’t there, I don’t know, and with the film being primarily based on his own memoirs, maybe there’s a little bit of inaccuracy slipping in. However, to me, it wasn’t his heroism that hit me about the character. What came across more, was the difficulty of the situation both the crew of the Maersk Alabama, and the pirates, found themselves in, and how they were all forced into a scenario that became increasingly unlikely to end well.

Strong performances are at the heart of conveying all that, and here it really comes down to the two leads, Captain Phillips played by veteran actor Tom Hanks, and the pirate leader played by first-timer Barkhad Abdi. Both are excellent.

With portraying the eponymous character, Hanks has been nominated as best leading actor in many awards, and while I don’t know if he’ll win the Oscar next weekend for the role, he is on top form. For me, it wasn’t the earlier half of the film where he’s working to control the situation and placate the pirates, but rather the latter half, in which (not wanting to spoil things) he is out of control of the situation, in which Hanks excelled. The final few scenes, while almost unbearably tense, had myself and my friend at the edges of our seats and nearly in tears as Tom Hanks acted his socks off, outdoing any other part of his performance.

Equally impressive is Barhkad Abdi as the leader of the small group of pirates. He is simply superb, especially considering how he has to act toe-to-toe with a Hollywood star throughout the film, and must convey that he’s the one in control of the situation. The actors playing the pirates didn’t meet the rest of the cast until filming the scenes where they take the ship, with Paul Greengrass deciding this would help the performances get the right tone, and something definitely worked. Abdi is compelling from start to end, and so when he won the BAFTA for best supporting actor a few weeks ago, the applause from the audience was unlike any other round of applause that evening, it was noticeably heartfelt and warm. That theater filled with film industry experts and long-time actors clearly felt, as did I, that his win was well deserved.

It’s not a relaxing jaunt on the high seas, and if you don’t know the story, it will take you by surprise, but this is Paul Greengrass handling another difficult hijacking situation on film, and getting it absolutely right.