Golden Globe Predictions!

Hi everyone!

The Golden Globes are the first real award show of the year (sorry People’s Choice!), and (often but not always) a good predictor for the Oscars.  I’m going to take a look at the list (take a look at if for yourself: http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2013/12/golden-globe-nominees-2014-the-complete-list/), and offer the following: my prediction about what I think will win, what I would like to win, and (if applicable), what was snubbed and deserves some recognition.  While this blog has mainly been used for movies, I have been keeping up with TV too and will offer predictions for that as well!  I’m excited to have Amy Poehler and Tina Fey co-host again, they did a great job last time and always have such great chemistry together!

First, let’s start with movies!

BEST DRAMA

Think will win: 12 Years a Slave is an awards show favorite, and rightly so.  It’s incredibly dramatic and emotionally powerful, and certainly deserves the recognition.

Want to win: Gravity is a film unlike any other, and it’s that originality that makes it so exciting.  The power of special effects and having only two actors made the film that much more intimate and thrilling, and made you root for the characters that much more.

Snubbed: Short Term 12 was a phenomenal film that was definitely underrated, and is an emotional powerhouse of a film.  Fantastic acting, great chemistry between the actors, and a great, compelling story all make this film a must-watch!

BEST MUSICAL/COMEDY

Think will win: American Hustle has been getting a lot of buzz, and rightly so, due to it’s old-school feel and great acting.

Want to win: The Wolf of Wall Street is, in my opinion, the funniest film of the year.  Thanks to the over-the-top acting of DiCaprio and Hill, this wild true story is taking to new heights, and never comes back down!

Snubbed: The Way, Way Back was a fantastic comedy/drama that definitely slipped under the radar.  Fantastic acting by Steve Carrell and the rest of the cast made this a compelling film that nicely balanced comedy with drama.

BEST DIRECTOR

Think will win: Steve McQueen will probably take this one along with the Best Picture.

Want to win: Alfonso Cuarón deserves it for the masterful job he did with his film.

BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA

Think will win: Judi Dench has only won one Academy Award/Golden Globe in her illustrious career (though she’s been nominated for many), and the academy usually likes to give these awards to older actors/actresses before it’s too late.

Want to win: This is a tough one, because both Emma Thompson and Sandra Bullock did such phenomenal jobs in their respective films.  While I loved Emma Thompson though, I think I’ll lean toward Bullock, since she essentially carries her whole film.

Snubbed: Once again, I’m going to go with Brie Larson from Short Term 12, who wears her heart on her sleeve in the film and experiences just about every emotion you can go through in the film, from anger and depression to excitement and joy.

BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA

Think will win: Chiwetel Ejiofor will probably also take this award for this film, though maybe due to the times, Idris Elba will sneak away with the win with his interpretation of Mandela.

Want to win: Matthew McConaughey found a way to make a cocky, stubborn, homophobic uber-cowboy into a likable character.

Snubbed: I know he’s already nominated, but I think McConaughey should have been nominated for his awesome role in Mud, which I thought was a much more compelling character.  But just to add variety, I believe Hugh Jackman’s role in Prisoners was incredible and completely ignored.

BEST ACTOR IN A MUSICAL/COMEDY

Think will win: Christian Bale certainly does a great job in this role, and I think he will probably take it.

Want to win: DiCAPRIO!!  He absolutely DESERVES to win this award for his phenomenal job in this insane film!  However, I also believe Oscar Isaac did a fantastic job in his role as well (as both an actor and singer), and he certainly deserves some recognition for it.

BEST ACTRESS IN A MUSICAL/COMEDY

Think will/want to win: To be honest, the only one I’ve seen in this list is Amy Adams, and she definitely did a great job.

Snubbed: I think it would have been awesome for the academy to think outside of the box and give the award to Scarlett Johansson for her voice acting in the film.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Think will/want to win: J-Law totally stole the show in her film, and is the funniest part about the whole movie.  She definitely deserves the win!

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Think will win: Michael Fassbender played a totally despicable plantation owner, which is what made 12 Years a Slave such a powerful film, so he’ll probably win it.

Want to win: Jared Leto did an absolutely incredible job in his role, and completely stole the movie.  Funny, emotionally powerful, and absolutely compelling, he deserves the win!

BEST SCREENPLAY

Think will/want to win: Spike Jonze for Her. It’s an original, fresh love story that also smartly looks at our obsession with technology, specifically our smart phones.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

Think will/want to win: Once again, I haven’t seen any of these films, but based on the buzz and reviews, I’m going to say Blue is the Warmest Color will probably take the award.

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Think will/want to win: Frozen is the best Disney film in years, and has a phenomenal soundtrack.  As cute as the minions are, there’s no competition for in this category in my opinion.

Snubbed: Regardless, I’m surprised Monsters U didn’t get nominated.  I guess there’s only room for one Disney movie! 🙂

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

Think will/want to win: “Let it Go” for Frozen is essentially the theme of the film, and fits it very well.  Sung incredibly by Idina Menzel, it’s worthy of the prize.

BEST SCORE

Think will win: 12 Years a Slave will probably take it for adding to the emotional powerhouse film.

Want to win: Gravity‘s score added so much tension to the film, which was already tense enough!  It was very powerful and deserves recognition.

Now on to TV!

BEST TV COMEDY/MUSICAL

Think will win: I don’t know how it continues to do so, but Modern Family seems to be unstoppable.  I’m guessing it will continue its reign of terror.

Want to win: Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the funniest new shows of the year, and definitely deserves some recognition.

Snubbed: I’m surprised The Crazy Ones was not nominated; Robin Williams is back in top form in this show!

BEST TV DRAMA

Think will win: Though I’ve never seen the show, I know many people say Breaking Bad is one of the best TV shows of all time, and that it had a particularly strong final season.  I think the academy will bid it farewell with an award.

Want to win: Again, though I’ve never seen the show, I think it would be interesting to have the academy nominate a Netflix show.  If  House of Cards wins, it could really signal a shift in the power of TV shows that aren’t necessarily on TV.

Snubbed: That being said, I’m surprised Orange is the New Black and Orphan Black were left out of the running (they are nominated for other categories after all).  Once again, I guess there’s only room for one Netflix/internet TV show.

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV DRAMA

Think will win: I’ve never seen the show, but I know Julianna Marguiles has garnered consistent praise for the show, so I have a feeling she’ll win it.

Want to win: For the same reasons listed earlier, I would love to have Taylor Schilling or Tatiana Maslany win for their internet/Netflix shows!

BEST ACTRESS IN A TV COMEDY

Think will win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus will probably get an award, for the same reason Judi Dench will probably win; she’s been nominated many times and is due for a win.

Want to win: It would be awesome if Poehler won, a) because she’s hosting and b) because Parks and Recreation is probably coming to an end soon, and it would be a fitting send off.

BEST ACTOR IN A TV DRAMA

Think will win: For the same reason I think the show will win, I think Bryan Cranston will take the award, and rightly so.

Want to win: Again, for similar reasons listed above, I think it would be interesting for Kevin Spacey to win.  Also, James Spader has done a great job on The Blacklist, and is essentially the only real reason to watch that show.

BEST ACTOR IN A TV COMEDY/MUSICAL

Think will win: Much like Modern Family, Jim Parsons seems to be unstoppable in these awards, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he took home the win.

Want to win: Andy Samberg is hilarious in his show, and deserves some recognition.  But it would also be great if Michael J. Fox got an award for his great TV return.

Snubbed: Comedy legend Robin Williams is the star and redeeming factor of his show, and it’s a shame he didn’t get recognized for it.

It’s hard to judge the rest of the categories because I haven’t seen many of the nominated shows.  But I will say I think American Horror Story is doing an interesting thing in terms of having the same ensemble cast and putting them in different roles/scenarios each season, so Ryan Murphy and that show should get some recognition!  I also think Parenthood doesn’t get the recognition it deserves, it’s a great drama with an excellent cast to back it up!

Anyway, that’s all for now, what do you think? 🙂  We’ll find out soon enough how close I was!

American Hustle

Full of twists and turns and laughs, American Hustle is bolstered by an awesome cast and a distinctly late 70s/early 80s feel.

One thing I love that producers/directors do is when they make every effort to make you feel like you’re watching a movie from a certain time period (Quentin Tarrantino does this a lot in his films, though he also likes to add items to make them feel like they’re from a certain region too, often Japan).  So when the film opens up with the old school Columbia Pictures logo, and then proceeds to show the rest of the production company logos as if they were around during the late 70s/early 80s, I was pleased and immediately drawn into the feel of the film.  The groovy fonts, the humorous attitude (instead of saying “Based on a true story” like other similar films might do, this film instead tells us “Some of this stuff actually happened”), and the funky soundtrack all made me feel like I was watching a legitimate film from that era, and it definitely added to the appeal of the film.  It was fresh and nostalgic at the same time.

The casting was phenomenal, with a few surprise cameos as well (I’ll give away one, and leave the other one a surprise: Louis CK does a hilarious job in his surprise role!).  Christian Bale, as crazy as he can be, shows why he is one of the best actors of our day.  Gaining a ton of weight and sporting a wicked combover, Bale disappears into his role as Irving Rosendale, con-man extraordinaire.  A passionate, clever man, Irving is selfish yet selfless as well.  The cons he performs are done to help him out, but he also wants to provide for his son, and eventually to save his new friend.  Amy Adams plays essentially the female equivalent of Irving, Sydney Prosser, as well as her alter-ego of sorts, Lady Edith Greensly.  For playing both of those roles well, Adams earns props from me.  Bradley Cooper plays FBI agent Richie DiMaso, who catches the two in action and agrees to let them go if they help him catch other con artists (this eventually turns into a whole other plot thing, but more about that later).  He definitely has his funny moments and plays his job well, but I wouldn’t say this is his best role (he definitely did a way better job in David O. Russell’s other film, Silver Linings Playbook).  Jeremy Renner does a fine job in his role as Mayor Carmine Polito, a man with good intentions who ultimately made some poor decisions.  However, without a doubt, Jennifer Lawrence steals the show (when does she not?) in her hilarious performance as Rosalyn Rosenfield, a ditzy, nosey woman with too much time on her hands and who cannot keep a secret.  As always, she is completely captivating and a delight every time she appears on screen.

As for the story, it’s not the easiest story to follow at times.  The plot takes plenty of twists and turns that can sometimes be difficult to keep up with; I didn’t know who was conning who and for what purposes.  While I appreciate films that make you think a bit, I also don’t like it when I get completely lost in a film.  This is of course just a personal opinion, and I’m sure other people will be able to follow the film perfectly, but for me, this was one of the flaws of the film.  The “serious” dramatic portion of the film can be a bit crazy, but the “comedy” portion of the film just does fine; you’ll be laughing throughout the film (mostly as a result of Jennifer Lawrence).

One thing I will say before wraping up is that I loved the focus on hair in this film, and here’s why.  The movie is about hustlers and conning people, which is all about putting up a good front.  The movie begins with Bale’s character spending a good 5-10 minutes putting his crazy combover in order, intricately folding hair over and gluing it down in an almost ritualistic way.  Later on, Adams’s character makes a comment about how Cooper’s character spends a bunch of time curling his hair, and how she can’t really say too much because she does the same thing.  These people do their hair because they want to look good and put up a good front, which bleeds into their nature as con-artists.  I just thought it was clever and wanted to mention it.

FINAL DIAGNOSIS: 8/10

While the dramatic portion of this film can be a bit confusing at times, the humorous side of the film was on point.  The nostalgic feel of the film adds to its charm and appeal, and the acting is pretty great, with everyone (including the surprise cameos) doing a great job.  I can understand why this film is getting award nods, but at the same time I find it hard to say with any certainty that this will win Best Picture (it might give Lawrence or Bale another award, but none of the others in my opinion).

Man of Steel

 

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Man of Steel is not necessarily the Superman movie you would expect, but it definitely packs a powerful punch and absolutely explodes in the last half of the film.

I should preface this review by saying I know very little about Superman, and I’ve never seen the classic films.  I have a very cursory knowledge of Kal-El and Krypton, so I have no idea how well the film portrays his home planet and his origins.

What makes this Superman movie different that the others is it’s focus on Kal-El’s home planet of Krypton, and his native race of Kryptonians.  The planet looks incredible, with advanced alien technology mostly deriving of morphing metal balls/fluids, but I feel like if we were going to look at Krypton, we should have probably devoted more time to it, maybe it’s own origin film, because it feels rushed.  In addition, the movie centers around General Zod and his stubborn-minded approach to preserving Krypton and its people.  General Zod and his minions are certainly terrifying foes, just as powerful as Superman until they lose their masks.  The fights they had were definitely action-packed and exciting to watch.  But again, I think more character development on Zod would have been interesting; he just steps in and is immediately identified as the villain.  Only later near the end of the movie do we find out more about why Zod is so bent on accomplishing his mission.  All of this being said, I think some of the more confusing elements of the story come from explanations about Krypton.

When it comes to Superman’s story, I was not a big fan of the non-linear approach (starting off with adult Superman and throwing in random flashbacks to him growing up and learning to deal with his powers); once again, I feel like many of the more fascinating elements of Superman were rushed.  I know a similar approach was taking for Nolan’s Dark Knight Trilogy, but I think it worked better with Batman than it did in this film.  In addition, I always thought Superman adopted the Clark Kent “Daily Planet” persona (with the glasses and all) before he started acting as Superman, so I was thrown off by that aspect of it.  It’s always interesting seeing Superman (acting as Clark Kent) having to deal with people who don’t realize his true power, so there were a few fun and intriguing scenes depicting that.

As stated earlier, while the first half of this movie deals with Superman learning more about who he is and strengthening/testing his abilities, the last half is a non-stop, action-packed explosion of super-powered fight scenes.  It is very intense and very exciting to watch, and is especially powerful with IMAX’s impressive sound quality.  I always wonder in these types of movies how in the world the city recovers from such utter destruction; buildings are leveled, hundreds of innocent bystanders are killed, streets and roads are smashed.  By the end of this movie, Metropolis looks like an apocalyptic wasteland!

In terms of the acting, I think everyone did a fine job.  Michael Shannon was born to play villains, Amy Adams had her trademark feistiness that fit well for Lois Lane, Diane Lane did an excellent job as Clark’s mother, Russell Crowe seems like a good fit for Jor-El (Superman’s dad), and Henry Cavill did a fine job playing a darker, more realistic Superman that Nolan was shooting for.

FINAL DIAGNOSIS: 8/10

The story jumps around between past and present and can be a bit confusing at times (and at times almost feels like an alien sci-fi movie that just happens to feature Superman), but it’s definitely exciting and action-packed.  It’s certainly one of the better Superman films, but it’s definitely different than the other ones with it’s heavy focus on Krypton.