First off, let`s talk about the Best Picture and Best Director race. When the Oscar nominations came out, there were a couple of unexpected omissions – spy-turned-movie-producer thriller Argo made it into the list for Best Picture, but the film`s director Ben Affleck was shut out. The Globes plumped for both, naming Argo as Best Picture (Drama) of the year, and Affleck as Best Director. Um, oops?
This would normally put Affleck in good stead in the run-up to the Oscars… but since he`s completely out of the running, the question now becomes: who the heck will get the Oscar now? A Globe win for frontrunner Lincoln and its director Steven Spielberg would have consolidated its forward momentum going into the Oscars – now, there`s a little chip in its armour that could allow smaller pictures to sneak in under the radar, like Silver Linings Playbook or even Beasts Of The Southern Wild.
At least the acting awards were predictable enough – the Golden Globes is unusual for splitting its nominees into Drama and Musical/Comedy categories, but there were no surprises here. Daniel Day-Lewis is pretty much a lock for the Oscar, so it was no surprise that he walked away with the Golden Globe for Best Actor (Drama) tonight. Hugh Jackman won the other award for Best Actor in a Musical/Comedy, but that`s really a consolation prize. There`s no way he`ll be beating Day-Lewis at the Oscars.
The Best Actress race continues to narrow down to its two front-runners, Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty and Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook, who have steamed even further ahead off the pack by receiving a Golden Globe each in the two different Best Actress categories.
Expect to see Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained) and Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables) walk away with the same awards at the Oscars – the two took home Best Supporting Actor and Best Supporting Actress in the Golden Globes, and have been the firm favourites in their categories all along. Waltz, in particular, is representing his entire cast, who were pretty much snubbed by the Oscars.
Quentin Tarantino might not be able to win a Best Director Oscar – he wasn`t nominated for Django Unchained – but he could have a lock on Best Screenplay, an award he took home today.
The Best Animated Feature remains a bit of a mystery. Pixar again bagged the top prize with Brave, but it`s arguable that, this year, Brave was good but just not the best animated movie out there. This does give the courageous Princess Merida a boost heading into the Oscars though… where she`ll be up against a couple of nominees that didn`t even make it in to the Golden Globes nominees list (ParaNorman and Frankenweenie).
This year, the Globes were hosted by American comediennes Tina Fey and Amy Poehler – who, by all accounts, pulled off a fun, fizzy ceremony and even managed the impossible: ending it on time. There were a couple of fun surprises on the stage, including former President Bill Clinton turning up to introduce, well, former President Lincoln. We hear Spielberg made that happen (imagine what Spielberg`s contact list in his iPhone must look like!) – which turns out was a bit of a wasted effort since Affleck pipped him to the big wins of the night…
BEST PICTURE, DRAMA
Argo
Django Unchained
Life of Pi
Lincoln
Zero Dark Thirty
BEST PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Moonrise Kingdom
Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Silver Linings Playbook
BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck, Argo
Kathryn Bigelow, Zero Dark Thirty
Ang Lee, Life of Pi
Steven Spielberg, Lincoln
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
Richard Gere, Arbitrage
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Joaquin Phoenix, The Master
Denzel Washington, Flight
BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Rachel Weisz, The Deep Blue Sea
BEST ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Jack Black, Bernie
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables
Ewan McGregor, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Bill Murray, Hyde Park on Hudson
BEST ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Emily Blunt, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
Judi Dench, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Maggie Smith, Quartet
Meryl Streep, Hope Springs
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin, Argo
Leonardo DiCaprio, Django Unchained
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Christoph Waltz, Django Unchained
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams, The Master
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Miserables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
BEST SCREENPLAY
Mark Boal, Zero Dark Thirty
Tony Kushner, Lincoln
David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
Quentin Tarantino, Django Unchained
Chris Terrio, Argo
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Hotel Transvylvania
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
A Royal Affair
The Intouchables
Kon Tiki
Rust and Bone
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Mychael Danna, Life of Pi
Alexandre Desplat, Argo
Dario Marianelli, Anna Karenina
Tom Tywker, Reinhold Heil, Johnny Klimek, Cloud Atlas
John Williams, Lincoln
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“For You” Act of Valor
“Not Running Anymore” Stand Up Guys
“Safe and Sound” The Hunger Games
“Skyfall” Skyfall
“Suddenly” Les Miserables
Â