Golden Globes 2013: Breaking Down the Nominations

The 2013 Golden Globe nominations were released today and while this isn’t the greatest awards show on Earth, it does give a small lead-in for the Oscars. Lincoln led with seven nominations, Argo and Django Unchained followed with six nominations, and the real surprise came when Salmon Fishing in the Yemen grabbed three nominations. While its still early and I haven’t had a chance to check out a few of the nominations that will be released at the end of the year, it isn’t early to start discussing who will win.

Best Picture- Drama

Argo

Django Unchained

Lincoln

Life of Pi

Zero Dark Thirty

Analysis: Right now I have seen three out of the five in this category (Django and Zero Dark Thirty have not been released yet) and I fully understand why each got a nomination. While as of right now I personally side with Argo based on the incredibly intense and smartly written script, great acting, and phenomenal directing by Ben Affleck but I have to believe that as of right now Lincoln holds the lead. Not only did it garner the most nominations but it has heavy influences in the major categories with Daniel Day-Lewis and Sally Field already beginning to rack up awards. Also put into factor this history of Steven Spielberg and the Hollywood Foreign Press where Spielberg has won multiple times, most recently with Saving Private Ryan and Schindler’s List, and the other directors like Affleck and Katheryn Bigelow have been nominated but not recognized. Look at 2008 when Bigelow was nominated for the eventual Oscar winner The Hurt Locker but lost out to Avatar at the Globes.

Best Picture- Comedy/Musical

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Les Miserables

Silver Linings Playbook

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Moonrise Kingdom

Analysis: The comedy/musical category is always a funny one (pun intended). I remember a few years back when a movie that I loved, (500) Days of Summer, was nominated and I believed it was the best choice to win but it ended up being undercut by The Hangover and probably hurt it in its quest to be nominated for an Oscar. This year though there are a few Oscar Best Picture worthy films but I have only seen one (Moonrise Kingdom). That being said, I know that Les Miserables will most likely be the front-runner due to the amazing press it is already garnering. Director Tom Hooper has already impressed the HFPA once with The King’s Speech a few years back and I’m sure that his latest film will do the same. That being said I would love to see Moonrise Kingdom win because of how well-put together it was and the fact that it has one of the better ensembles in movies this year.

Best Director

Ben Affleck – Argo

Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty

Ang Lee – Life of Pi

Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained

Analysis: First off I want to point out how great this field is in nominations, each one deserving the win. But as I said before I probably would have to favor Spielberg. He has a long history of winning at the Globes and has won for films that didn’t win Best Picture here. But I want to commend the work of Affleck and Lee as well. Affleck directed easily his best film yet and it still stands as my favorite one this year. The amount of intensity and intrigue that he brought to a topic that we all knew the ending to was insane and he cemented himself as one of the better directors out there from the past few years. Lee also shined in his adaptation of a novel that many said could never be put on film. Not only did the 3-D blow me away but the scenes with Pi and the tiger were expertly shot and handled very well. I have yet to see Zero Dark Thirty or Django Unchained but I can assume that Bigelow and QT are on their top game in those.

Best Actor- Drama

Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln

Richard Gere -Arbitrage

John Hawkes – The Sessions

Joaquin Phoenix – The Master

Denzel Washington – Flight

Analysis: While there are a lot of deserving performances in this category, I have to believe that this award is Day-Lewis’ to lose. While I didn’t fall head over heels for Lincoln, the part that stuck out most was the mesmerizing performance by Daniel Day-Lewis as Lincoln. He commanded the screen and gave a performance that most likely will be the portrait of how we view Lincoln going forward in both movies and television. I have personally not seen the other films but I know that both Phoenix and Hawkes have garnered a lot of praise and will probably be the most likely second and third place behind Day-Lewis.

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

Analysis: This category is tough for me to personally predict mainly since I have not seen any of the movies. I have to say though just judging from reviews and reports I have read about Zero Dark Thirty I know that Chastain really stands out and gives a great performance. Outside of her, Cotillard or Mirren would have to be the next in line.

Best Actor- Comedy/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

Analysis: Quite an odd group right here I can’t say who I would see jumping out in front early. My money would have to be on either Cooper or Jackman with Jackman just a little ahead but I haven’t seen either film. I would like to say though that I could see both of them making a case for an Oscar nomination and replacing two from the Drama category.

Best Actress – Comedy/Musical

Emily Blunt – Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

Judi Dench – The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook

Maggie Smith – Quartet

Meryl Streep – Hope Springs

Analysis: This category is a fickle one as well. No performance has really stood out to me and I don’t know off the top of my head who I would go with. Personally I felt that Dench’s performance in Skyfall was deserving of a nomination. If I had to put my money on one though I would go with Smith who I have read gave the picture defining performance in Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut.

Best Supporting Actor

Alan Arkin – Argo

Leonardo DiCaprio – Django Unchained

Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master

Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln

Christoph Waltz – Django Unchained

Analysis: Without seeing Django yet I feel like I’m missing half this category. To this point though I would go with Tommy Lee Jones who stole many scenes in Lincoln which was difficult with so many great actors being a part of that film and Day-Lewis wiping the floor with his performance. I thought Arkin did a great job but was not as prominent in Argo as Lee Jones was in Lincoln. But as I said it could change once I get a chance to see Django and its two nominations.

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Adams – The Master

Sally Field – Lincoln

Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables

Helen Hunt – The Sessions

Nicole Kidman – The Paperboy

Analysis: Judging from the awards that have already been given out I would have to say that the early favorite in this category would have to be Field. While I personally was not wowed by her performance in Lincoln I thought she did do a great job and deserves the nomination. That being said, many are saying that Hathaway is spellbinding in Les Miserables and I cannot wait to see her in it. I feel that with a great return once the movie is released, we could possibly see Hathaway come in and swoop the award away from Field.

Best Animated Feature

Brave

Frankenweenie

Rise of the Guardians

Wreck-It-Ralph

Hotel Transylvania

Analysis: Now this category just makes me mad. There is no reason that Hotel Transylvania should be in here instead of ParaNorman which was way more creative, better put together, and better acted piece of animation. While I do like both Brave and Frankenweenie, I am mad to see ParaNorman not get the recognition it deserves. I would put my money on Frankenweenie right now but look out for the other Disney projects, Brave and Wreck-It-Ralph, to steal the thunder.

Best Screenplay

Argo

Django Unchained

Lincoln

Silver Linings Playbook

Zero Dark Thirty

Analysis: I’m glad to see each of these movies getting nominated for screenplay because from the ones I have seen they very much deserve it. If I had a vote I would go with Argo here. While Lincoln was great, I felt that the characters and story of Argo was done so well. It was an event that everyone knew the ending to but not necessarily the people involved and the screenwriters did a fantastic job of giving us interesting characters that we could invest in and roadblocks in the way of their goal that had us on the edge of our seats. Lincoln is great too and I could understand it winning based on the interesting historical aspect and the topic that it dealt with. The screenwriters did a great job of not only showing what it was like for Lincoln as he tried to free the slaves but also end the war as well.

Best Score

Anna Karenina

Argo

Cloud Atlas

Life of Pi

Lincoln

Analysis: While I am disappointed that Beasts of the Southern Wild was not nominated here, I do like the nominations that they have. If I had to pick I would go with Cloud Atlas. While some may have not entirely loved the movie, I felt that one great aspect of it was the beautifully moving score that Tom Tykwer gave us. The Cloud Atlas Sextet, which plays as an important motif throughout the film, is just one of many beautiful songs coming from this epic. I loved the score for Life of Pi and would probably rank that as my second choice. It had a great Indian blend and was very emotional and moving as well.

Best Song

“For You” from Act of Valor

“Not Running Anymore” from Stand Up Guys

“Safe and Sound” from The Hunger Games

“Skyfall” from Skyfall

“Suddenly” from Les Miserables

Analysis: I’m not that invested in seeing who wins Best Song but I would love to see either something from Les Miserables to win or Adele’s Skyfall which I absolutely loved to win.

I was mostly pleased with the nominations but would like to throw out a few films that did not get nominations that deserve them:

1) Beasts of the Southern Wild: It was a deeply moving and emotional film with a stand-out performance by young Quvenzhane Wallis who stole the show. The score was intoxicating and the directing work was superb and the HFPA really missed a gem with this one.

2) More praise for Moonrise Kingdom: I felt like this film deserved a little more praise than it got. Maybe the Oscars will do more but I would like to see some recognition for Wes Anderson in directing and for the script.

What do you think? Leave a comment.