Golden Globes® predictions 2010

The Golden Globes® for film and television is widely viewed as the precursor to the Oscars® so for those eagerly anticipating the Academy's nominations, these are a good guide. Three of our writers give their opinions on the likely contenders this year.

Best Film - Drama
Wow. Four very worthy films (plus Inglourious Basterds) are in the running here, with previous award ceremonies failing to agree on one solid favourite. The Hurt Locker, however, appears to be the best bet for this due to its ever relevant subject matter of the Iraq war. Other than that Precious or Up In The Air could steal it at the last minute, but the gut feeling does point towards a victory for the war film.
Prediction: The Hurt Locker

Best Actor - Drama
George Clooney is the frontrunner for his role in Up In the Air, but he’s up against stiff competition. Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela in Clint Eastwood’s Invictus is pure awards fare, but the ones to watch are: Jeff Bridges as a washed-up, drunken country singer in Crazy Heart; and dark horse Colin Firth as a bereaved English professor in LA in A Single Man.
Prediction: George Clooney (Up in the Air), although we'd like to see Colin Firth steal it.

Best Actress - Drama
The gut has to favour Carey Mulligan for her breakout role in An Education; with the vast majority of previous, smaller awards favouring her then it must be in the bag. The only real danger for our beloved Carey is newcomer Gabourney Sidibe for her role as the eponymous Precious.
Prediction: Carey Mulligan (An Education)

Best Film - Comedy or Musical
Before Mamma Mia and The Devil Wears Prada, it might have seemed unusual to see two Meryl Streep entries in this category, but Julie & Julia and It’s Complicated both boast impressive casts and are being highly praised. Elsewhere, Nine’s director previously won an Oscar® for Chicago, and token indie entry (500) Days of Summer might be a dark horse, but we’d love to see The Hangover sneak a win.
Prediction: Julie & Julia

Best Actress – Comedy or Musical
You have to love the Globes® for genre splitting. Favour has to be with Meryl Streep for her fantastic performance as the chef Julia Child in Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia. However, with Ms. Streep taking two nominations in this category there is the ever so slight possibility that Marion Cotillard might sneak it for Nine.
Prediction: Meryl Steep (Julie & Julia)

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical
The stronger contenders are Matt Damon, as an unlikely spy in The Informant!, and Daniel Day-Lewis, as a director lacking inspiration in Nine. But if newcomer Michael Stuhlbarg doesn't win for his harassed college professor in the Coens’ A Serious Man then we'll eat our kippah.
Prediction: Michael Stuhlbarg (A Serious Man)

Best Supporting Actor and Actress
Matt Damon gets a second nod, this time for Invictus, but faces competition from Christoph Waltz’s stunningly evil Nazi in Inglourious Basterds. More likely, however, is the ever dependable Stanley Tucci, as the killer in Peter Jackson’s The Lovely Bones (surprisingly the film’s only nomination).
As much as we love Penelope Cruz, she will not be walking away with this one. The winner is a toss-up between Mo’Nique for her role in Precious and Anna Kendrick for Up In The Air. However, since the Globes® are more likely than the Oscars® to give awards to independent cinema, Mo’Nique may be adding another award to her impressive haul this season.
Predictions: Mo’ Nique (Precious) and Stanley Tucci (The Lovely Bones)

Best Director
James Cameron’s nod for Avatar seems to be as much for his technological innovations as anything else. Clint Eastwood for Invictus appears too obvious a choice, and Quentin Tarantino’s nomination for Inglourious Basterds again looks more of an acknowledgment. This leaves Jason Reitman for Up in the Air and, the one to beat, Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker.
Prediction: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)

Best Foreign Language Film
As usual this is a strong category, the highlights being gritty French film A Prophet, in which a young Arab man learns how to survive in prison, and chiller The White Ribbon from German master Michael Haneke. Pedro Almodóvar‘s fourth collaboration with Penelope Cruz, Broken Embraces, however, is sure to make sparks fly.
Prediction: Broken Embraces

Best Animated Film
There is no competition here. It has to belong to Pixar for Up. However, a win for Fantastic Mr. Fox would not be entirely surprising.
Prediction: Up

Best Screenplay
A rather strange assortment of films in this category this year. Sometimes, but not always, the screenplay award goes to the film that is deemed second place to the best film of the year as a form of consolation prize. Due to our previous prediction of The Hurt Locker winning Best Drama, then we call this award for Up In the Air.
Prediction: Up In The Air

Best TV Series – Drama
Mad Men has received much love from critics and viewers alike, so it’s kind of a shoe-in, though House had one of its best seasons last year. True Blood could be the underdog, although I don’t think it has enough ‘bite’ to edge out the other two.
Prediction: Mad Men

Best Actor and Actress in a TV Series - Drama
Hugh Laurie’s post-rehab Dr. House was in fine form and viewers love him. On the other hand, Dexter’s Michael C. Hall has just walked away from a killer season.
Though not over here yet, Julianna Margulies in The Good Wife has been one of the most praised performances. Competition from True Blood’s Anna Paquin and Mad Men’s January Jones may not be enough to beat her.
Predictions: Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife) and Hugh Laurie (House)

Best TV Series - Comedy/Musical
Being the most hyped new show, Glee must have this one in the bag due to its fresh-faced originality. On the other hand, 30 Rock is an awards-show favourite, and Modern Family is this year’s best new sitcom.
Prediction: Glee

Best Actor and Actress in a TV Series - Comedy/Musical
Without much doubt, Alec Baldwin’s fourth season as an eccentric businessman is going to bag this one.
Voters love a great comeback, and it might come courtesy of Courteney Cox’s Jules in Cougar Town. However being up against heavyweight Tina Fey may not quite push her all the way.
Predictions: Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) and Tina Fey (30 Rock)

The Golden Globes take place on Sunday 17th January. For a full list of nominations, visit this link: [1]

GOLDEN GLOBE(S)®, HOLLYWOOD FOREIGN PRESS ASSOCIATION® and GOLDEN GLOBE® statuette design mark are the registered trademarks and service marks and the GOLDEN GLOBE® statuette the copyrighted property, of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Copyright © MM-MMX Hollywood Foreign Press Association. All rights reserved.

"OSCAR®," "ACADEMY AWARDS®" and the OSCAR statuette are registered trademarks, and the OSCAR statuette a copyrighted property, of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This website is not affiliated with the Academy.

Add Comment

You must log in to submit a comment.