Golden Globes 2012

It's that time of year again. The Golden Globes are one of the more prestigious awards events, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and is an event that rewards outstanding achievement in film and television. After the Oscars, and the Grammy awards, the ceremony is generally considered to be the 3rd most watched awards show in the world, hinting at its significance for those within the 'biz.

For some, it is a 'watered-down' version of the Oscars, which are due to take place at the end of next month, but I'd disagree with that sentiment, and maintain that the Golden Globes does have its merit. It's not a clear indicator of who is going to take home the gong next month, and should not be considered an Oscar warm-up in any shape or form. Its method of splitting film into two categories (Drama and Musical/Comedy) gives a greater opportunity for brilliant yet understated films to recieve some form of awards recognition.

It's not without a little controversy, however. Giving praise to the little man is an admirable trait, but nominating 'The Tourist' (as it did last year) seemed slightly out of the blue, considering the film had been critically condemned, and performed below-par at the US box office.

And then there's Ricky...

For a third consecutive stint, Ricky Gervais is returning to host the awards. Generating more controversy than any of his stand-up gigs combined, many thought that he'd finally severed the bond between himself and the HFPA, yet here he is again, and when it was announced, you could probably feel Hollywood's butt clench with the anxiety of having the British comedian return once more, utterly packed with witty anecdotes, biting remarks and I'm sure, one or two new Charlie Sheen-based zingers.

Anyway, on to the nominations.

Film

Best Motion Picture -- Drama
The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides Of March
Moneyball
War Horse

Again, you can never be sure with the Globes, and though I'm yet to see 2 of these films, I'm going to go with the general buzz and predict The Descendants to come out on top of an otherwise impressive looking group of films.



Best Motion Picture -- Musical/Comedy
50/50
The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight In Paris
My Week With Marilyn

Again, some heavyweights here; Bridesmaids was the smash hit, and could, like The Hangover did, shock some and take home the gong. Woody Allen's best film in years, Midnight In Paris, will be a definite contender, but I don't think I can look past The Artist in this group. I'm positive it'll win.



Best Male Performance -- Drama
George Clooney -- The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio -- J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender -- Shame
Ryan Gosling -- The Ides Of March
Brad Pitt -- Moneyball

Arguably, the top 5 male stars in Hollywood at the current moment in time -- and an incredibly close knit race. Gosling has had a terrific year, as has Pitt, both starring in at least 2 critically acclaimed hits. Fassbender continues to cement his A-list status, whilst DiCaprio is as popular as ever. However, Clooney will win here.



Best Female Performance -- Drama
Glenn Close -- Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis -- The Help
Rooney Mara -- The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
Meryl Streep -- The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton -- We Need To Talk About Kevin

This one, I'm less sure about than any of the others. Again, cases can be made for each of them, and it's anyone's guess who's going to bag it, but going with the buzz, I'd have to pick Davis after she secured the Critics' award.



Best Male Performance -- Musical/Comedy
Jean Dujardin -- The Artist
Brendan Gleeson -- The Guard
Joseph Gordon-Levitt -- 50/50
Ryan Gosling -- Crazy, Stupid, Love
Owen Wilson -- Midnight In Paris

Withstanding any major shocks, Jean Dujardin has this in the bag.



Best Female Performance -- Musical/Comedy
Jodie Foster -- Carnage
Charlize Theron -- Young Adult
Kristen Wiig -- Bridesmaids
Michelle Williams -- My Week With Marilyn
Kate Winslet -- Carnage

Wiig surprised many in Bridesmaids, and was the driving force behind its success, I have no doubt. But I don't think she did enough to put off Hollywood's darling, Marilyn Monroe, aka Michelle Williams.



Supporting Actor
Kenneth Branagh -- My Week With Marilyn
Albert Brooks -- Drive
Jonah Hill -- Moneyball
Viggo Mortenson -- A Dangerous Method
Christopher Plummer -- Beginners

Split between three here, but do you remember Marlin from Finding Nemo? Do you remember Ross Cargill from The Simpsons Movie? Well, imagine the guy behind those playful voices as a psychotic mafia boss. Albert Brooks to win this one.



Supporting Actress
Bérénice Bejo - The Artist
Jessica Chastain - The Help
Janet McTeer - Albert Nobbs
Octavia Spencer - The Help
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants

My rule regarding The Artist didn't last long. This isn't a category I admit to being an expert in, but expect Shailene Woodley to garner some praise here.



Best Director
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
George Clooney - The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Alexander Payne - The Descendants
Martin Scorsese - Hugo

Personally, I'd like to see Allen or Scorsese take this one home, but I believe it's a two horse race between Payne and Hazanavicius, and whilst I have a niggling feeling that Payne will win the Oscar, expect this to go to Hazanavicius.



Best Screenplay
Woody Allen - Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, Grant Heslov & Beau Willimon - The Ides of March
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash - The Descendants
Steven Zaillian & Aaron Sorkin - Moneyball

Take my rule about The Artist, and apply it to The Descendants as well, because Payne, Faxon and Rash (Dean Pelton from Community) have this in the bag, for me.



Best Animated Feature
The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

Rango. Rango, Rango, Rango, Rango. RANGO...maybe Tintin.



Television

Best Series -- Drama
American Horror Story
Boardwalk Empire
Boss
Game of Thrones
Homeland

Ruling out the good, but severely overrated Game Of Thrones, and the perhaps slightly extreme American Horror Story, we're left with three. Boss, I know little about, but sense it's more about Kelsey Grammar's performance. Boardwalk Empire is always a safe bet, but I think the emergence of Homeland is something to be reckoned with this year.



Best Series -- Comedy
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
Modern Family
New Girl

I love Zooey Deschanel, but New Girl is her vehicle, and only works because people want to see Zooey Deschanel. It's amusing at times, and she is a gifted comedy actress, but it doesn't hold up against Modern Family, which will deservedly win again. And again. And again...



Best Actor -- Drama
Steve Buscemi – Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston – Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammer – Boss
Jeremy Irons – The Borgias
Damian Lewis – Homeland

I've always rated Damian Lewis as an actor, and he undeniably rocks on Homeland, but this award may as well be called the 'As Long As Breaking Bad Is Airing, Bryan Cranston Has This In The Bag' award. I'd still expect Lewis to be nominated though. NOTE: Buscemi won it last year, but Breaking Bad has had its best season to date (which is saying a lot considering it's unmatched quality).



Best Actress -- Drama
Claire Danes – Homeland
Mireille Enos – The Killing
Julianna Margulies – The Good Wife
Madeleine Stowe – Revenge
Callie Thorne – Necessary Roughness

See above. Replace Lewis with Danes, and Cranston with Margulies.



Best Actor -- Music/Comedy
Alec Baldwin – 30 Rock as Jack Donaghy
David Duchovny – Californication as Hank Moody
Johnny Galecki – The Big Bang Theory as Leonard Hofstadter
Thomas Jane – Hung as Ray Drecker
Matt LeBlanc – Episodes as Matt LeBlanc

How they keep nominating Galecki for awards over co-star Kunal Nayyer is beyond me. Either way, I'd be surprised if he won, and am going to have to credit Matt LeBlanc with this one. It's been too long.



Best Actress -- Music/Comedy
Laura Dern - Enlightened
Zooey Deschanel - New Girl
Tina Fey - 30 Rock
Laura Linney - The Big C
Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation

Not a clue. Zooey Deschanel would be my stab in the dark, considering she's universally adored.




The Golden Globes air tonight, January 15th. For those in the UK, I believe they're showing the Red Carpet and Ceremony on E! Entertainment. If you don't have it, I suggest you google or twitter a stream (if you're desperate).

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo -- Evil Shall With Evil Be Expelled.

I'd argue that with the canvas a bleak and dreary shade of grey, David Fincher produces his best work (I'm of course talking about the brilliant 'Se7en' and the unnerving 'Zodiac'), yet his 2010 Oscar-darling, 'The Social Network' remains a stumbling block in this ill-conceived theory. 'The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo' doesn't quite step up to the formidable bar set by the tale of Mark Zuckerberg and his nifty invention, but what it does do, it does intensely well. Based on Stieg Larsson's best-selling 'Millennium' trilogy, and the subsequent Swedish movies, Fincher is efficiently able to give the story a classy polish, and really ramp it up a notch. It's brutal and unyielding and all the more better for it.

I'm unfamiliar with the literature, but the plot within is fairly 'police-procedural' -- Daniel Craig is Mikael Blomkvist, a disgraced journalist, reeling from the loss of a court case with a high-ranking Swedish businessman. This is essential to the plot as it gives Blomvist an excuse to vanish, escape the accusatory leers of those around him. Enter Henrik Vanger (Christopher Plummer, Captain von Trapp to many of you), retired CEO and the patriarchal figure in a dizzying family line-up. 40 years ago, his niece, Harriet, disappeared in mysterious circumstances from their family island, separated from the mainland by a single bridge. The murderer is a member of this excessive Vanger family which mirrors a who's who of sinister human beings (Nazis, some of them). Eroded by obsession, Henrik's mind is no longer lucid enough to continue his half-baked investigation. He knows all about Mikael, having had emo/goth hacker extraordinaire Lisbeth Salander pick apart every aspect of Blomkvist's life, gaining enough insight to know that despite his recent losses, he is 'clean'. Mikael takes up the offer, and delves deep into the murky past of the Vanger family, interviewing them one by one, uncovering their sordid past, and teaming up with Salander along the way.

There are many different narratives at work in this piece. The Vanger investigation features prominently, but there is nothing particularly fresh here. Fincher choreographs each scene with deft precision, using lighting and sound to sublime effect. It's incredibly eerie, the steep snowy hillsides shrouded in a dark mist, that is representative of the family that occupies the houses on top of the hills. No one speaks to one another, and when they do, it is harsh and enigmatic -- Mikael will have to keep digging. Yet, what brought life to the original, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, was the inclusion of Salander's character, portrayed then by Noomi Rapace, and portrayed here by Rooney Mara.

The girl with the dragon tattoo. Emblazoned on her back, spread carefully along her taut, pale skin. A ward of the state, she has been thoroughly rejected from every orifice of life. Yet, she is resilient, fiercely intelligent, and astonishingly strong. Mentally and physically. Rapace's depiction was of a woman beaten down, but determined to pull through, and come out the other end. She hid away behind her 'colourless' features, whilst Mara holds back no punches. Here is an actress that has gone all out, total role commitment, 100% -- she's extraordinary and steals every scene she's in. Doesn't matter if you're James Bond.

As with 'The Social Network', NIN frontman, Trent Reznor is back (with Atticus Ross) behind the film's soundtrack, and I fully expect him to receive another Oscar nod for a score which becomes a secondary character throughout the movie. You may not notice it, but alone on those dark, dank slopes...keep an ear out. Low at times, thumping at others, it aptly supplies the tense thrills Fincher is looking for, and Reznor's upgrade of Zeppelin's 'Immigrant Song', with lyrics provided by Karen O (from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs), is astonishing. The opening credit segment is truly stunning. A plethora of dark metallic figures, whirling around in a bath of hauntingly beautiful sequences, pumped by the incessant chords of 'Immigrant Song', and Karen O's resounding wails.

The film is better than its Swedish counterpart; an assured director at the helm, it is able to tighten up the narrative and complete the jigsaw. I read that the last segment is actually the epilogue of the first novel, and though it is barely touched upon in the 2009 Swedish film, Fincher devotes time to incorporating it into his picture, and flesh his characters out further. The final shot threatens to throw the film wide open, begin a new chapter in Lisbeth's life. Just as, for once, she might be able to explore a new happily ever after, Fincher slams the book shut firmly, right in her face, and I hope he returns for the second film. A master at work here.