Golden Globes 2014 - The Predictions

Best Motion Picture – Drama

12 Years a Slave; Captain Phillips; Gravity; Philomena; Rush

Prediction: Discounting all but 12 Years a Slave and Gravity, the entire awards season truly is a two-horse race this year; Steve McQueen’s challenging film tackles slavery, whilst Alfonso Cuarón’s blockbuster embraces spectacle – you really couldn’t get two more different films, and it could go either way. Judging by the HFPA’s past winners, I predict Gravity will be the evening’s big winner meaning 12 Years a Slave will have to wait until March for its statuette

Who I Want: Gravity – an immersive rollercoaster ride of a film.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock – Gravity; Judi Dench – Philomena; Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks; Kate Winslet – Labor Day

Prediction: The awards buzz has surrounded Blanchett since Blue Jasmine landed last summer, and although strong competition has manifested in Sandra Bullock and us Brits (with Judi Dench building prominence for her role in Philomena), it would be one hell of a shock if Cate Blanchett didn’t emerge victorious in a completely deserved win for Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.

Who I Want: Cate Blanchett – her role in Blue Jasmine is one that will never be forgotten.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave; Idris Elba – Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom; Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips; Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club; Robert Redford – All Is Lost

Prediction: As astounding as it would be to see Ejiofor finally recognised for the terrific actor he is, Tom Hanks put forward a true masterclass in Captain Phillips. Could he commandeer the win? It will be close, but I still think Chiwetel Ejiofor will come away with the win for his role as Solomon Northup in 12 Years a Slave - with Matthew McConaughey the dark horse just outside the ring.

Who I Want: Tom Hanks for that final scene alone, although would be incredible to see acting legend Robert Redford take to the stage.

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
American Hustle; Her; Inside Llewyn Davis; Nebraska; The Wolf of Wall Street

Prediction: A category specific to comedy and musicals featuring no out-and-out comedies or musicals, it would be easy to assume this is American Hustle’s or The Wolf of Wall Street’s. Yet I’m putting my chips on Nebraska – Alexander Payne is an HFPA favourite.

Who I Want: Inside Llewyn Davis – the Coen Brothers have made a love-letter to 60s folk that rivals their back catalogue and veers towards perfection.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical
Amy Adams – American Hustle; Julie Delpy – Before Midnight; Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha; Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said; Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Prediction: An understated output, Meryl Streep will win for no other reason than it’s another great performance from Meryl Streep…

Who I Want: Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha may not have been perfect, but her performance was one of the year’s most memorable.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Christian Bale – American Hustle; Bruce Dern – Nebraska; Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street; Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis; Joaquin Phoenix – Her

Prediction: A category filled with top rate performances and no clear favourites means this will be the exciting one; as great as Bale is in American Hustle, he has been better, and even though Oscar Isaac is incredible in the Coen Brothers’ entrancing Inside Llewyn Davis, it’ll be down to Dern and DiCaprio to truss this one out… Expect Bruce Dern to get the gold for his role as Woody Grant in Nebraska.

Who I Want: Leonardo DiCaprio – this is one actor who deserves to be rewarded, especially for a performance such as this.

Best Animated Feature Film
The Croods; Despicable Me 2; Frozen

Prediction: Quite a tough one to call, but Disney’s Frozen will come away with the win here – despite fierce competition from those Minions

Who I Want: No preference really –Despicable Me 2, because it was my little brother Isaac’s favourite film of last year. Yep. I'm a good bro.

Best Foreign Language Film
Blue is the Warmest Colour; The Great Beauty; The Hunt; The Past; The Wind Rises

Prediction: Upon first look, this appears a straight forward category. What with Blue Is the Warmest Colour being winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes. All of the other nominated films have critical acclaim behind them however - especially Sorrentino's The Great Beauty - meaning this is one of the evening’s tougher ones to call. Still, I’m opting for Blue Is the Warmest Colour.

Who I Want: The Hunt – a mesmerizing film, with a jaw-dropping performance from Hannibal’s Mads Mikkelsen.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine; Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle  ; Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave; Julia Roberts – August: Osage County; June Squibb – Nebraska

Prediction: Some great performances in yet another category with no clear frontrunner, June Squibb should win for her show-stealing role in Nebraska. However, awards darling Jennifer Lawrence – fresh from her Silver Linings… success – has gained heat as the night has crept ever closer.

Who I Want: June Squibb for taking a character and transforming her from frustrating matriarch into one of the most heart-warming roles of 2013.

Best Performance in an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips; Daniel Brühl – Rush; Bradley Cooper – American Hustle; Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave; Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Prediction: It’s really great to see newcomer Barkhad Abdi recognised amongst these other terrific performances, but I can see all being trounced by Jared Leto’s appearance in Dallas Buyer’s Club.

Who I Want: Michael Fassbender or Daniel Brühl, for his fantastic portrayal of FL legend Niki Lauda.

Best Director – Motion Picture
Alfonso Cuarón – Gravity; Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips; Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave; Alexander Payne – Nebraska; David O. Russell – American Hustle

Prediction: It will be damned difficult to beat Alfonso Cuarón, who I am assuming is a shoo-in for his fascinating work on display in the ground-breaking Gravity. In many ways, it should be his.  

Who I Want: I believe that Cuarón deserves every accolade laid upon him; an extraordinary filmmaker who delivered a show-stopping film.

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Spike Jonze – Her; Bob Nelson – Nebraska; Jeff Pope, Steve Coogan – Philomena; John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave; Eric Warren Singer, David O. Russell – American Hustle

Prediction: I’m going to opt for Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell’s American Hustle screenplay – their re-telling of the ABSCAM operation back in the 70s (albeit with caper twist) seems like a script that would take the gong.

Who I Want: Philomena – seeing Jeff Pope and Steve Coogan scooping the award for their heartfelt re-telling of Martin Sixsmith’s account would be a great moment.

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Saving Mr. Banks

2013, 12, Directed by John Lee Hancock
Starring: Emma Thompson, Tom Hanks, Bradley Whitford, Colin Farrell

 

One of the most frustrating factors in biopics are usually the wasted opportunity to explore the most interesting of characters. 2013 was the year of Diana, remember. Conversely, there are those that present us with a blurred real-life figure who is shifted sharply into focus by an enthralling piece of cinema (George Clooney's Confessions of a Dangerous Mind springs to memory.)

It's something of an alarm to realise that somebody whose life hasn't been placed under microscope and in front of camera is one whose very influence still shapes cinema today - Walt Disney; a powerhouse historical figure, who audiences would gladly delve into a film of... But be sure, Saving Mr. Banks is not it.

Instead, John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side) opts to show us the fortunately screen-friendly story of the legendary Mary Poppins' journey from the English page of P.L. Travers to the Hollywood studio of the moustachioed mouse-creating maestro. Uppity tea-sipping author Travers is played by Emma Thompson, an actress so adept at doing pretty much anything and achieving the desired response - here, she frustrates at her refusal to give up her novel to a bunch of savages who she's convinced would rip the pages to pieces and destroy the character she so lovingly crafted. Sitting in on - and recording every word of - the read-throughs with producer Don DeGradi (Bradley Whitford) and composing Sherman brother duo (B.J. Novak and Jason Schwartzman), these scenes shine with an air of irrationality, and will glisten with your giggle (ironic, considering their later assurance of hatred for Travers.) Thompson takes the irrefutably tough-to-like and difficult to encrypt author, and turns her near-stereotypically fuddity into a comedic flourish.

Yet this is very much a film of two halves. Providing context behind the creation of Mary Poppins ('never ever just Mary,' she scolds at one stage) and her longing to preserve the beloved character from becoming just another pretty woman who sings, are childhood flashbacks. Travers grew up on a ranch in Australia, where her father Mr. Banks (Colin Farrell) fed her fairytales and fantasies, whilst swigging bottles of alcohol and destroying his family on the sly. There's hints to quite a tragic upbringing, and moments in the film's present that correlate with specifics of the past, yet whenever we flit back to that ranch, the film loses the very magic ole' Walt would have ensured was there. They seriously endanger the fluidity of Saving Mr. Banks, despite some pleasant performances from Farrell and child actor Annie Rose Buckley.

Much like a Beatles fan gets joy from hearing original recordings of classic tracks, Mary Poppins fans can revel in seeing the creation of now-familial tunes. With much to love on the surface - genuine laughs, and a charmingly sweet appearance from Paul Giamatti as Travers' driver - and the closest the film allows her to have as a friend - the structure is toppled by the tedious reversion to backstory. Omitting these would have done the film some saving.

3.5/5

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