I noticed that the Golden Globes were announced today, more or less the unofficial precursor to the Oscars, I though I’d make a quick post regarding my opinions. I don’t mean to intrude on Top Ten Thursday but I feel like I should write about this while it’s still fresh in my mind.
Every December we have the Golden Globes which is basically a sneak peak at the year’s Oscar contenders. For example, all the films nominated for Best Picture at last years Oscars had at least a Best Picture nom at the Golden Globes. So the chances are pretty good that the Golden Globe films were looking at here will be pretty similar to the Oscar nominations in late January. So let’s see for Best Picture we got;
Frost/Nixon
Dir: Ron Howard
Written by: Peter Morgan
Cast: Frank Langella, Michael Sheen, Kevin Bacon, Oliver Platt, Sam Rockwell
Thoughts: This definitely makes sense it’s a star studded political drama directed by Ron Howard and written by Peter Morgan (The Queen) starring Frank Langella as a spot on Richard Nixon. There looks be to drama, humor and entertainment so I look forward to checking it out.
Slumdog Millionaire
Dir: Danny Boyle
Written by: Simon Beaufoy
Cast: Dev Patel, Madhur Mittal, Freida Pinto, Anil Kapoor, Irrfan Khan
Thoughts: It’s always a pleasant surprise to see a unique, creative and beautiful film like Slumdog get this kind of attention. I mean this a pretty different film compared to your regular awards fare flicks. Who’d of ever thought that the guy who directed 28 Days Later would make such an acclaimed film as this? It is all very exciting.
Revolutionary Road
Dir: Sam Mendes
Written by: Justin Haythe
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates
Thoughts: This is just one of those films that’s got Oscar written all over it, complete Oscar bait if you will. With it’s cast in the reuniting of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, many will look forward to seeing them together again. Not only that but it’s a dramatic period piece, based off of an acclaimed novel and directed by Sam Mendes (American Beauty, The Road to Perdition).
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Dir: David Fincher
Written by: Eric Roth
Cast: Brad Pitt, Kate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton, Taraji P. Henson
Thoughts: Very surprising as I never thought a 167 minute long fantasy film directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac) would get this kind of buzz. Though it’s always a good sign when you’ve hired Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Munich) to pen the script. The visual and makeup effects look out of this world and I can’t wait for it’s upcoming holiday release.
The Reader
Dir: Stephen Daldry
Written by: David Hare
Cast: Kate Winslet, Ralph Fiennes, David Kross
Thoughts: Huh? I think I heard about this once but a possible best picture contender? This is one of those films that award ceremonies spring out at you at the last second to try and be cool and show that their unpredictable. I really don’t know what to think about this film, whatever it’s about. There were definitely a handful of other films that a majority of people were pulling for. Both Milk and The Dark Knight were favorites but both of those only got a single acting nomination each. If this is indeed a look at the Best Picture noms for the Oscars then it’ll be a disappointment, especially for The Dark Knight which has been working it’s butt off to get some well deserved award recognition.
As for the rest of the awards I often find that they could go either way when the Oscar nominations see the day of light so I’ll skip that for now. There are some nice surprises here but as well a a few upsets. It’s not like the Golden Globes set the Oscar nominations in stone, so all we can do now is play the waiting game.