People love watching famous people accept trophies. So, every so often, Uproxx film and TV editorial director Keith Phipps and senior entertainment writer Mike Ryan will speculate about these trophies and which famous person might win one. It will be fun! Let’s talk some trophies! Today, pick this Sunday’s Golden Globe winners.
Mike: So, Keith, the Golden Globes are this weekend. Can you feel the excitement? Are you excited? I think I’m excited? Yeah, yeah, we all know the Golden Globes are a little shady, but who cares? They are fun, right?
Keith: They are. I always enjoy watching the Globes. Or, more usually, half paying attention to the Globes while doing something else. (All those jobs in The Simpsons Tapped Out don’t assign themselves.) I’m sorry Fey and Poehler aren’t on board this year. I haven’t developed the white-hot disregard for Ricky Gervais others have — The Office buys a lot of good will — but I think the quotation marks around this “shocking” material get a little thicker each year he hosts.
Mike: Right. How many years can Gervais really get out of his “I don’t want to be here Ha Ha Hoo Ha” shtick? But, yeah, I have no ill will — to the point I think I’m looking forward to him. Oh, also, a little-known fact: While everyone is drinking and being shocking (they drink at every awards show, but the Golden Globes were smart to encourage it and make it socially acceptable), in-between some awards are handed out. Let’s talk about those.
Let’s start with the Supporting categories. There is no way the Hollywood Foreign Press Association passes up a chance to give Sylvester Stallone a trophy, so he’s my lock of the night. (Populist actors always seem to do well at the Globes: Bill Murray, Madonna, Jim Carrey, Mickey Rourke.) For Actress, I am going to pick Alicia Vikander for Ex Machina as a kind of “what a year for you!” because she won’t win for The Danish Girl in the main category.
Keith: I think Vikander is great in Ex Machina and would love to see that rewarded. I’m inclined to think she won’t win, however. If Steve Jobs is going to win anything, it’s going to be for Kate Winslet’s work, but maybe Jennifer Jason Leigh is too undeniable in The Hateful Eight for the Globes to ignore. I couldn’t take my eyes off her whenever she was on-screen in that movie, plus she’s an established star who’s had something of a low profile of late. It could add up to a win.
I suspect you’re right about Stallone. He’s great in that movie and he’s also been around forever. Plus, it has a higher profile than any of the films against which he’s competing, which shouldn’t matter, but does.
That applies to the Best Director category, too, which is probably why Ridley Scott is going to win. Iñárritu had his year last year, though he didn’t win the Globe. Scott’s got a great career behind him and, for the first time in years, he made a movie that virtually everybody liked, critics and filmgoers alike. (I liked it, too, though my favorite Scott film of recent years is still The Counselor, but we probably don’t have room to get into that here.)
Mike: I’m with you on Ridley Scott. I am not with you on The Counselor, which is the Blackhat of 2013 — an odd thing that has very passionate defenders. (Though, I will say I understand the passion a lot more for The Counselor than I do Blackhat.) Though, if anyone does have a chance to beat Scott, it’s George Miller. But, I’m picking Scott.
As for Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama: Boy, this is a tough one. If it was my vote, I’d vote for Cate Blanchett in Carol. But the Globes, as shady as their voting process is, can also be progressive with rewarding younger talent. So, I think the pick here is Brie Larson for Room, which will be a deserved win.
Keith: I’m with you on Larson. She’s great. It just seems like it’s her year. In some ways, that’s just me echoing the hype, because that’s been the hype around her performance all year. But sometimes the hype is right. The Best Performance by an Actress in a Musical or Comedy category’s a little tougher. It’s been the year of Amy Schumer, so I think that might continue here. Possible upset: Lily Tomlin in Grandma.
Sticking with Musical or Comedy for Actors… Wow, that’s a messed up category. I don’t necessarily think of The Big Short as a comedy, as grimly funny as it is. And I really don’t think of The Martian as a comedy. But if I were a betting man, I’d put money on Matt Damon. You?
Mike: I guess there’s still a small part of me that thinks Jennifer Lawrence might win for Joy, even though Joy got lukewarm reviews at best and Lawrence really isn’t out there campaigning like she has in the past. But I’m going to agree with you, I think it will be Schumer and I think it will be a great moment. (And Trainwreck is legitimately great.)
And I’m also going to agree on Matt Damon. I love, love, love The Big Short, but that cast should have pulled a Spotlight and went all supporting. There’s no lead actor in that movie! And, ergo, no one from that movie will win lead actor.
As for Best Actor in a Drama, my money is on Mr. Philomania himself, Leonardo DiCaprio. He wants it so bad! I bet they will give it to him. (I can’t tell you what joy DiCaprio’s mispronunciation of Philomena at the Globes two years ago still brings me.)
Keith: It’s DiCaprio, for sure. It’s just a perfect storm of DiCaprio-ness, as others on the site have already argued.
Which brings us, I believe to the big ones. Inside Out is probably a shoe-in for the animated category, which is fine by me, though it would be cool to see Anomalisa win on such a high-profile stage. Heads would be scratched.
For Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy, I see it going either to Trainwreck or The Big Short, and leaning toward The Big Short as the most likely pick. It’s comedy enough for the category, I guess (unlike The Martian) and being here moves it away from some of the heavier competition in the dramatic category. Plus, it’s a very good film that seems to have that intangible awards season quality of momentum on its side. People are discovering it and liking what they find.
Mike: Oh yeah, Inside Out is a done deal. No animated film with simulated puppet oral sex is winning the top prize, no matter how much I wish it would. (I watched Anomalisa again recently and I love it even more.)
I think this will be the chance to give The Big Short a trophy. I for sure could see The Martian winning here, but people really love The Big Short and it’s an “important” movie, and I think it wins — even though, yeah, it makes no sense as a comedy. (I did laugh a few times so whatever, I guess.)
And then the big one: Best Motion Picture — Drama. I think Spotlight takes it. It seems to be the consensus Best Picture favorite, and this is the only real way to give it an accolade outside of screenplay, which I also think it will win. I feel this will be a trend: Spotlight winning the top prize, but not winning much else.
Keith: I’ve been having doubts about Spotlight winning the top prize in my gut for a while, and I’m not sure why. It’s excellent. Everyone who sees it agrees it’s excellent. It’s important. It’s full of great performances. And yet I keep wondering if it’s actually going to pull it out.
Still, looking at the other nominees, all the others seem unlikely to beat it, for one reason or another. Carol’s my favorite movie of the year, and my inherent pessimism kicks in because of that. The Revenant just isn’t loved enough. I’m just not sure Room beats Spotlight. So, just for the sake of variety, I’m going to say Mad Max: Fury Road wins. Everything else about this movie has been so unlikely: That it even got made after years of false starts and lost stars. That it turned out so well. That we’re talking about a movie that has a guy with a flaming guitar in it as a Best Picture contender here and in the Oscars. Now I’m talking myself into it. It’s going to be Fury Road. It just makes sense.
Mike: Hey, we disagree! Maybe this awards season might actually be fun for a change because these don’t seem as “set in stone” as in years past.
Keith: Maybe! If nothing else, it’s a strange year that should make for a good show.
Keith Phipps is Uproxx’s editorial director of film and TV. You can reach him on Twitter. Mike Ryan is the senior entertainment writer at Uproxx. You can contact him directly on Twitter. We’ll be covering the Golden Globes live this Sunday, so please join us.
