Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Golden Globe Nominees: Best Motion Picture – Drama

My predictions: 3/5, missing “Avatar” and “Inglorious Basterds
Who’s missing: “An Education,” “Invictus

The two nominees I missed were exactly the same ones I underestimated in the Best Director field. I have yet to see Avatar (soon, I hope) and Inglorious Basterds is my favorite film of the year. The Hurt Locker and Up in the Air both did very well with Globe nominations, and are both looking good to potentially win. Precious managed to sneak in here despite being left off both the director and screenplay lists. What’s appalling is that "Invictus" isn’t here, especially when both of its stars and director Clint Eastwood were nominated. That’s not a death sentence for the movie, because “Milk” wasn’t honored at the Globes last year and ended up with a Best Picture nomination, and in both 2005 and 1999, three of the eventual Oscar nominees didn’t earn Globe nods for Best Picture. Also, Eastwood has already directed three Best Pictures this decade and should be well on his way to having a fourth join that club. Regarding the films that are in this list, I’m happy to say that three of them are currently in my top five, so I’m generally pleased.

Who could win? My current bet is The Hurt Locker, though it could just as easily go to “Up in the Air.”
What does this mean for the Oscar race? Not great news for “Invictus,” but not terrible, and a good boost for both “Avatar” and “Precious.”

1 comment:

Richter Scale said...

You actually liked Invictus? I thought it was easily Eastwood's weakest film this decade. There was no personality to it, and not enough conflict to sustain the story. I felt Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon were both wasted in this film, and simply being nominated on autopilot, same with Eastwood (why do the Globes have a list of people that simply have to be a film to be nominated? Eastwood, Streep, they get nominated for everything they do). I actually love this lineup of Drama. I haven't seen Avatar, but the other nominees are amazing, and I will be rooting for them to be nominated at the Oscars).