God-backed Films Dominate Globes

Several Golden Globe acceptance speeches included jokes about the influence of Harvey Weinstein, including Meryl Streep calling him God and Madonna referring to Weinstein as “the punisher.” There is good reason for these jokes, Weinstein has a great track record of winning at awards shows. Weinstein films dominated the Globes this year, as Sasha Stone of Awards Daily points out, winning almost half of the awards (6 of 14). No other studio came close, with Fox and Dreamworks each winning two awards. This bodes well for The Artist in the Oscar race for Best Picture, as Weinstein has a very successful record of earning wins for his movies. Here’s a full breakdown of winners by studios, via Awards Daily:

Picture/Comedy – The Artist – Weinstein Co.
Actor/Comedy – Jean DuJardin – Weinstein Co.
Actress/Comedy – Michelle Williams – Weinstein Co.
Best Actress/Drama – Meryl Streep – Weinstein Co.
Best Song – Madonna – Weinstein Co.
Score – The Artist – Weinstein Co.
Best Screenplay – Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris, Sony Pics Classics
Best Director – Martin Scorsese/Paramount
Best Picture/Drama – The Descendants – Fox Searchlight
Best Actor/Drama – George Clooney – Fox Searchlight
Supporting Actor – Christopher Plummer, Beginners – Focus
Supporting Actress – Octavia Spencer, The Help, Dreamworks
Animation – TinTin – Dreamworks

 

Golden Globe Winners

The Golden Globes are now in the bag and we correctly predicted 50% of the winners, calling 7 of 14 categories. There is certainly room for improvement. No big surprises, although we did not expect Michelle Williams to win Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. While we suggested the race for Best Picture might likely change after this weekend, we went ahead and predicted both the frontrunners would win- and they did! The Artist picked up Best Picture, Drama and The Descendants won Best Picture, Comedy. Looks like the race remains unchanged. Here is the full list of winners:

• Best Motion Picture — Drama: “The Descendants”
• Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical: “The Artist”
• Best Director — Motion Picture: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo”
• Best Actress — Drama: Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”
• Best Actor — Drama: George Clooney, “The Descendants”
• Best Actress — Comedy or Musical: Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”
• Best Actor — Comedy or musical: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist
• Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help”
• Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners”
• Best Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris”
• Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource – “The Artist”
• Best Original Song: “Masterpiece” — W.E., Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry
• Best Animated Feature Film: “The Adventures of Tintin”
• Best Foreign Language Film: “A Separation” (Iran)

 

Golden Globe Predictions

Most years we are steeped in movie awards for months by the time the Golden Globes roll around. We usually have a good idea who the frontrunners are in each of the races. Not so this year. The only race that we know anything about is Best Movie, which looks like a two-horse race between The Artist and The Descendants. Since the Globes have an award for best dramatic movie and best comedic movie, they can each be winners tonight. In any case, we will go ahead with our predictions for the movie awards portion of the Golden Globes. Here we go:

GOLDEN GLOBE FILM AWARD PREDICTIONS

Motion Picture, Drama The Descendants
Actress In A Motion Picture, Drama Viola Davis, The Help
Actor In A Motion Picture, Drama Brad Pitt, Moneyball
Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
 The Artist
An Actress in A Motion Picture, Comedy Or Musical Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
An Actor In A Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical 
Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Animated Feature Film 
The Adventures of Tintin

Best Foreign Language Film A Separation (Iran)
Actress In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture
 Berenice Bejo, The Artist 
Actor In A Supporting Role In A Motion Picture Albert Brooks, Drive
Director, Motion Picture 
Michel Hazanvicius, The Artist 
Screenplay, Motion Picture
 Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash, The Descendants
Original Score, Motion Picture
 Ludovic Bource, The Artist
Best Original Song – Motion Picture
 Masterpiece” - W.E.
Music & Lyrics by: Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry

 

The Race Gets Interesting

When we say “the race,” we’re not talking politics. Well, we are, but not the politics you’re thinking. We’re talking about the annual movie awards race, which most would say culminates with the Academy Awards. In the last month two clear frontrunners have emerged: The Artist and The Descendants. The very useful review site Metacritic has tracked the numerous movie awards conferred thus far and has tabulated the 10 most honored movies of the year, with The Artist coming in at #1 and The Descendants #2 (click here for full list). This weekend, however, may prove to be a pivotal point in the race. Today, Friday January 13, was the deadline for Oscar nomination ballots. In a few weeks we’ll know who will actually be vying for the golden statuettes. And Sunday, the Golden Globes will be handed out. It’s not that the Golden Globes predict the Oscars, but they give insight into some of the races. We are extremely interested to see who wins on Sunday. Something tells me that this weekend will alter the race and we’ll be talking about some new frontrunners come Monday.

 

And We’re Back!

After a rather long sabbatical, we’re back. And just in time, too. The Golden Globes are this Sunday! More on those later. We would like to direct your attention to one of our favorite movie awards website on the internets: www.awardsdaily.com. The site is conducting its annual simulated Oscar nominations. Join in on the fun! Go to the following link, Awards Daily 2011 Nominations, and “pretend you’re an honorary member of the Academy, and you are asked to nominate films in their respective categories. Make your selections accordingly.” You have until midnight on January 14, 2012 to fill out a ballot. We’ll report on the results when they become available.

P.S. If you need help with suggestions on who or what to nominate, you will find a very exhaustive list of the contenders in the major categories here.

 

The Social Network Is Clear Favorite

We are a little over a third of the way into the movie awards season and The Social Network has emerged as the clear favorite.  Critics love it (see Metacritic’s excellent compilation of critics Top Ten lists) and so do the movie awards thus nominate/awarded (again, see Metacritic for a great list). Does this mean the movie is a sure thing for the most coveted of movie awards, the Best Picture Oscar?  Not at all.  There is never anything sure about the Oscars.  At this point, the one thing that is certain is that David Fincher’s telling of the birth of Facebook will get nominated for best picture, and probably for direction and writing.  The question is whether The Social Network can maintain its favorite status between now and Feb 22, when the poll closes for Oscar voting.  Perhaps a more important question is which other movies emerge as contenders. In the last six Oscars, the favorite has lost best picture half of the time.

 

 

BLUE VELVET

This weekend’s midnight movie at the Egyptian happens to be the BEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME: Blue Velvet. Seattle, you are too lucky. For theater information, click here.

 

PUBLIC ENEMIES

Have you seen Public Enemies?  The new Michael Mann film is fabulous.  Don’t listen to the naysayers, this is one of the best films of the year.  It looks amazing (shot on HD digital), the acting is superb (espcially the gorgeous Marion Cotillard), the details are precise, and the story is old school Hollywood romanticism.  For the high-brow types, the film provokes thought about criminality and technology (in the movie and about the movie).  For the low-brow, the action is gripping (loved all the shootouts).  Loved this movie.  My score:  83 out of 100.

 

NEW ALMODOVAR FILM

Pedro Almodóvar, one of our favorite directors of all time, has a new film and ropeofsilicon.com has the trailer.  The film, entitled ”Broken Embraces” (Los Abrazos Rotos) stars the recent Oscar-winning Penelope Cruz.  The only bad news is that we have to wait until the fall for a US release.   We’ve included the official movie poster, from filmin.es.

 

FOREIGN FILM FLUB

While most of the winners at the Academy Awards on Sunday were expected, there were a few surprises.  The most significant was the win for  Departures,  from Japan, in the foriegn film category.  Most pundits had Waltz with Bashir, from Isreal, winning.  And while a few pundits did suggest Departures could pull off the upset in the week before the Oscars, we felt the academy voters would not be able to deny the amazingness of Waltz with Bashir.  When will we learn?  Read Scott Foundas great article scolding the Academy for not picking the true “best” foreign film.