Golden Globes Predictions
The highly important predecessor to the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes are normally taken as a measure of which films still have the potential to make a big impact on future awards nights. However, this year, the always scrutinized Globes voters — the Hollywood Foreign Press Association — have controversially snubbed many great achievements in favour of nominating some unexpected, and undeserving, big names. Therefore, this night will be a trial run to see if the established favourites will be able to win their respective awards and carry their momentum into Oscar night or the surprise underdogs can pull off an upset and sneak into the list of nominees in the coming weeks. Tonight, anything is possible but it's time to break down who is most likely to win at the 77th annual Golden Globes.
BEST MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
The Irishman - Marriage Story - 1917 - Joker - The Two Popes
WINNER - THE IRISHMAN
Arguably the most important category of the night, odds are that The Irishman will pull through with a victory, as the Golden Globes tend to pay attention to legacy over newcomers. However, as it is a NETFLIX original, it wouldn't be surprising for Joker, Marriage Story or 1917 to win instead.
BEST MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood - Jojo Rabbit - Knives Out - Rocketman -Dolemite is my Name
WINNER - ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD
Barring any surprises, this category seems to be a contest between much praised but controversial films Once Upon A Time In Hollywood and Jojo Rabbit. Expect OUATIH to win here, as Quentin Tarantino is much overdue for a picture win, but it is a very tight race and Jojo Rabbit has the potential to pull off an upset.
BEST MOTION PICTURE FOREIGN LANGAUGE
Parasite - Portrait of a Lady on Fire - The Farewell - Pain & Glory - Les Miserables
WINNER - PARASITE
Simply put, South Korea’s Parasite dominating this category is probably the safest bet you could make tonight. If Parasite does not win, it could be the most shocking upset the Globes have ever seen.
BEST ORIGINAL SONG - MOTION PICTURE
Rocketman - The Lion King - Frozen II - Harriet - Cats
WINNER - ROCKETMAN
In this category, it’s likely that the HFPA’s affinity towards star power will be a main factor in deciding a winner. Therefore, Rocketman (Elton John) is a confident favorite to win along with The Lion King’s Stand Up (Beyoncé), but Frozen II has the potential to get close.
BEST MOTION PICTURE - ANIMATED
Frozen II - How to Train Your Dragon: A Hidden World - Missing Link - Toy Story 4 - The Lion King
WINNER - TOY STORY 4
A Disney dominated contest from the get go, the fourth Toy Story should be able to pull off a victory with only possible challenges from The Lion king and Frozen II.
BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Christian Bale - Antonio Banderas - Adam Driver - Joaquin Phoenix - Jonathan Pryce
WINNER - JOAQUIN PHOENIX (Joker)
While it was once expected to be one of the most packed categories of the night, the Best Actor award has become a two-horse race between Joaquin Phoenix and Adam Driver. Expect Phoenix to beat Driver here, as the HFPA tend to gravitate more towards showy career-best performances and have already shown that they are not afraid to give the award to a comic book character.
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - DRAMA
Scarlett Johansson - Renée Zellweger - Saoirse Ronan - Charlize Theron - Cynthia Erivo
WINNER - SCARLETT JOHANSSON (Marriage Story)
This is a tough one. For the rest of the awards circuit, Renée Zellweger has been picking up awards left and right, leaving only breadcrumbs for Scarlett Johansson. However, I feel like this will be one of the main Golden Globe upsets, especially because of Johansson's prominent place in Hollywood culture at the moment.
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Akwafina - Ana de Armas - Beanie Feldstein - Cate Blanchett - Emma Thompson
WINNER - AKWAFINA (The Farewell)
There is no doubt about it: Akwafina is the real front runner here. However, as this is the musical-comedy category, the HFPA could shake things up and give it to Ana De Armas or Beanie Feldstein. In fact, with the strange nature of Blanchett and Thompson’s nominations, it is possible for any of them to win just based on the fact that they were nominated out of the blue.
BEST ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
WINNER - LEONARDO DiCAPRIO (Once Upon a Time... In Hollywood)
Once again, DiCaprio is one of the best bets to win this category. However, both Both Taron Egerdton and Eddie Murphy have been picking up a lot of steam and Daniel Craig has been generating some buzz as well. The only one that is unlikely to win is Roman Griffin Davis for his brilliant child performance — which unfortunately tends to be ignored by the Golden Globes.
BEST SCREENPLAY - MOTION PICTURE
WINNER - QUENTIN TARANTINO (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
Although there was little to no doubt that these five screenplays were the ones that would be nominated, determining a winner will be much harder in this stacked category. Four of these scripts (Marriage Story, Parasite, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, The Irishman) are widely considered to be their writers greatest work while The Two Popes is not pulling off a victory here, from there, it’s the tightest race of the year. Marriage Story and OUATIH have a slight advantage over The Irishman and Parasite, but any of them have the potential to go home with a Globe. Ultimately, expect OUATIH to win as compensation for another award that Tarantino is set to lose.
BEST DIRECTOR - MOTION PICTURE
WINNER - MARTIN SCORSESE (The Irishman)
Once again, it’s a very tight category between two competitors who have another two who are close behind. Barring the mild Sam Mendes or Bong Joon Ho upset, it should be a competition of who has the most important legacy between Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino. It's difficult to say who will win out of those two but Scorsese has the better odds, as he is loved by the Globes — even getting a directors win for Hugo — but it is possible that the globes may feel that Tarantino needs a best director award after having been ignored for decades.