So after all I am a movie blog – or I pretend to be one on occasion – I guess I should chime in my views on things like awards I think are deserving and aren’t. This upcoming Sunday night the Golden Globes will be aired on NBC at 8PM EST, and the biggest and brightest of Hollywood will be there to claim the title of being the BEST, in whatever category they can get it.

Of the 31 different movies that have been nominated in whatever capacity for this awards ceremony I’ve only seen 17. So from the outset I’d like to say that these are not the most well informed predictions, but I’d like to think that I can still get a positive outcome [wins/losses].

Let us begin with listing all 31 movies that have been nominated for an award [the ones in bold I’ve seen]:

The Baader Meinhof Complex

Burn After Reading

Bolt

Cadillac Records

Changeling

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Dark Knight

Defiance

Doubt

Duchess

Everlasting Moments

Frost/Nixon

Gomorrah

Gran Torino

Happy-Go-Lucky

I’ve Loved you So Long

In Bruges

Kung Fu Panda

Last Chance Harvey

Mamma Mia!

Milk

Pineapple Express

Rachel Getting Married

The Reader

Revolutionary Road

Slumdog Millionaire

Tropic Thunder

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

WALL E

Waltz with Bashir

The Wrestler

So let us begin category by category, I will highlight my expected winner in bold.

Best Original Song

“Down to Earth” from WALL E

Music by: Peter Gabriel, Thomas Newman

Lyrics by: Peter Gabriel

“Gran Torino” from Gran Torino

Music by: Clint Eastwood, Jamie Cullum, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens

Lyrics by: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens

“I Thought I Lost You” from Bolt

Music & Lyrics by: Miley Cyrus, Jeffrey Steele

“Once in a Lifetime” from Cadillac Records

Music & Lyrics by: Beyoncé Knowles, Amanda Ghost, Scott McFarnon, Ian Dench, James Dring, Jody Street

“The Wrestler” from The Wrestler

Music & Lyrics by: Bruce Springsteen

This category is a two horse race for me. With Bruce Springsteen’s title song for The Wrestler going head to head with Peter Gabriel’s song for WALL E, but I can remember going to watch WALL E in the theatre and sitting through the entire credits just to listen to this awesome song. I know that most critics – music and movie – are predicting that Bruce Springsteen will win this and deep down I think I agree with them, but I’m pushing for Peter Gabriel to take the Globe home here.

Best Original Score

Alexandre Desplat for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Clint Eastwood for Changeling

James Newton for Defiance

A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire

Hans Zimmer for Frost/Nixon

Now here comes one of those many categories where I’ve only seen two of the five nominated films in question [Slumdog Millionaire and Frost/Nixon]. The first question I have to ask is, “did Slumdog Millionaire have a score?” I don’t remember much other than a good amount of great tracks being used in the movie, including M.I.A.’s Paper Planes. However, on the other hand Frost/Nixon had a pretty interesting score throughout the film. So right now the only movie I can vote for is Frost/Nixon, but being able to see into the kind of movie that it is I would think that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button would be a great choice for this category. But it’s a go for Richard Nixon being called a crook.

Best Screenplay

Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire

David Hare for The Reader

Peter Morgan for Frost/Nixon

Eric Roth for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

John Patrick Shanley for Doubt

So asking what is the best screenplay is basically asking me what I think had the best story, and I have to answer without a moment’s hesitation by saying Slumdog Millionaire. The story of a guy who grew up in the slums of Mumbai and went on the Indian version of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” so that the love of his life can see him and the reason why he knows the answer to everything is because of his life. This movie has one of the best stories I’ve seen this year when you want a story that will make you feel really happy about the world.

Best Director

Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

Stephen Daldry for The Reader

David Fincher for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Ron Howard for Frost/Nixon

Sam Mendes for Revolutionary Road

I have to vote here for Ron Howard’s Frost/Nixon. I thought this movie would drag into one of the biggest bores of the year. Who really wants to sit down and watch a movie, based on a play, which is based on a true story about a series of interviews between David Frost and Richard Nixon? I personally was not jumping out of my seat to see the movie, but when I finally got around to watching it I found that I couldn’t avert my eyes for a moment during the movie. Ron Howard was able to make a series of interviews feel like a real boxing match between the young contender and the aged title holder who takes the match as a warm-up and it becomes the match that everyone talks about for the rest of the year.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role

Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder

Robert Downey Jr. in Tropic Thunder

Ralph Fiennes in The Duchess

Phillip Seymour Hoffman in Doubt

Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

Without having seen Ralph Fiennes and Phillip Seymour Hoffman in their nominated roles yet, I can say without a shadow of a doubt I would not choose anyone for this award other than the late Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight. The last time we saw a character this demented on screen was a year previous when Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men who won the award as well.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams in Doubt

Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Viola Davis in Doubt

Marisa Tomei in The Wrestler

Kate Winslet in The Reader

So I’ve only seen Vicky Cristina Barcelona and The Wrestler from this category and I’m sure Doubt is the movie to try and win this won for sure. However, with my limited knowledge I have to say how much I enjoyed watching Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona. She plays such a crazy role in which she has to inspire the inner artist for not only Jaun Antonio [Javier Bardem] but also Cristina [Scarlett Johansson] with her wild character. I loved her performance and that is the end all of it.

Best Foreign Language Film

The Baaderr Meinhof Complex

Everlasting Moments

Gomorrah

I’ve Loved You So Long

Waltz with Bashir

I have no opinion on this category since I am yet to see any of these films. However, I am pretty distraught at how Let the Right One In [my #1 movie of 2008] did not get nominated. This is crazy and makes me want to physically harm whoever it is who deals with the nominations or even the short list. ARGHHHH!!!!

Best Animated Film

Bolt

Kung Fu Panda

WALL E

So even though all three of these movies are really amazing, and I think that if this was any other year where WALL E wasn’t released Bolt or Kung Fu Panda would run off with the award, but I have to give it to newest Pixar production. WALL E is the best technically, visually, story-telling and even audio-wise when it comes to being a complete movie. As I’ve said before, “When last was there a movie that gave you this coherent a story with only three words of dialogue for the first 40 minutes of the movie?” and I doubt that there’ll be one like it anytime soon.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Javier Bardem in Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Colin Farrell in In Bruges

James Franco in Pineapple Express

Brendan Gleeson in In Bruges

Dustin Hoffman in Last Chance Harvey

James Franco has had his best year of acting I’ve seen so far in his career. I was a complete hater of his movies/acting for a long while but between Pineapple Express and Milk he has completely redeemed himself, and I hope he doesn’t regress back into his Flyboys kind of stuff. I think that this is the most surprising award I’m handing out and I loved Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in In Bruges and Javier Bardem in Vicky Cristina Barcelona, but James Franco just knocked his role out of the park and deserves to be rewarded for it.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Rebecca Hall in Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky

Frances McDormand in Burn After Reading

Meryl Streep in Mamma Mia!

Emma Thompson in Last Chance Harvey

Sally Hawkins plays the role of this completely optimistic and overly joyous lady in Happy-Go-Lucky. I think that this movie wasn’t good enough to make any top ten lists this year, but I loved Sally Hawkins in it. Especially whenever she was doing her driving lessons with that crazy realist who would get worried when he saw some big guys ride past him. Honestly deserved award and if she doesn’t get it we know how fixed all these award ceremonies are.

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Burn After Reading

Happy-Go-Lucky

In Bruges

Mamma Mia!

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

In Bruges is one of the best comedies I’ve seen this year past. Even though honestly I think that the critics will want to give the award to one of the other three comedies nominated in this category, I want to be the first [if no one else has done it yet] to say that this movie should win it. Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson play some of the most entertaining hitmen trying to hideout in one of the most gothic European towns I’ve seen.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Leonardo DiCaprio in Revolutionary Road

Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn in Milk

Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke in The Wrestler

Sean Penn is Harvey Milk. I’ve always loved Sean Penn as an actor and I love how he tends to capture so many little quirks in each of his characters. We can all make jokes about going “full retard” but no one can deny how awesome an actor Sean Penn is, and as long as people are honest with themselves there will find Penn the better choice over Mickey Rourke’s role in The Wrestler.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie in Changeling

Meryl Streep in Doubt

Kristin Scott Thomas in I’ve Loved You So Long

Kate Winslet in Revolutionary Road

Okay so here I’m shooting in the dark since Revolutionary Road is the only movie I’ve seen out of these here. I’ve heard great things about Anne Hathaway in Rachel Getting Married and Meryl Streep is one of the best female actresses of the past generation that never had her talent pass her by. So I wouldn’t be surprised if either of those wins the award of Winslet, but I can say that what I saw from Winslet in Revolutionary Road was definitely winner material.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

The Reader

Revolutionary Road

Slumdog Millionaire

So here comes more internet flak. When you look back to my top ten movies of 2008 you will find out that I ranked Revolutionary Road higher than Slumdog Millionaire and you may ask yourself what I’ve don’t here? Well I do think that it is better than Slumdog Millionaire, but Slumdog feels like the best bet. Especially since I’ve yet to see Benjamin Button or The Reader, but I doubt that they’re better than the movies I have seen.

So there are my predictions, please comment and let me know what yours are.