Walk Hard!!

100% 9/9 7.2 avg on Rotten Tomatoes. A lot of reviews are just barely positive, but it's as good a start as this film could hope for. I hope the grade finishes above 70% and it wins Best Song or something.

you know, between this and the SAGs and its terrific box office, I think people are really underestimating American Gangster. Sure, it's not as good as the films it's up against, but did that stop Crash, Babel, Chocolat, or Ray from getting in in the past?

I actually think that American Gangster is better than the films you mentioned. The problem is that it faces a really heavy deal of competition for the nomination this year, and I think it falls more into the "liked, not loved" category.It also hurts that the movie had to live up to The Departed being a gangster flick just one year after that one won Picture, even though the two movies are hardly alike.

I think The Departed comparisons are the nail in the coffin really, it wasn't liked well enough to get a BP nom (especially in a year where we are seeing some really good films with actual chances at Best Picture) can be almost averaged out by the box office success. Then even though they are not alike The Departed comes in and knocks this film off.

Semi-final predictions:

Best Director

Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men
Alt. Tim Burton - Sweeney Todd

Best Motion Picture - Drama

No Country for Old Men
Alt. Atonement

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama

Julie Christie – Away From Her
Alt. Keira Knightley – Atonement

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama

Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood
Alt. George Clooney – Michael Clayton

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

Sweeney Todd
Alt. Juno

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

Ellen Page – Juno
Alt. Marion Cotillard – La Vie En Rose

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy

Johnny Depp – Sweeney Todd
Alt. Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men
Alt. Casey Affleck -Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Alt. Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There

Best Screenplay

Diablo Cody - Juno
Alt. Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - No Country for Old Men

Best Foreign Language Film

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Alt. The Kite Runner

Best Score

Atonement
Alt. Into the Wild

Best Song

Into The Wild
Alt. Enchanted

Best Animated Feature Film

Ratatouille
Alt. The Simpsons Movie

Tally:
No Country for Old Men - 3
Juno - 2
Sweeney Todd - 2
Atonement - 1
Away from Her - 1
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - 1
Gone Baby Gone - 1
Into the Wild - 1
Ratatouille - 1
There Will Be Blood - 1

I still think Juno can sweep though.

I think Juno vs. Sweeney Todd will be a very interesting race indeed. Juno seems like a stronger candidate for a BP win, but even last year LMS landed a BP nom and almost won while Dreamgirls was snubbed entirely, yet Dreamgirls won Comedy/Musical, probably for being a Musical.

I think it'll probably go to Sweeney Todd for being a musical, but it really could go to either one.

I'm going with some risky predictions:

Best Director
Joel & Ethan Coen - No Country For Old Men

Best Motion Picture - Drama
Atonement

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
Julie Christie – Away From Her

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama
Daniel Day-Lewis – There Will Be Blood

Best Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Juno

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams - Enchanted

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical Or Comedy
Ryan Gosling – Lars and the Real Girl

Best Supporting Actor
Javier Bardem - No Country for Old Men

Best Supporting Actress
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone

Best Screenplay
Diablo Cody - Juno

Best Foreign Language Film
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Score
Atonement

Best Song
Into The Wild

Best Animated Feature Film
Ratatouille



Atonement - 2
No Country For Old Men - 2
Juno - 2
There Will Be Blood - 1
Away From Her - 1
Lars and the Real Girl - 1
Enchanted - 1
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly - 1
Gone Baby Gone - 1
Into the Wild - 1
Ratatouille - 1

This sounds about right and with enough surprises in the mix. It'd be interesting if Adams won and got snubbed like so many GG winners in that category.

I don't think Juno would upset Best Comedy/Musical and lose Best Actress. If it's got enough support to win Best Comedy/Musical, Page would be a shoe-in.

I think if anyone is to upset Johnny Depp here, it'll be Ryan Gosling. If that happens, he'll be among my first five for the Best Actor Oscar nom.

I thought I'd have to wait for DVD, but my art house theater got it for next weekend. Super-psyched.

Still, having not seen it I've decided to replace him with Hirsch in my predictions. While Hirsch would be the second youngest nominee ever (Behind some 10-year-old from nearly 80 years ago), the role is otherwise completely baity. Real life person, extreme physical transformation, pretty much in the entire movie, dies...

Can us regular folks just crash in a tux and drink the booze and get the gift baskets instead?

I think it'd be kinda fun to watch a show with zero actors present to accept their awards. Just constant awkward moments.

It would

Plus, no political statements, a big plus.

Wow, I can't believe this is real... just the other day I was looking forward to the Globes, before I realized it's probably not happening.

Sweet! I don't have to listen to idiots this year!

This has gone past the point of retarded. Neither side is looking all that rosy at this point.

This is exactly why at this point I've lost all sympathy for the writers in this situation.

I'm upset with the CEO's. I wish they'd just give the writers a fair deal already and let everyone go back to work. It's especially frustrating that the AMPTP is not even attempting to negotiate! They've left the negotiating table and are letting the entire industry suffer. It's horrible, and I really can't believe it.

Peace,
Mike

alright i've written speeches for every movie and actor so if the GG is reading this post. I am willing to take the hit and accept the awards for the actors. They dont even need to pay me. Just give me booze and watch me go.

But the thing is they haven't been offered anything resembling a deal. They've been told to drop all of their important requests (a lot of which are more than fair) and then the AMPTP left the negotiating table and have been doing nothing to solve the problem for 28 days.

I would agree with you if the writers were being petty; if the AMPTP had offered a reasonable deal and the WGA had simply rejected it because the AMPTP didn't bow down to all of their demands. But that simply isn't the case.

This is why I'm so frustrated with the CEOs. There being a disagreement between them is one thing, but the AMPTP has merely walked away and is doing nothing. I just can't believe they are sitting around and letting this drag on. The WGA desperately wants to negotiate, but the AMPTP is refusing to do so. Once the AMPTP starts negotiating, then I can start pressuring the writers to finally end it.

Anyways, sorry to be so long winded. I realize this discussion shouldn't really be here, it's the Golden Globes thread. I'm not sure why I'm so passionate about this. I respect your opinion, as I definitely love awards shows like the rest of you. Cheers.

Peace,
Mike

What's VH1 gonna do? They've been marketing this like crazy.

*sigh*

Eh, I can still live without the Globes (I actually deliberately skipped them 3 years ago in favor of getting the winners from online commentary at OscarWatch), and the fact that it has come to this fills me more with a glee for absolute Hollywood Anarchy of sorts. Nothing like this is probably gonna happen again for a long while, so I'm trying to take it all in, hee.

I think the most frustrating thing about this, for me at least, is it is happening during an ultra-rare year where American cinema is actually relevant again. No Country, Assassination of Jesse James, Eastern Promises, There Will Be Blood, I'm Not There, Into the Wild, Ratatouille, Zodiac, Sweeney Todd, Juno, Knocked Up, Michael Clayton, The Bourne Ultimatum... years like this don't just happen regularly in American movies. It's a shame that it is looking like these films won't have their chances in the limelight, and the only thing the majority of the public will know is that Spider-Man III came out this year.

Except the upcoming acting and directing strikes.