Golden Globe Predictions 2017: How Did We Do?
Shaun Cordingley
Yesterday was the 2017 Golden Globes ceremony, and listeners of the {PODCAST} (specifically this one) would be aware that both Dave and I were challenged by listener Jackson to predict what would happen at the Golden Globes without doing any research.
Which is basically the system that Dave uses for all awards shows, and drove me a little bit nuts, as I am nothing if not a research fiend.
This is not really going to be a recap of the ceremony, as those can be found pretty much everywhere...all I will say is that it seemed to have been rather overtly/awkwardly edited around a few sections, and there was a surprising lack of Jimmy Fallon (considering he was "hosting" the event, and what was there was a fairly giant "meh"). All in all, it felt like it ran rather poorly, but it had it's share of fun moments, and in the end: it's an awards show...
Anyway, rather than be like almost every other site out there, we actually let you know how our predictions went, and I'll provide some commentary on the results, because I'm the one here:
Note: We did not tackle any of the TV acting awards as we are primarily asked about film, and frankly, neither of us had seen many of the nominees, so guessing without researching felt like we would've just been padding out time on a podcast we needed to be short due to scheduling and holidays...
Best Mini-Series of Made for TV/Movie
Dave: American Crime Story
Shaun: American Crime Story
Winner: American Crime Story
--"Wow" said no one. This was by far the easiest category to predict, considering what American Crime Story has done at every other awards show it has been a part of, and you can tell, because both Dave and I got it right.
TV Musical/Comedy Series
Dave: Veep
Shaun: Veep
Winner: Atlanta
--This was a wonderful surprise as far as I am concerned; while Veep is a great series (and has been for years), I just...I don't know, I did not think that the quirky (and fun) Atlanta from FX was going to win, but that's what makes the Golden Globes fun, as they have a tendency to be a bit bolder with their choices.
TV Series Drama
Dave: Stranger Things
Shaun: Game of Thrones
Winner: The Crown
--Not a huge shock, considering how utterly wonderful The Crown is, but there's something to be said about the HFPA being more willing to look to the digital streaming platforms (like Netflix) and viewing them on an equal footing when awards season comes around. Which they should be, considering the quality of content that has been pouring out of places like Amazon and Netflix since they began into original programming.
That said, I still think Season 6 of Game of Thrones was the best season of the series, and Stranger Things was my series of 2016...so tough category....
Best Foreign Language Film
Dave: Neruda
Shaun: Elle
Winner: Elle
--I'd like to say that there was a deep reason, or that I've seen Elle or something, and that is why I picked it, but I literally went with Elle because while I wasn't allowed to do any research, I did see that Isabelle Huppert was nominated in the Best Actress Drama category (more on that later), and that's usually a pretty good indication of critical fondness...so....suck it Dave? I'm in....the...lead...
Best Animated Feature Film
Dave: Moana
Shaun: Zootopia
Winner: Zootopia
--This felt like it came down to those two (as it was Disney versus Disney), but I felt solid about Zootopia taking this, just because it's yet another example of that animation studio being amazing at what they do.
Best Original Score
Dave: Arrival
Shaun: La La Land
Winner: La La Land
--I was pretty sure that La La Land, a modern musical about Hollywood and art was going to win this, and it sure did. I was high on La La Land coming into the Golden Globes (though not high enough...apparently...) and feel that this is probably going to be a monster at the Oscars.
Best Original Song
Dave: "Gold" - Gold
Shaun: "Can't Stop the Feeling' - Trolls
Winner: "CIty of Stars" - La La Land
-- It's almost like I didn't listen to myself when I thought everything I said about original score, but I just thought the HFPA would throw something Justin Timberlake (or you know, a different movie), but then I should've remembered "modern musical"...
Best Screenplay
Dave: Moonlight
Shaun: Moonlight
Winner: La La Land
--This was a surprise to me, as I thought that the HFPA might honour Moonlight with the Screenplay award (after giving the musical the score etc.), just to balance it off before giving the film Best Drama...but that was a mistake on my part I suppose in underestimating the La La Land love. Honestly, I felt that it was the Best Picture frontrunner before, but now....I'm almost writing it down as my Oscar pick.
Almost.
I'll be allowed to do research in the future....
Best Director
Dave: Damien Chazelle - La La Land
Shaun: Damien Chazelle - La La Land
Winner: Damien Chazelle - La La Land
-- Considering the night it was having, this was not a surprise. Nor was I going to pick against it, considering it's the director who made Whiplash, making a gorgeous, old-fashioned, show-piece of a musical. That takes a lot of skill.
Best Supporting Actress
Dave: VIola Davis - Fences
Shaun: Viola Davis - Fences
Winner: Viola Davis - Fences
--One of the best actresses working today in a Broadway play adapted for the screen? Yeah.
Best Supporting Actor
Dave: Jeff Bridges - Hell or High Water
Shaun: Mahershala Ali - Moonlight
Winner: Aaron Taylor-Johnson - Nocturnal Animals
-- A surprise to me, but this was a tight category with no...real front-runner, and while I have not seen it yet, I have been hearing great things about Nocturnal Animals, so hopefully this will mean that I will have an actual chance to see it soon....at the end of the day, I think Dave went with who he knew (and loves), and I went with my pick for Best Drama, so no real shame in that.
Best Actress Comedy/Musical
Dave: Emma Stone - La La Land
Shaun: Emma Stone - La La Land
Winner: Emma Stone - La La Land
-- Hooray for La La Land! It's beautiful, and it's great to see Emma Stone continue to get recognized for all of the really excellent work she has been doing.
Best Actor Comedy/Musical
Dave: Colin Farrell - The Lobster
Shaun: Ryan Gosling - La La Land
Winner: Ryan Gosling - La La Land
-- It was sweet of Dave to vote for The Lobster, a film that will mostly likely end up on both of our Top 10s for 2016 when we tackle them later this month, but let's be fair: La La Land, plus it's fun to see Canadians win things, and his acceptance speech was incredibly sweet.
Best Actress Drama
Dave: Natalie Portman - Jackie
Shaun: Natalie Portman - Jackie
Winner: Isabelle Huppert - Elle
--WHOA! This was the biggest surprise of the evening, and lead to a wonderfully shocked actress giving a sweet speech. Huppert is an excellent actress who is nowhere near as widely known in North America as she should be (or is, in Europe), so the HFPA giving her this award in Hollywood was particularly wonderful. This also blows the Best Actress Oscar category wide open, as I don't know that (as of now) we have anywhere near a frontrunner...which is weird, considering last year I was basically able to tell you who was going to win by December.
Best Actor Drama
Dave: Denzel Washington - Fences
Shaun: Denzel Washington - Fences
Winner: Casey Affleck - Manchester By the Sea
-- Not a fan of this one, but I suppose if Trump can be President with his past, why not give a Golden Globe to a guy with a history of in industry sexual harassment and assault....
but with a bit of research, Affleck is becoming a clear front-runner for most of the major acting awards, I just hope that...well, this should open up a discussion of consequences for deplorable actions...but also about the separation between the work and the person...anyone who likes classic films, or classic actors would probably be shocked and horrified....
It's an interesting and necessary conversation that should happen, but probably won't...because that sounds hard...and social media society sucks.
Best Comedy/Musical
Dave: Deadpool
Shaun: La La Land
Winner: La La Land
--ALL GLORY TO LA LA LAND. With this, La La Land broke the record for most Golden Globe wins, going 7/7, and has solidly established itself as the front runner heading into the Oscars (if it was not already).
Best Drama
Dave: Manchester By the Sea
Shaun: Moonlight
Winner: Moonlight
--This is nice; I like that I had that feeling about Moonlight being a powerful (largely coming out of the festival circuit and TIFF) contender when it comes to drama...sort of a 12 Years a Slave feeling about it with awards season, where there is that juggernaut, but it could slip in, because the storytelling is just that good.
Final Tally?
Dave: 4/17
Shaun: 10/17
Whee!
Not too bad, considering I wasn't allowed to look anything up, and I feel that the right films won in both of their categories....now it's time to start looking ahead to the Oscars next month....
-S (@Shauncord)