The Globes Happened.

Foreword: I was going to stay away this year, I really was. The Globes’ reputation of corruption, bias, nepotism, and generally weird taste had caught up to them, and NBC refused to air their show this year despite them increasing diversity in their membership. The Critic’s Choice Awards – not that the membership of that circle is understood by the public – had taken their planned January 9th, 9:00 p.m. EST TV time slot. I was finally going to get to use an Awards show with sophisticated taste to kick off my own awards season coverage. Meanwhile, the Globes have gone from having Snoop Dogg inexplicably present their nominations to completely withdrawing any form of livestream of their ceremony. And then along came Omicron, and the CCAs were postponed indefinitely. Local critics circuits have begun choosing their favorite movies and performances of the year, so I really need to jump in. I’m not proud of this, but I’ll have to look up these winners, or keep refreshing the page like I’m Zuckerberg at the end of The Social Network to find out who won as the hours of January 9th tick away.

The things I do for the best time of the year. It’s Awards Season, baby.

Jan 9, 2022 @ 9 PM Update: I’m pulling the Zuckerberg and refreshing the live blog on the Golden Globes website, looking for winners being announced amongst all the posts about how the HFPA does, in fact, donate to charity. It feels craven to post this on your website in this form because NBC refused to air your show, but I digress – time to jump into some winners and losers.

Best Picture - Drama

• Winner: The Power of the Dog

• Do I Agree? Given this movie’s impressive run of critical acclaim, this was expected even at this wacky awards show. I like the pick, and think this movie was really great.

• Does It Mean Anything? Probably not, since this film feels like the second-most acclaimed movie of the year behind Drive My Car, which wasn’t included in this category for reasons that are simply B.S.

• The Nominees:

  • Belfast

  • CODA

  • Dune

  • King Richard

  • The Power of the Dog

• Who Was Missing:

  • Tragedy of Macbeth

  • The Lost Daughter

  • The Last Duel

  • The Green Knight

  • Foreign Language Films

Best Picture – Musical/Comedy

• Winner: West Side Story

• Do I Agree? Not really, since Licorice Pizza is my favorite of the year, but West Side Story is a great runner up and a magnificent movie.

• Does It Mean Anything? Yes and no – this film already seems to be amongst the top 10 of the year for most critic’s groups, but every win is a boost for this movie’s odds to actually win Best Picture at the Oscars as opposed to just being nominated.

• The Nominees:

  • Cyrano

  • Don’t Look Up

  • Licorice Pizza

  • Tick, tick…Boom!

  • West Side Story

• Who Was Missing:

  • In the Heights

  • The French Dispatch

  • Foreign Language Films

Best Actress - Drama

• Winner: Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

• Do I Agree? LOL this is the worst choice! She disappears into the role, for sure, but then doesn’t really do anything with it which basically sums up this entire movie.

• Does It Mean Anything? I certainly hope not, though this race has gotten more interesting. Chaos is a ladder, and perhaps Jodie Comer can climb her way back into the conversation?

• The Nominees:

  • Jessica Chastain, The Eyes of Tammy Faye

  • Olivia Colman, The Lost Daughter

  • Nicole Kidman, Being the Ricardos

  • Lady Gaga, House of Gucci

  • Kristen Stewart, Spencer

• Who Was Missing:

  • Jodie Comer, The Last Duel

  • Tessa Thompson, Passing

Best Actor - Drama

• Winner: Will Smith, King Richard

• Do I Agree? This is a really great performance, if not his best, but I love me some Will Smith so am happy to see him get a W.

• Does It Mean Anything? I hope this gives him some more momentum, but he has felt like a frontrunner this whole time, so maybe it’s just some more wind in his sails.

• The Nominees:

  • Mahershala Ali, Swan Song

  • Javier Bardem, Being the Ricardos

  • Benedict Cumberbatch, The Power of the Dog

  • Will Smith, King Richard

  • Denzel Washington, The Tragedy of Macbeth

• Who Was Missing:

  • Don Cheadle, No Sudden Move

  • Daniel Craig, No Time to Die

  • Oscar Isaac, The Card Counter

  • Nicolas Cage, Pig

  • Dev Patel, The Green Knight

Best Actress – Musical/Comedy

• Winner: Rachel Zegler, West Side Story

• Do I Agree? 100% - she’s amazing in her debut, and absolutely kills it as Maria in song, dance, and performance.

• Does It Mean Anything? I think it does, and we’ll continue to see her nominated for other awards as this season continues!

• The Nominees:

  • Marion Cotillard, Annette

  • Alana Haim, Licorice Pizza

  • Jennifer Lawrence, Don’t Look Up

  • Emma Stone, Cruella

  • Rachel Zegler, West Side Story

• Who Was Missing:

  • Honestly, this category never makes any sense, but you could slot Gaga’s work in Gucci into this category if you look at that movie in a certain way.

Best Actor – Musical/Comedy

• Winner: Andrew Garfield, tick, tick…Boom!

• Do I Agree? I guess? I didn’t love this movie, but Garfield was very charming in it.

• Does It Mean Anything? Huh. This category, like its actress counterpart, is really quite silly, but I think this lends itself to Garfield getting nominated for an Oscar, though he’ll be up against heavy hitters so it’s too soon to be sure.

• The Nominees:

  • Leonardo DiCaprio, Don’t Look Up

  • Peter Dinklage, Cyrano

  • Andrew Garfield, tick, tick…Boom!

  • Cooper Hoffman, Licorice Pizza

  • Anthony Ramos, In the Heights

• Who Was Missing:

  • Adam Driver, House of Gucci – if you look at this movie a certain way.

Best Supporting Actress – Any Motion Picture

• Winner: Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

• Do I Agree? Absolutely, she’s fantastic! This category is full of worthy winners, but I love this choice; she’s a real scene-stealer.

• Does It Mean Anything? I think so – she’s vaulted herself into one of the top spots for this category based on other critic’s choices.

• The Nominees:

  • Caitriona Balfe, Belfast

  • Ariana DeBose, West Side Story

  • Kirsten Dunst, The Power of the Dog

  • Aunjanue Ellis, King Richard

  • Ruth Negga, Passing

• Who Was Missing:

  • Alicia Vikander, The Green Knight

  • Rita Moreno, West Side Story

  • Jessie Buckley, The Lost Daughter

Best Supporting Actor – Any Motion Picture

• Winner: Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

• Do I Agree? Wholeheartedly.

• Does It Mean Anything? I think this solidifies Smit-McPhee as the frontrunner here, and since none of my alternates below were, or likely will be, in contention, then I’m all for it.

• The Nominees:

  • Ben Affleck, The Tender Bar

  • Jamie Dornan, Belfast

  • Ciarán Hinds, Belfast

  • Troy Kotsur, CODA

  • Kodi Smit-McPhee, The Power of the Dog

• Who Was Missing:

  • Jeffrey Wright, The French Dispatch

  • Mike Faist, West Side Story

  • David Alvarez, West Side Story

  • Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza

  • Oscar Isaac, Dune

  • Jared Leto, House of Gucci

Best Director – Any Motion Picture

• Winner: Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

• Do I Agree? There are so many good choices here, and there’s Kenneth Branagh, but I’m into this and into this movie! She’s also had a terrific career as one of her generation’s signature female filmmakers and deserves all the recognition we can give her. Wish PTA was in consideration though.

• Does It Mean Anything? I believe she’s emerging as this category’s frontrunner, so this will solidify that position.

• The Nominees:

  • Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

  • Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

  • Maggie Gyllenhaal, The Lost Daughter

  • Steven Spielberg, West Side Story

  • Denis Villeneuve, Dune

• Who Was Missing:

  • Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

  • David Lowery, The Green Knight

  • Foreign Language Directors

  • Wes Anderson, The French Dispatch

  • Sian Heder, CODA

  • Rebecca Hall, Passing

Best Screenplay – Any Motion Picture

• Winner: Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

• Do I Agree? I do not, laddie. I would have much rather seen Licorice Pizza or The Power of the Dog (or a few of my alternates below) win, and I’m worried this is a beginning of a Belfast run.

• Does It Mean Anything? It might – there haven’t been a ton of Screenplay awards given out yet this year, so this is a significant win.

• The Nominees:

  • Paul Thomas Anderson, Licorice Pizza

  • Kenneth Branagh, Belfast

  • Jane Campion, The Power of the Dog

  • Adam McKay, Don’t Look Up

  • Aaron Sorkin, Being the Ricardos

• Who Was Missing:

  • David Lowery, The Green Knight

  • Tony Kushner, West Side Story

  • Paul Schrader, The Card Counter

  • Michael Sarnoski, Vanessa Block, Pig

Best Picture - Animated

• Winner: Encanto

• Do I Agree? Can’t really weigh in here, but I’ve heard a lot of praise for this movie.

• Does It Mean Anything? I think we can consider this movie a frontrunner moving forward, with the major challenge coming from Flee.

• The Nominees:

  • Encanto

  • Flee

  • Luca

  • My Sunny Maad

  • Raya and the Last Dragon

• Who Was Missing:

  • No lie, I didn’t watch any new animated movies this year. However, it seems like there was a lot of love for Mitchells vs. the Machines.

Best Picture – Foreign Language

• Winner: Drive My Car

• Do I Agree? This film has been crushing it in critic’s groups wins and is the top of my list to see once I find a way.

• Does It Mean Anything? Mean anything? Maybe. Change anything? No – this movie is the critical powerhouse of the year and has an outside chance of winning Best Picture at the Oscars.

• The Nominees:

• Compartment No. 6

• Drive My Car

• The Hand of God

• A Hero

• Parallel Mothers

• Who Was Missing:

• I’ve seen a TON of love for The Worst Person in the World from Norway but haven’t been able to watch any of these movies yet.

Best Score – Motion Picture

• Winner: Hans Zimmer, Dune

• Do I Agree? The music Zimmer crafts for Dune is amazing, combining choral arrangements (often wild ones) with ambient sound to create something otherworldly yet emotionally clear. This is a great pick.

• Does It Mean Anything? I think, and hope, it does!

• The Nominees:

  • Alexandre Desplat, The French Dispatch

  • Germaine Franco, Encanto

  • Jonny Greenwood, The Power of the Dog

  • Alberto Igelsias, Parallel Mothers

  • Hans Zimmer, Dune

• Who Was Missing:

  • Hans Zimmer, No Time to Die

  • Harry Gregson-Williams, The Last Duel

Best Song – Motion Picture

• Winner: “No Time to Die” – No Time to Die.

• Do I Agree? I don’t care about this category, but yeah, I liked the song and the movie!

• Does It Mean Anything? I think it does and would be fine with this one marching all the way to an Oscars win.

• The Nominees:

  • “Be Alive” – King Richard

  • “Dos Oruguitas” – Encanto

  • “Down to Joy” – Belfast

  • “Here I Am” – Respect

  • “No Time to Die” – No Time to Die

• Who Was Missing:

  • This so so, so not my forte. There might have been more songs from Encanto? There were a couple songs I liked in tick, tick…Boom! and I assume nothing from West Side Story is eligible.