In Contention

By Josh Spiegel

January 15, 2010

I bet Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is not his favorite movie

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For the last month and a half, all we've been talking about here at In Contention Central (can we copyright that name? Please?) are nominations. Nominations, nominations, nominations. Finally, this weekend, we're getting into the nitty-gritty of movie awards. This Sunday, the Golden Globes will be handed out on national television, on NBC (and, boy, do they need all the help they can get these days with some positive news), hosted by brilliant British comedian and writer Ricky Gervais. Gervais' presence alone makes me excited for the Golden Globes, and not in the same perverse way I was excited when the Globes had to go on TV during the writers' strike of 2007 and 2008. No, him being host almost guarantees that the three-hour ceremony will be enjoyable. Who knows, though, if the winners will be exciting at all, or just the status quo. Today, I'll make some bold predictions about who will and should win the various awards.

Let's start with movies, and the biggest awards: Best Picture - Drama, and Best Picture - Comedy or Musical. The nominees for the former category are Avatar, The Hurt Locker, Inglourious Basterds, Precious, and Up in the Air. It's notable, first of all, that these five films are arguably the five top contenders for the Best Picture Oscar. Though, as I've mentioned in past articles, District 9 could sneak in and steal some thunder, it's likely that one of these five nominees is going to win the Oscar. What will win the Globe? I say the winner will be Up in the Air, the comedy-drama starring George Clooney and Vera Farmiga. What should win is more of a favorite choice; though all five of these films are arguably successful at what they want to do, and four of them will be on my top ten of 2009, my hope is that The Hurt Locker wins. What will push Up in the Air over? Two words: George Clooney. Clooney is the epitome of the movie star, and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association loves their movie stars.




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Up in the Air is the type of movie that the HFPA is falling in love with. The Hurt Locker, while being incredibly visceral, tense, and brilliant, is perhaps a bit too in-your-face, whereas Up in the Air will go down a bit smoother for audiences. The other major film that could sneak in here is, perhaps, the one you were expecting that I would say will win: Avatar. This film is a behemoth at the box office (for all you know, by the time the Globes are over, Avatar has gotten another billion dollars under its belt), and is well-loved by audiences and critics alike. And yet, Avatar doesn't have the same push behind it that Up in the Air, a movie with a more well-known actor and equally crowd-pleasing. Moreover, it's not in the Globes' history to go for the science-fiction film, even one that is immensely popular. That's not to say that Avatar won't win; I just think the Globes will favor Clooney and company.


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