WIP Golden Globe Nominees: My Take

It's that time of the year again, time for the Golden Globe nominees to be announced and the Academy Award handicapping to begin. I would be remiss in my duties if I did not comment on the nominees. I know the awards came out a number of days ago, it just took me awhile to get some time to sit down and write. Be sure to let me know what you think. I have not seen all of the nominees, so I will have to base my choices on what I have seen.

Picture, Drama:

• "The Aviator"
• "Closer"
• "Finding Neverland"
• "Hotel Rwanda"
• "Kinsey"
• "Million Dollar Baby"
• My Take: So far, I have only seen Finding Neverland, so I guess I will have to pick that at this point. I hope to see the rest

Actress, Drama:

• Scarlett Johansson, "A Love Song for Bobby Long"
• Nicole Kidman, "Birth"
• Imelda Staunton, "Vera Drake"
• Hilary Swank, "Million Dollar Baby"
• Uma Thurman, "Kill Bill: Vol. 2."
• My Take: How in the world did Nicole Kidman get nominated? Birth was horrible, a dull waste of time. Of what I have seen, I will go with Uma, I loved both of the Kill Bill Volumes.

Actor, Drama:

• Javier Bardem, "The Sea Inside";
• Don Cheadle, "Hotel Rwanda";
• Johnny Depp, "Finding Neverland";
• Leonardo DiCaprio, "The Aviator";
• Liam Neeson, "Kinsey."
• My Take: Much like best picture, the only one I am familiar with is Depp, and he did a wonderful job, so I will have to pick him.

Picture, Musical or Comedy:

• "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,"
• "The Incredibles,"
• "Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera,"
• "Ray,"
• "Sideways."
• My Take: I have seen all of them except Phantom, and if I had to pick one, it would be Eternal Sunshine, which is an absolutely incredible film. Of course, the also great Sideways at a close second.

Actress, Musical or Comedy:

• Annette Bening, "Being Julia";
• Ashley Judd, "De-Lovely";
• Emmy Rossum, "Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera,"
• Kate Winslet, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,"
• Renee Zellweger, "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason."
• My Take: Much like actress in a drama, how did Renee Zellweger get nominated for such a one note performance? I guess it helps being the critics darling, and that goes for Kidman as well. I choose Kate Winslet's quirky performance.

Actor, Musical or Comedy:

• Jim Carrey, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind";
• Jamie Foxx, "Ray";
• Paul Giamatti, "Sideways";
• Kevin Kline, "De-Lovely";
• Kevin Spacey, "Beyond the Sea."
• My Take: Jamie Foxx is fantastic, and there is gold in his future, but not yet. Paul Giamatti follows up last years performance with another great one, but my pick goes to Jim Carrey, for one of my favorite films of the year.

Foreign Language:

• "The Chorus," France;
• "House of Flying Daggers," China;
• "The Motorcycle Diaries," Brazil;
• "The Sea Inside," Spain;
• "A Very Long Engagement," France.
• My Take: I have only seen one, but I have to go with one I have yet to see, House of Flying Daggers. I base that on the strength of the director's prior outing, Hero. I also expect to like A Very Long Engagement.

Supporting Actress:

• Cate Blanchett, "The Aviator";
• Laura Linney, "Kinsey";
• Virginia Madsen, "Sideways";
• Natalie Portman, "Closer";
• Meryl Streep, "The Manchurian Candidate."
• My Take: Streep was too over the top, and I have yet to witness most of the others. My nod goes to Virginia Madsen's showing in Sideways.

Supporting Actor:

• David Carradine, "Kill Bill: Vol. 2";
• Thomas Haden Church, "Sideways";
• Jamie Foxx, "Collateral";
• Morgan Freeman, "Million Dollar Baby";
• Clive Owen, "Closer."
• My Take: This was an easy one for me, David Carradine, who gave a wonderful performance as the doomed Bill. Foxx comes in a close second for his eye opening turn as a cabbie pushed to the edge.

Director:

• Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby";
• Marc Forster, "Finding Neverland";
• Mike Nichols, "Closer";
• Alexander Payne, "Sideways";
• Martin Scorsese, "The Aviator."
• My Take: Wow, so many good choices, I think I will have to go with Alexander Payne who crafted such a wonderful film populated with real people fo rus to latch onto.

Screenplay:

• Charlie Kaufman, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind";
• John Logan, "The Aviator";
• David Magee, "Finding Neverland";
• Patrick Marber, "Closer";
• Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor, "Sideways."
• My Take: Definitely Charlie Kaufman, his Sunshine script is one of the best filmed this year, a wonderful look at fractured relationships. Although, Payne/Taylor and Magee also gave some fine words as well.

Original Score:

• Clint Eastwood, "Million Dollar Baby";
• Jan A.P. Kaczmarek, "Finding Neverland";
• Rolfe Kent, "Sideways";
• Howard Shore, "The Aviator";
• Hans Zimmer, "Spanglish."
• My Take: Actually, my favorite score this year was for the poor Van Helsing. From these I would go with Rolfe Kent.

Original Song:

• "Accidentally in Love" from "Shrek 2";
• "Believe" from "The Polar Express";
• "Learn to be Lonely" from "Andrew Lloyd Webber's The Phantom of the Opera";
• "Million Voices" from "Hotel Rwanda";
• "Old Habits Die Hard" from "Alfie."
• My Take: This category doesn't mean much to me, but I will go with the unheard track from Phantom.

Television Drama Series:

• "24," Fox;
• "Deadwood," HBO;
• "Lost," ABC;
• "Nip/Tuck," FX;
• "The Sopranos," HBO.
• My Take: Easy choice: Lost. Possibly the best new show on TV.

Actress, Drama Series:

• Edie Falco, "The Sopranos";
• Jennifer Garner, "Alias";
• Mariska Hargitay, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit";
• Christine Lahti, "Jack & Bobby";
• Joely Richardson, "Nip/Tuck."
• My Take: Jennifer Garner shall return to the top. Don't much care for Nip/Tuck or jack & Bobby.

Actor, Drama Series:

• Michael Chiklis, "The Shield";
• Denis Leary, "Rescue Me";
• Julian McMahon, "Nip/Tuck";
• Ian McShane, "Deadwood";
• James Spader, "Boston Legal."
• My Take: Denis Leary, yeah! Rescue Me is a wonderful show and Leary is doing a great job heading up the cast.

Series, Musical or Comedy:

• "Arrested Development," Fox;
• "Desperate Housewives," ABC;
• "Entourage, HBO;
• "Sex and the City," HBO;
• "Will & Grace," NBC.
• My Take: Never understood the love for Will & Grace, actually I can't believe it is still on. And since Scrubs is still getting ignored, I will go with my other top sitcom, Arrested Development.

Actress, Musical or Comedy:

• Marcia Cross, "Desperate Housewives";
• Teri Hatcher, "Desperate Housewives";
• Felicity Huffman, "Desperate Housewives";
• Debra Messing, "Will & Grace";
• Sarah Jessica Parker, "Sex and the City."
• My Take: Not much of a choice here, I guess I will randomly pick..... Felicity Huffman.

Actor, Musical or Comedy:

• Jason Bateman, "Arrested Development";
• Zach Braff, "Scrubs";
• Larry David, "Curb Your Enthusiasm";
• Matt LeBlanc, "Joey";
• Tony Shalhoub, "Monk";
• Charlie Sheen, "Two and a Half Men."
• My Take: Tough choice, but finally some love for Scrubs! I will have to go with the wonderfully quirky Zach Braff.

Miniseries or Movie:

• "American Family: Journey of Dreams," PBS;
• "Iron Jawed Angels," HBO;
• "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers," HBO;
• "The Lion in Winter," Showtime;
• "Something the Lord Made," HBO.
• My Take: Never been much of a fan of telemovies, Haven't seen any of these. I'll randomly pick the Peter Sellers film.

Actress, Miniseries or Movie:

• Glenn Close, "The Lion in Winter";
• Blythe Danner, "Back When We Were Grown Ups";
• Julianna Margulies, "The Grid";
• Miranda Richardson, "The Lost Prince";
• Hilary Swank, "Iron Jawed Angels."
• My Take: Again, haven't seen any. Random choice: Julianna Margulies.

Actor, Miniseries or Movie:

• Mos Def, "Something the Lord Made";
• Jamie Foxx, "Redemption";
• William H. Macy, "The Wool Cap";
• Geoffrey Rush, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers";
• Patrick Stewart, "The Lion in Winter."
• My Take: Again, haven't seen any. Random choice: Mos Def.

Supporting Actress, Miniseries, Movie or Series:

• Drea de Matteo, "The Sopranos";
• Anjelica Huston, "Iron Jawed Angels";
• Nicollette Sheridan, "Desperate Housewives";
• Charlize Theron, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers";
• Emily Watson, "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."
• My Take: Haven't watched much of the Sopranos, but I choose Drea de Matteo.

Supporting Actor, Miniseries, Movie or Series:

• Sean Hayes, "Will & Grace";
• Michael Imperioli, "The Sopranos";
• Jeremy Piven, "Entourage";
• Oliver Platt, "Huff";
• William Shatner, "Boston Legal."
• My Take: Haven't watched any of these, guess I will go with the only good thing from WIll & Grace, Sean Hayes.

That about does it. Hopefully byt he time Oscar roles around I will have seen more of the nominated films and be able to give a better commentary. Thanks for struggling through this.