2009 Golden Globe Award Winners

Here are the winners of the 2009 Golden Globe Awards

Best Motion Picture (Drama): Avatar

Best Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy): The Hangover

Best Actor-Motion Picture (Drama): Jeff Bridges = Crazy Heart

Best Actress-Motion Picture (Drama): Sandra Bullock = The Blind Side

Best Actor-Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy): Robert Downey Jr. = Sherlock Holmes

Best Actress-Motion Picture (Musical/Comedy): Meryl Streep = Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor (Motion Picture): Christoph Waltz = Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress (Motion Picture): Mo'Nique = Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Best Director (Motion Picture): James Cameron = Avatar

Best Screenplay (Motion Picture): Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner = Up in the Air

Best Original Score (Motion Picture): Michael Giacchino = Up

Best Original Song (Motion Picture): "The Weary Kind" = Crazy Heart

Best Animated Feature Film: Up

Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon

WHAT THIS MEANS

This again solidifies my theory of the Oscar race being a duel between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. According to press releases before the Golden Globes were announced on Sunday, there were rumors circulating about how the Hollywood Foreign Press loved Avatar but were unimpressed with The Hurt Locker. It is clear now that those rumors were true based on the fact that Avatar and James Cameron took home the two biggest awards of the evening. One would assume that because The Hurt Locker did not win any Golden Globes on Sunday, Avatar is now the favorite to win the Best Picture Oscar. Normally, that would be true. But in this particular case, one cannot designate Avatar as the favorite on Oscar night. And here's why...

The Academy does not like science fiction films. It is very rare for that particular genre of film to receive a nomination much less win Best Picture. Here's a terrific example: 2001: A Space Odyssey, arguably the greatest science fiction film ever made, received 4 Oscar nominations including one for Best Director. Yet it did not receive the coveted Best Picture nomination because the majority of the Academy is comprised of actors. And since the technical aspects of a science fiction film tend to stand out more upon further analysis and judgment, the actors tend to shun them in terms of overall quality. While Avatar is without question the best film of the year technically, it will be very hard to convince the actors to buy into the idea of motion capture and CGI performances.

Secondly, the Hollywood Foreign Press is no longer considered the definitive authority on Oscar prognostication. While it is favorable that a film takes home the Golden Globe for Best Picture on its way to an Oscar victory, the Hollywood Foreign Press and the Academy have different tastes when it comes to selecting the best in film. The Golden Globes yearn to accommodate the celebrities and make their telecast more of a party than a ceremony. In a sense, the Academy is also trying to eliminate public scrutiny by expanding the field of nominees to ten and hopefully choosing a film that everybody thinks deserves to win Best Picture. What is the film of the moment? Avatar. People are flocking in droves to see it in theaters. The critics have an unfounded love and respect for what James Cameron as accomplished. To reward it would be consenting to popular demand and hopefully drawing in higher ratings for the awards telecast. While Avatar is a solid film from start to finish, which I will get into when I write my review of it, does it really deserve to win Best Picture? While the Hollywood Foreign Press seems to think so, I'm not sure that their opinion will carry Avatar to the finish line and James Cameron back to the podium, especially when Cameron went so far as to mention Kathryn Bigelow in his speech, assuming that she would win the Globe for Best Director. We haven't seen the last of The Hurt Locker. Expect it to walk away with something on Oscar night.

Jeff Bridges, Christoph Waltz, Mo'Nique are three guaranteed winners on Oscar night. Sandra Bullock and Meryl Streep is the other duel to watch out for. The SAG awards are being announced this weekend. Whoever takes home that award will go a long way in establishing themselves as the frontrunner for the Best Actress Oscar. The question will be if the Academy will want to reward Bullock on the basis of her career and for a performance that doesn't stand out at all. Or will they choose to bestow another honor on the great Meryl Streep? I'm inclined to go for the latter if only because I wasn't impressed with Bullock's performance and Streep is good in almost everything that she does. It will be interesting to see who takes home the SAG on Saturday night.

I must admit that the coolest moment of the night was watching The Hangover win a Best Picture award. But to prove how irrelevant the Globes are in terms of forecasting the Oscars, just look at who won for Best Actor (Musical/Comedy). There is no doubt in my mind that Robert Downey Jr. is one of the best actors working today. Yet his performance in Sherlock Holmes is not worthy of any recognition, much less a Golden Globe award. Downey Jr. only won it because of his celebrity rather than the quality of his performance. I hope that doesn't transcend over to the Best Actress race with Sandra Bullock. Consider Up in the Air dead in terms of winning the Best Picture Oscar. Look for Crazy Heart and Up to figure well in winning multiple Oscars this year. If the Oscars were held tonight, here is what the winners would look like...

Best Picture: The Hurt Locker

Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow = The Hurt Locker

Best Actor: Jeff Bridges = Crazy Heart

Best Actress: Meryl Streep = Julie & Julia

Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz = Inglourious Basterds

Best Supporting Actress: Mo'Nique = Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire

Best Adapted Screenplay: Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner = Up in the Air

Best Original Screenplay: Quentin Tarantino = Inglourious Basterds

Best Cinematography: The Hurt Locker

Best Film Editing: Avatar

Best Original Score: Up

Best Original Song: "The Weary Kind" = Crazy Heart

Best Art Direction: Avatar

Best Costume Design: Inglourious Basterds

Best Sound Mixing: Avatar

Best Sound Editing: Avatar

Best Visual Effects: Avatar

Best Makeup: District 9

Best Foreign Language Film: The White Ribbon

Best Animated Feature: Up

Best Documentary Feature: The Cove