LAST UPDATE | 7 Jan 2018

Chris Pizzello Chris Pizzello

REJOICE, ONE AND all, for it is finally awards season!

On Sunday, the Golden Globes take place in Los Angeles. Where the Academy Awards are dripping with prestige and solemnity, the Golden Globes is basically one big rowdy party where the weirdest collection of celebrities sit too closely together, get drunk, and refuse to stay quiet as the host delivers punchlines.

As Brendan Fraser will attest, it is television gold.

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With that in mind, here’s a look at this year’s main categories and who you can expect to walk away victorious.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Searchlight Pictures

• Call Me by Your Name
• Dunkirk
• The Post
• The Shape of Water
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The juiciest category of the night. There’s a case to be made for each of these films. Call Me By Your Name is sumptuous, lush, and achingly tender. Dunkirk has big blockbuster appeal. The Post is a political thriller set in the 1970s with striking parallels to 2018. The Shape of Water is an utterly original fantasy drama that earned the most nominations at this year’s awards. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, is a caustic and darkly funny film that’s vintage McDonagh.

Who will triumph? My money is on either Dunkirk or The Shape of Water, but there’s room for a surprise here.

Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

• The Disaster Artist
• Get Out
• The Greatest Showman
• I, Tonya
• Lady Bird

Ah, Best Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical. A delightfully daffy category that has seen films like Burlesque, Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and Mamma Mia! garner nominations over the years by simple virtue of the fact that they star very famous people and fall into the comedy/musical bracket.

This year’s Burlesque The Greatest Showman, a musical that appears to be about… body positivity and embracing individuality… in the circus? I don’t know. I have not seen The Greatest Showman and I never will, but I guarantee it has no business being nominated for awards.

Anyway, this category is reasonably strong this year. If I were to call it, I would say it’s a toss-up between zeitgeisty horror Get Out or the critically beloved Lady Bird, leaning towards the former.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

• Timothée Chalamet – Call Me by Your Name
• Daniel Day-Lewis – Phantom Thread
• Tom Hanks – The Post
• Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour
• Denzel Washington – Roman J. Israel, Esq.

This year, Golden Globes voters are faced with a Sophie’s Choice of sorts. “Do we vote for the man who donned prosthetic makeup to play one of the most iconic figures in history or do we vote for Daniel Day-Lewis because, well, he’s Daniel Day-Lewis?”

However will they choose? Will a split vote lead to newcomer Timothée Chalamet causing an upset?

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama

Fox Searchlight Pictures Fox Searchlight Pictures

• Jessica Chastain – Molly’s Game
• Sally Hawkins – The Shape of Water
• Frances McDormand – Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
• Meryl Streep – The Post
• Michelle Williams – All the Money in the World

This is likely Frances McDormand’s to lose. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri picked up six nominations so there’s clearly a lot of love for the film and it represents Frances McDormand’s most celebrated film role since 2006′s North Country. In other words: it’s her time.

If anyone overshadows her, it’s likely to be Sally Hawkins, who previously won a Golden Globe for Happy-Go-Lucky.

Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

Zuma Press / PA Images Zuma Press / PA Images / PA Images

• Steve Carell – Battle of the Sexes
• Ansel Elgort – Baby Driver
• James Franco – The Disaster Artist
• Hugh Jackman – The Greatest Showman
• Daniel Kaluuya – Get Out

Did you ever think you’d see the day when Ansel Elgort would be a Golden Globe nominee? As in, the Ansel Elgort who once said he just wanted a girlfriend he could go to EDM concerts and play Grand Theft Auto with? What a time to be alive!

Once again, this seems sewn up. Steve Carell isn’t winning this. Neither is James Franco Hugh Jackman certainly isn’t. And much as Golden Globe winner Ansel Elgort would be a trip, it’s also not happening.

This award is Daniel Kaluuya’s to lose. Expect uproar if he walks away empty-handed.

Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy/Musical

• Judi Dench – Victoria & Abdul
• Helen Mirren – The Leisure Seeker
• Margot Robbie – I, Tonya
• Saoirse Ronan – Lady Bird
• Emma Stone – Battle of the Sexes 

Hands up if you’ve ever heard of the film The Leisure Seeker? Anyone? No? Apparently it stars Helen Mirren and Donald Sutherland as a couple who go on a cross-country trip in a campervan to escape the clutches of their children. I’m still not convinced that this isn’t a figment of Golden Globes voters’ imaginations, but okay.

Anyway, the award basically already has Saoirse Ronan’s name on it. Lady Bird is the most critically acclaimed film of the last year and Ronan’s performance, equal parts sassy and moving, is unlike anything we’ve seen from her before. Her nearest rival is probably Margot Robbie, but I think this will be Saoirse’s night.

Things to watch out for…

• Statements on #MeToo. Most of the nominees have pledged to wear black this year in solidarity with victims of sexual assault and harassment. Expect some powerful speeches and red carpet statements.
• This year’s host Seth Meyers. The comedian has been busy making a name for himself all year as one of late night’s most vocal critics of the Trump administration. Arm yourself with Savlon, Donald. You’re about to get burned.
• Will Saoirse Ronan go full “go raibh míle maith agat” if she wins? Will they pronounce her name correctly? “Shee-sha Ronan.”
• The one and only Mariah Carey is nominated for Best Original Song. Say a prayer that she wins because I guarantee that speech will be iconic.

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