2011 Golden Globe Awards

Golden Globes TONIGHT (already!)... we all know that these are typically a very poor indicator of who will win the Oscar statues, but it's interesting to see the results anyway. Though we here at MoJo specialize in Oscar predictions, here are our predictions for the 2011 Golden Globe awards (which will likely closely align with our Oscar predictions). Note that these are only the movies predictions,  because let's be honest, no one REALLY cares about TV...

Best Motion Picture – Drama
Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The King’s Speech
The Social Network (X)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Halle Berry – Frankie and Alice
Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence – Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman – Black Swan (X)
Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
Jesse Eisenberg – The Social Network
Colin Firth – The King’s Speech (X)
James Franco – 127 Hours
Ryan Gosling – Blue Valentine
Mark Wahlberg – The Fighter

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Alice in Wonderland
Burlesque
The Kids Are All Right (X)
Red
The Tourist

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right (X)
Anne Hathaway – Love And Other Drugs
Angelina Jolie – The Tourist
Julianne Moore – The Kids Are All Right
Emma Stone – Easy A

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Johnny Depp – Alice in Wonderland
Johnny Depp – The Tourist
Paul Giamatti – Barney’s Version (X)
Jake Gyllenhaal – Love And Other Drugs
Kevin Spacey – Casino Jack

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Amy Adams – The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter – The King’s Speech
Mila Kunis – Black Swan
Melissa Leo – The Fighter (X)
Jacki Weaver – Animal Kingdom

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Christian Bale – The Fighter (X)
Michael Douglas – Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield – The Social Network
Jeremy Renner – The Town
Geoffrey Rush – The King’s Speech

Best Animated Feature Film
Despicable Me
How To Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled
Toy Story 3 (X)

Best Foreign Language Film
Biutiful (Mexico, Spain)
The Concert (France)
The Edge (Russia)
I Am Love (Italy)
In A Better World (Denmark) (X)

Best Director – Motion Picture
Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan
David Fincher – The Social Network (X)
Tom Hooper – The King’s Speech
Christopher Nolan – Inception
David O. Russell – The Fighter

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Simon Beaufoy, Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
Christopher Nolan – Inception
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right
David Seidler – The King’s Speech
Aaron Sorkin – The Social Network (X)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
Alexandre Desplat – The King’s Speech
Danny Elfman – Alice in Wonderland
A. R. Rahman – 127 Hours
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – The Social Network (X)
Hans Zimmer – Inception

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
“Bound To You” – Burlesque /Music By: Samuel Dixon /Lyrics By: Christina Aguilera and Sia Furler (X)
“Coming Home” – Country Strong/ Music & Lyrics By: Bob DiPiero, Tom Douglas, Hillary Lindsey and Troy Verges
“I See The Light” – Tangled/ Music By: Alan Menken/ Lyrics By: Glenn Slater
“There’s A Place For Us” – Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader/ Music & Lyrics By: Hillary Lindsey, Carrie Underwood and David Hodges

John's Top 10 Movies of 2010

Well, here it is - I have finally picked my favorites and here it is, my ten favorite movies of the year... In ORDER!

1. 127 Hours
2. The King's Speech
3. Black Swan
4. Rabbit Hole
5. The Social Network
6. Inception
7. The Kids Are All Right
8. The Ghost Writer
9. Toy Story 3
10. True Grit

Blue Valentine (**1/2)

How shocked was I to discover that Blue Valentine was not the spectacularly-emotional movie the trailer built it up to be, but rather a complete misstep in terms of simple story and character development. What has a concept for a great film ultimately fails and dies very quickly.

The story is disjointed, following two story lines of the same couple played by Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. One plot follows their meeting and 'falling in love,' while the second contrasts and presents the ultimate failure of their marriage. There is no in-between, and I think that's where the majority of my problem with this film lies: that one plot shows how they are allegedly 'the perfect match,' and the second one says no with no reasoning why it didn't work in the first place. When did they begin to fall out of love?

And that's basically it. The story has no plot - it's more situational and character-driven. Not to say that no plot isn't a good thing, but when you spend two hours watching 2 people fight and eventually divorce, what's really the point? It doesn't have a happy ending (clearly), and it really doesn't have a happy beginning, either. There's nothing much happening.

That's also not to say the acting isn't bad, either. In fact it's nearly flawless. Both Gosling and Williams easily switch from their younger roles to older - from blinded by love youths to emotionally-tired adults. The transitions are truly remarkable.

But, for me, the movie is a miss. What's the point of spending 2 hours watching two people get a divorce, anyways?

(Awards potential: Best Actor (Gosling), Best Actress (Williams))

I Am Love (****)

I'm sure many people will consider I Am Love to be mere melodrama - a film more focused on shock and startles than actual story. While I believe it to be a film that does take a few liberties in terms of development, I found it to be an engrossing, albeit slowly-paced work of art with a spellbinding performance from Tilda Swinton.

The movie, a small Italian film, will most likely receive little to no nominations from any major Awards, but this should in no way be a detractor from the film. The story follows a wealthy Italian family with their fortune made in the textile industry. Tilda Swinton, the wife of the heir to the fortune, is in many ways a trophy wife, a Russian-born who is there simply to complete the ideal family. She eventually discovers love and develops a fiery romance with her son's friend and business partner. The ending takes a shockingly-different turn than expected, but this isn't a film necessarily focused on telling a complete story and wrapping it up nicely. We as an audience are simply presented the facts then left to sort out the pieces and interpret as we will.

Stylistically, the film is stunning. Italy is presented so beautifully and lush, while so much of the Recchi's extravagant home is dark, cold, almost sinister. A broad symphonic score provides a rousing accompaniment, while the editing is non-linear and very much internalized to Swinton's character.

And then there is Tilda Swinton herself - has she ever had a 'bad' role? She easily has established herself as one of the greatest living actresses. The British actress meticulously plays an Italian with a Russian accent, and I understand she learned both languages in preparation for the role. There is never a moment when her performance on screen is anything less than brilliant. This film, along with Julia, are easily two of her best works, yet the Oscar-winning actress will most likely not receive her second Oscar nomination for this film, even though this film is easily caliber for a win. As is typical with Oscar-voting, the smaller films often are forgotten, and this will surely be one stunning snub.

Overall a beautifully-shot, marvelously acted, and perfectly paced. Unfortunately I predict it will receive little to no recognition as one of the year's best films. Worth the viewing anyways, if only to see Tilda Swinton. She's a goddess.

(Awards potential: Best Actress (Swinton), Best Foreign Language Film, Best Cinematography)

Animal Kingdom (****1/2)

Animal Kingdom is a brutally real look at the life of an organized crime family in Australia. While its thematic elements are dark to say the least, the story is told with such a cinematic eye and clever acting that it becomes an amazing film-going experience.

The film opens with one of the most disturbing and matter-of-fact death scenes I think I've ever seen. Right away we learn so much about Josh, this quiet teenage boy, left with no where to go. While the film seems to mimic the narrative style of films like Goodfellas as times, the story is unique and oftentimes much more gritty. There is nothing glamorous about the lives this family leads.

The cast is stellar, but Guy Pearce and Jacki Weaver truly steal the show. Pearce plays a detective tracking the family and set on protecting Josh in what ever way he can. Weaver plays the matriarch, the mother with a constant smile on her face as her family descends deeper and deeper into darkness. Her role is complex and so riveting to watch, and while she may be considered a villain at times, she also has moments of pure heroism.

There are several things working against this film in terms of awards potential, mainly its status as an independent film from Australia. While Weaver may be the film's best shot at an Oscar nom, that doesn't stop it from being one of the most finely-crafted films of the year.

(Awards potential: Best Supporting Actress (Weaver), Best Original Screenplay)