2014 Golden Globe Predictions!

Sunday night a select few of the richest and most beautiful people in the world are about to get that third rung of fame: accolades.  The Golden Globes, one of the best and thankfully most chaeotic of awards shows will be airing on NBC, and I figured it was high-time that I get my predictions out.  The Globes are always extremely adventurous when it comes to television, and if I am feeling particularly ambitious later this week I may take a stab at who will win there (where new shows like How to Get Away with Murder, Transparent, and Jane the Virgin may well start a mad stomp through the SAG and Emmy Awards...or they are never heard of again-like I said, the Globes be crazy).  However, for the time being we'll stick with the film categories, which I'm most eager to investigate.  Without further adieu...

Best Motion Picture-Drama

Boyhood
Foxcatcher
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything

My Prediction: Selma has had the most bizarre awards run of the season, where it gets shut out in some places (thanks to the screener issue) but scores big in others.  I can't quite tell what will happen here-occasionally the Globes buck the trend even if there's no shot at a Best Picture win (remember Atonement beating No Country for Old Men and Michael Clayton back in the day?), so Selma could still be a major player, but I'm going to go with Boyhood with The Imitation Game behind it.  Boyhood has so much critical love that I think that all of those critics' wins will result in it winning at least one major televised prize.  The Globes could be it.

Best Motion Picture-Comedy/Musical

Birdman
The Grand Budapest Hotel
Into the Woods
Pride
St. Vincent

My Prediction: I'm still through-the-moon that Pride managed this shock nomination, but there's no way that it actually pulls off victory.  It's unwise to ever completely bet against a musical (all things being equal, they tend to prefer musicals over comedies), but Birdman is the only film on this list that is a serious threat to win the Oscar, and that's going to be impossible to ignore.

Best Actor in a Drama

Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
David Oyelowo, Selma
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

My Prediction: I hate when everyone frames every category in terms of Oscar, but on occasion it's impossible not to, and in terms of Oscar, winning this trophy will have HUGE consequences.  I believe at this point that Michael Keaton has slipped into a small but real lead for the Best Actor Oscar, so being the dramatic foil to him would be a huge coup for any of these men.  I genuinely feel that Oyelowo, Cumberbatch, and Redmayne all have equal shots, but I'm going to guess Redmayne, who is probably the most charming on the stump (the Globes have a small voting body, so being willing to "play the game" helps considerably), and who will put himself in a great position if Keaton's not as popular with AMPAS.

Best Actress in a Drama

Jennifer Aniston, Cake
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

My Prediction: If Jennifer Aniston wants to make a major play at the televised awards, this is the time to do it.  Consider this: the voting body of HFPA is right around 100 (small enough that Aniston could easily know every member personally, considering her Globe-winning tenure on Friends), her main competition Julianne Moore is splitting the vote with her nomination over in Comedy, and of all of the awards bodies Aniston's celebrity will carry the most weight with the Globes.  Lest we forget, the Sandra Bullock bandwagon started here.  Still, I'm going to go with Julianne Moore, whom I suspect is about to clobber everyone when it comes to Best Actress.

Best Actor in a Comedy/Musical

Ralph Fiennes, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Bill Murray, St. Vincent
Joaquin Phoenix, Inherent Vice
Chritoph Waltz, Big Eyes

My Prediction: Congratulations Ralph, Bill, Joaquin, and Christoph-you all get a nice meal, a new tux, and something to add to your resume.  You won't, however, be getting a trophy as Michael Keaton's about to win the easiest Globe of the night.

Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical

Amy Adams, Big Eyes
Emily Blunt, Into the Woods
Helen Mirren, The Hundred-Foot Journey
Julianne Moore, Maps to the Stars
Quvenzhane Wallis, Annie

My Prediction: This could go three ways.  The Globes could go with the woman most likely to be nominated for the Oscar, which would be Amy Adams (though she just won last year, otherwise this would be easy).  They could go with a spread-the-wealth theory and give Julianne Moore the trophy here while giving Jennifer Aniston the victory in Drama.  Or they could go with Emily Blunt, who has won before but for television, and whose win would be a way of acknowledging the year's biggest musical.  My gut says that that's what they're about to do.

Best Supporting Actor

Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

My Prediction: In a category that has gained yawns from almost everyone this season (including moi), we're about to see the first of seemingly hundreds of speeches from JK Simmons, who at least seems pretty funny (plus, I have a feeling that Edward Norton will be scowling after losing most of these trophies this season, and a sore loser is usually more fun to see than a gracious loser face).

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

My Prediction: I should maybe throw out something crazy like Emma Stone for Birdman (which is not far-fetched-it's rare for two women over forty to stampede both Best Actress and Supporting Actress), and if this race is going to make a shift from critical favorite to televised consensus favorite, now would be the time.  Still, the smart money's on Arquette and I'll stay there until I have proof otherwise (it helps that Arquette has never won a Globe in her long career).

Best Director

Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Ava DuVernay, Selma
David Fincher, Gone Girl
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood

My Prediction: Richard Linklater is hardly as much of a star with this crowd as Fincher or Inarritu, but he may be too "set-in-stone" to not get this win.  If Boyhood takes Best Picture, it's difficult to see him missing here as well, so I'll go with him over Inarritu.

Best Screenplay

Birdman
Boyhood
Gone Girl
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game

My Prediction: Part of me thinks that everyone is underestimating Gillian Flynn, who is definitely the biggest celebrity nominated in this bunch, but I'll go with what most people are thinking: if Boyhood takes Director, then Birdman wins for writing.

Best Original Score

Birdman
Gone Girl
The Imitation Game
Interstellar
The Theory of Everything

My Prediction: The Globes could go with Antonio Sanchez for Birdman just as a screw you to the Academy (they do that more than you'd think in the music categories), but I'm going to guess Alexandre Desplat for The Imitation Game both because it's an easy way to honor a big film and because Desplat is a favorite with the Globes who hasn't won in a while.

Best Original Song

"Big Eyes," Big Eyes
"Glory," Selma
"Mercy Is," Noah
"Opportunity," Annie
"Yellow Flicker Beat," The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 1

My Prediction: The combination of the most-nominated film in the bunch and major music stars in Common and John Legend make "Glory" the toughest act to beat, which I doubt anyone will.

Best Foreign Language Film

Force Majeure
Gett: The Trial of Viviane Ansalem
Ida
Leviathan
Tangerines

My Prediction: The Oscars are more likely to dethrone a frontrunner here than the Globes, so Ida takes a pivotal step toward Poland FINALLY breaking its streak with AMPAS.

Best Animated Film

Big Hero 6
The Book of Life
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
The Lego Movie

My Prediction: Everything will be awesome for the crew over at Warner Brothers, who will score their first trophy in this category with The Lego Movie.

And there you have it-my guesses about this year's Globes.  What are your thoughts?  Who are you most looking forward to winning?  And most importantly, which of these celebrities are we going to catch being drunk on camera?