Golden Globes 2016

Alright folks, it's happened, the winners are out, and whilst I didn't get in in time for my predictions post for the Globes, I've got the list of winners along with who I think should have won below. Sadly this year I didn't get a chance to sit down and watch the Globes as it was happening (stupid life and real job getting in the way), but I am going to sit down tonight and feast on the glory that is Ricky Gervais and enjoy the ceremony with a glas of vino (or 7).

Winners are marked in bold;

1. BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

a.	CAROL - haven't got to see this yet as it's not out in Australia, but by God am I excited for it!! Based on the reviews, I would have put this as my prediction for the winner
	Number 9 Films; The Weinstein Company
b.	MAD MAX: FURY ROAD - I was not as wrapped with this film as everyone else in the world, it was good, but I certainly wouldn't have backed it as a winner
	Warner Bros. Pictures / Village Roadshow Pictures / Kennedy Miller Mitchell; Warner Bros. Pictures
c.	THE REVENANT - am off to see this later in the week, so I will offer my judgement then
	Regency Enterprises; Twentieth Century Fox
d.	ROOM  - I just saw the extended trailer for this last week and I am super keen to see it!
	Element Pictures / No Trace Camping; A24
e.	SPOTLIGHT - Australia is so behind...how am I ever meant to work it out when I can't even see the films yet?!
	Anonymous Content / Participant Media / First Look; Open Road Films

2.     BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

a.	CATE BLANCHETT	CAROL - I would have put my money on Cate for the win here
b.	BRIE LARSON	ROOM - again, I have not yet seen this as it's not out yet, but she looks bloody brilliant in the trailers!!
c.	ROONEY MARA	CAROL
d.	SAOIRSE RONAN	BROOKLYN
e.	ALICIA VIKANDER	THE DANISH GIRL

3.     BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

a.	BRYAN CRANSTON	TRUMBO
b.	LEONARDO DICAPRIO	THE REVENANT - so annoyed I haven't seen this yet, but I'm glad Leo won!
c.	MICHAEL FASSBENDER	STEVE JOBS
d.	EDDIE REDMAYNE	THE DANISH GIRL - I would have put my money on Eddie for the win here
e.	WILL SMITH	CONCUSSION

4.     BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY 

a.	THE BIG SHORT
	Paramount Pictures / Regency Enterprises; Paramount Pictures
b.	JOY
	Fox 2000 Pictures; Twentieth Century Fox
c.	THE MARTIAN - I would have put my money on The Martian for sure!
	Twentieth Century Fox; Twentieth Century Fox
d.	SPY
	Twentieth Century Fox; Twentieth Century Fox
e.	TRAINWRECK
	Universal Pictures / Apatow Productions; Universal Pictures

5.     BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a.	JENNIFER LAWRENCE	JOY -no real surprises here, although in my mind it should have been Maggie Smith! I don't think this is Jen's best work to be honest
b.	MELISSA MCCARTHY	SPY
c.	AMY SCHUMER	TRAINWRECK
d.	MAGGIE SMITH	THE LADY IN THE VAN -  I would have put my money on Maggie Smith
e.	LILY TOMLIN	GRANDMA

6.     BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

a.	CHRISTIAN BALE	THE BIG SHORT
b.	STEVE CARELL	THE BIG SHORT
c.	MATT DAMON	THE MARTIAN -  this is absolutely where I would have put my money for the win. MATT DAMON
d.	AL PACINO	DANNY COLLINS
e.	MARK RUFFALO	INFINITELY POLAR BEAR -  a close second for me here, one of the most underrated actors

7.     BEST MOTION PICTURE – ANIMATED 

a.	ANOMALISA
	Starburns Industries; Paramount Pictures
b.	THE GOOD DINOSAUR
	Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
c.	INSIDE OUT - of course this won, it was a freakin' incredible film!
	Pixar Animation Studios; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
d.	THE PEANUTS MOVIE
	Blue Sky Studios; Twentieth Century Fox
e.	SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE
	Aardman; Lionsgate / Studiocanal

8.     BEST MOTION PICTURE – FOREIGN LANGUAGE

a.	THE BRAND NEW TESTAMENT	(BELGIUM / FRANCE / LUXEMBOURG)
	Terra Incognita / Climax Films / Après le Déluge / Juliette Films / Caviar; Belga Films / Le Pacte
b.	THE CLUB	(CHILE)
	Fabula; Music Box Films
c.	THE FENCER	(FINLAND / GERMANY / ESTONIA)
	Making Movies / Kick Film GmbH / Allfilm; Oy Nordisk Film Ab
d.	MUSTANG	(FRANCE)
	CG Cinéma / Vistamar Flimproduktion; Cohen Media Group
e.	SON OF SAUL	(HUNGARY) - none of these I've been able to see yet, so I would have guessed based on trailer alone and it would have been Fencer
	Laokoon Filmgroup; Sony Pictures Classics

9.     BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

a.	JANE FONDA	YOUTH
b.	JENNIFER JASON LEIGH	THE HATEFUL EIGHT
c.	HELEN MIRREN	TRUMBO
d.	ALICIA VIKANDER	EX MACHINA
e.	KATE WINSLET	STEVE JOBS - that's a bit exciting! I love Kate. I would have put my money on Alicia Vikander, but that's the only one of these films I've seen so far

10.  BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN ANY MOTION PICTURE

a.	PAUL DANO	LOVE & MERCY
b.	IDRIS ELBA	BEASTS OF NO NATION
c.	MARK RYLANCE	BRIDGE OF SPIES
d.	MICHAEL SHANNON	99 HOMES
e.	SYLVESTER STALLONE	CREED - absolutely this is correct, but if I hadn't seen it I would have put money on Paul Dano

11.  BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE

a.	TODD HAYNES	CAROL
b.	ALEJANDRO G. IÑÁRRITU	THE REVENANT - I would have put my money on THE MARTIAN, but I haven't seen THE REVENANT yet, so I may just change my mind
c.	TOM MCCARTHY	SPOTLIGHT
d.	GEORGE MILLER	MAD MAX: FURY ROAD
e.	RIDLEY SCOTT	THE MARTIAN

12.  BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE

a.	EMMA DONOGHUE	ROOM
b.	TOM MCCARTHY,  JOSH SINGER	SPOTLIGHT
c.	CHARLES RANDOLPH, ADAM MCKAY	THE BIG SHORT
d.	AARON SORKIN	STEVE JOBS - even though I haven't seen this yet, I would have thought Aaron Sorkin would have it I the bag. His screenplays are always incredible
e.	QUENTIN TARANTINO	THE HATEFUL EIGHT

13.  BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE

a.	CARTER BURWELL	CAROL
b.	ALEXANDRE DESPLAT	THE DANISH GIRL - If it weren't for Ennio then I would have put my money here
c.	ENNIO MORRICONE	THE HATEFUL EIGHT - I have so much Ennio Morricone on my iPod people might think I'm a stalker...
d.	DANIEL PEMBERTON	STEVE JOBS
e.	RYUICHI SAKAMOTO, ALVA NOTO	THE REVENANT

             

14.  BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE 

a.	“LOVE ME LIKE YOU DO” — FIFTY SHADES OF GREY
	Music by:	Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ali Payami, Ilya Salmanzadeh
	Lyrics by:	Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Ali Payami, Ilya Salmanzadeh
b.	“ONE KIND OF LOVE” — LOVE & MERCY
	Music by:	Brian Wilson, Scott Bennett
	Lyrics by:	Brian Wilson, Scott Bennett
c.	“SEE YOU AGAIN” — FURIOUS 7
	Music by:	Justin Franks, Andrew Cedar, Charlie Puth, Cameron Thomaz
	Lyrics by:	Justin Franks, Andrew Cedar, Charlie Puth, Cameron Thomaz
d.	“SIMPLE SONG #3” — YOUTH
	Music by:	David Lang
	Lyrics by:	David Lang
e.	“WRITING'S ON THE WALL” — SPECTRE - yeah ok, I can see why this won...I preferred One kind of Love from LOVE & MERCY though
	Music by:	Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes
	Lyrics by:	Sam Smith, Jimmy Napes

Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got some serious film viewing to do in the lead up to the Oscars this year so I can make some informed choices and also express outrage and disappointment that my favourites didn't win knowing that they were truly the best.

I'll leave you with this clip of Ricky at the Globes this year...people are equally amused and offended, but they keep inviting him back, so they only have themselves to blame. I for one love him, so let's keep him coming back and back and back!

Xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell

JOY - review

Director: David O. Russell
Cast: Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Édgar Ramírez, Diane Laid, Virginia Madsen, Isabella Rossellini, Dascha Polanco, Elisabeth Röhm

Synopsis: JOY is the wild true story of Joy Mangano and her Italian-American family across four generations centred on the girl who becomes the woman who founds a business dynasty by inventing the Miracle Mop and becomes a matriarch in her own right. 

Ahhh Boxing Day, my favourite day of the year. It's new release movie day, and it's always been my favourite day. It was my favourite day when I worked in cinema and it's still my favourite day. It's the day that all the big new releases come out. The much anticipated films that everyone's hanging out for. When I worked in cinema, I used to get sneak peaks of everything that was coming and it would make me even more excited. Now I just wait with the rest of the world to see what Boxing Day aka New Release Day has in store for me. This year there were no massive titles coming out, STAR WARS was released a few weeks before Boxing Day, there was no HOBBIT film or HARRY POTTER instalment, no huge titles to speak of, but I was mighty excited about a couple of films that were due out and JOY was one of them.

A great ensemble cast that did their best

Image via 20th Century Fox

I dragged my butt out of bed on New Release Day even though I'd worked on Christmas Day and was pretty exhausted, because I wanted to be in amongst the madness that is the busiest day in cinema. The 10am session of JOY was relatively quiet - most people were probably still nursing their food babies and Christmas hangovers, but I was ready, and let me tell you, I was slightly disappointed. I have to agree with a lot of the critics out there, the question has finally been answered, Jennifer Lawerence can actually be in a film that's kinda shitty. There, I said it. She tried, lord knows she tried, but even she couldn't salvage this mess.

The storyline was all over the shop, Joy was pure victim, the struggling divorced mother of two who cares for both her parents and her ex-husband, who somehow managed to invent a wonder mop after cutting her hands wringing out a regular mop by hand. The film should have been incredible - it was brought to us by the team who gave is SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK and AMERICAN HUSTLE - I had certain expectations of its greatness. I wanted it to be great, and perhaps that was my problem. Perhaps I went in with the bar set too high, but whatever the reason, I didn't love it and I wanted to.

Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper couldn't save this mess

image via 20th Century Fox

The film opened with a disclaimer that the story was inspired by great women everywhere, like David O. Russell was trying to tell us his intentions were good, but that what we were going to see was a pile of crap. I ignored that warning and still hoped for the best, but the narrative was meh, and the acting was some of the worst I've seen out of any of this incredible cast. Shame, shame I tell you. Some parts of the film were truly laughable, and all the while Lawrence was trying to wring out every last bit of sympathy she could from the audience. I really feel for the actors in this film, they can only do so much with what they've got, and they didn't have much.

The narrative we open with from Joy's grandmother Mimi (Diane Laid) is quickly forgotten and when it returns later in the film it is intrusive and doesn't fit with the film. There are a few little side plots and twists that don't fit nicely within the storyline, that just complicate it and make you wonder why you're seeing it at all. Then we finish with Joy walking down the street after saving her entire empire all on her own putting on her hip sunglasses with her home job haircut and leather jacket that goes for what seems like years before we have the weirdest epilogue.

before the longest walk ever

Image via 20th Century Fox

I don't think that JOY is going to get a particularly long run at the cinema, so if you are wanting to see it, get in quick. I would guess 3-4 weeks at best, with limited sessions in the last couple of weeks. At 2 hours and 4 minutes, it's a long time to sit if you're not going to be completely wowed by a film, so unless you're a die hard fan of J-Law and Bradley Cooper (who we definitely do not see enough of to make it worthwhile) then I wouldn't rush out to spend your 20-something dollars on this film. Sorry Jennifer, lord knows I'm a fan and I think you're wonderful and that you can do no wrong, but even you couldn't carry this film.

2.5 out of 5

Xoxo
The Blonde Bombshell