Golden Globes part 2: To the faithful Departed

Well, I'm giving out an early hint with the title of this that there might be a few picks for The Departed. And why not - Leo proved once again that he act; Nicholson was Nicholson; the screenplay was sophisticated yet badass and, oh yeah, it was directed by Martin Scorsese. But remember, I'm very skeptical of awards season in general, like rumors that the Buffalo Bills will be good next season, but still feel it's worthy of writing two blog entries with just Globes predictions. What can I say, awards season is just the season I hate that I like - like Mean Girls, The Notebook or reruns of Full House. Here are my predictions and picks for the drama portion of the Golden Globes.

Best screenplay:
a. GUILLERMO ARRIAGA — BABEL
b. TODD FIELD & TOM PERROTTA — LITTLE CHILDREN
c. PATRICK MARBER — NOTES ON A SCANDAL
d. WILLIAM MONAHAN — THE DEPARTED
e. PETER MORGAN — THE QUEEN

Prediction: Look for Patrick Marber to win for Notes on a Scandal.
My pick: Many will give credit to Scorsese and DiCaprio, or even
Nicholson, for making The Departed what it is, which is a movie
claimed as the best movie of the year by many critics circle, but it
all starts with the smart and ballsy screenplay by Monahan.

Best director:
a. CLINT EASTWOOD — FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
b. CLINT EASTWOOD — LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA
c. STEPHEN FREARS — THE QUEEN
d. ALEJANDRO GONZALEZ INARRITU — BABEL
e. MARTIN SCORSESE — THE DEPARTED

Prediction: Martin Scorsese for The Departed. What a stacked director
category there is this year. Once again you have Eastwood and
Scorsese squaring off. Inarritu announced himself and Stephen Frears,
who did High Fidelity and Dirty Pretty Things, announced himself to
the more mainstream. So strong is t his category that Guillermo del
Toro didn't even get nominated for the critic darling Pan's Labryinth.
Eastwood will split votes, but if he only gets nominated for Letters
in the Oscars, who knows if Marty will get his Oscar then either.
My pick: Only getting to see Flags of our Fathers and not Letters,
it's tough to pick Letters over Scorsese's The Departed. However,
after getting named the best film of the year by the national board of review and being soundly claimed as the best of the two movies
Eastwood was nominated for, Letters looks like it could win. Even
though I'm a huge Eastwood supporter - my favorite movie is Unforgiven despite not really being a Western guy – I have to go with Scorsese on this one.

Best actor in a drama:
a. LEONARDO DICAPRIO — BLOOD DIAMOND
b. LEONARDO DICAPRIO — THE DEPARTED
c. PETER O'TOOLE — VENUS
d. WILL SMITH — THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS
e. FOREST WHITAKER — THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND

Prediction: Forest Whitaker for The Last King of Scotland. Maybe even
more competitive than best director. DiCaprio changed my mind this
year about his acting talent, Will Smith seemed an obvious choice for
best actor as soon as the trailer came out for Pursuit of Happyness
and Peter O'Toole has been talked about with Whitaker since the
beginning of the awards season. For the Oscars, it's the Whitaker and
O'Toole show and if O'Toole is going to win best actor, it will be in
the Oscars and not the Globes. He poses the only threat for Whitaker
who seems like this year's Phillip Seymour Hoffman. For the Globes
though, don't be TOO surprised to see DiCaprio or even Smith win.
This category is much more wide open for the Globes than for the
Oscars.
My pick: It's about time Whitaker announced how good he is.

Best actress in a drama:
a. PENELOPE CRUZ — VOLVER
b. JUDI DENCH — NOTES ON A SCANDAL
c. MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL — SHERRYBABY
d. HELEN MIRREN — THE QUEEN
e. KATE WINSLET — LITTLE CHILDREN

Prediction: Helen Mirren for The Queen. Another competitive category
but this is Mirren's category for both the Globes and the Oscars.
Dench keeps the streak of getting nominated for what seems like every
single movie she makes. How again did the Bond franchise get her
onboard?
My pick: I have no problems with Mirren winning – and she will.

Best foreign language film:
a. APOCALYPTO (USA)
Touchstone Pictures/Icon Productions; Buena Vista Pictures Distribution
b. LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (USA/JAPAN)
Warner Bros. Pictures/DreamWorks Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures
c. THE LIVES OF OTHERS (GERMANY)
Wiedemann & Berg/ Bayerischer Rundfunk / ARTE / Creado Film; Sony
Pictures Classics
d. PAN'S LABYRINTH (MEXICO)
Estudios Picasso/Tequila Gang/Esperanto; Picturehouse
e. VOLVER (SPAIN)
El Deseo; Sony Pictures Classics

Prediction: Pan's Labyrinth and Letters from Iwo Jima seem to be the
frontrunners but I expect Letters to win.
Best picture, Drama.
a. BABEL
Anonymous Content Production/Una Produccion De Zeta Film/Central Film
Production; Paramount Pictures/Paramount Vantage
b. BOBBY
A Michel Litvak Production/Bold Films; MGM/The Weinstein Company
c. THE DEPARTED
Warner Bros. Pictures; Warner Bros. Pictures
d. LITTLE CHILDREN
New Line Cinema; New Line Cinema
e. THE QUEEN
A Granada Production; Miramax Films

Prediction: The Departed. The Queen is a one woman show, Babel
doesn't have the "buzz" and mass appeal that The Departed does and I'm
surprised to see Little Children and Bobby get nominated in the first
place.
My pick: Has to go to my favorite movie of the year, The Departed.