The No. 1 reasons to watch the Golden Globes are the hosting powers of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, and, yes, the possibility that a live event featuring intoxicated celebrities will lead to some unpredictable moments.
Also, some are awards are given out, which shouldn't mean that much (this is the small, veiled Hollywood Foreign Press Association, after all) but still are worth assessing. Here goes!
Drama
Best Picture
Rooting for: "Selma." Powerful and important without resorting to cliché or anything easy.
Rooting against: "Boyhood." As I've said since seeing the film at Sundance in January 2014: Promising concept, limited execution.
For the record: The most discussion-worthy movie here is "Foxcatcher."
Best Actor
Rooting for: Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler." An incredible, chilling, difficult, crafty performance.
Rooting against: Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher." The film's weakest link.
For the record: David Oyelowo ("Selma") and Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything") are awesome too.
Best Actress
Rooting for: Julianne Moore, "Still Alice" (a lock) or Felicity Jones, "The Theory of Everything." Both are incredible.
Rooting against: Rosamund Pike, "Gone Girl." She's great, but the character's a lot better in the book.
For the record: Almost no one (including me) has seen "Cake," for which Jennifer Aniston is nominated.
Musical or Comedy
Best Picture
Rooting for: "The Grand Budapest Hotel." The year's best movie.
Rooting against: "Into the Woods,""St. Vincent,""Pride." All are OK at best.
For the record: "Birdman" is really entertaining.
Best Actor
Rooting for: Ralph Fiennes, "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Did you know he could pull off this kind of role?
Rooting against: Christoph Waltz, "Big Eyes." Gives his character no shading whatsoever.
For the record: Joaquin Phoenix (delicious in "Inherent Vice") needs to win awards eventually.
Best Actress
Rooting for: Amy Adams, "Big Eyes." The only sensible winner in this category.
Rooting against: Quvenzhane Wallis, "Annie." She was astonishing in "Beasts of the Southern Wild," but she's just not good here.
For the record: I haven't seen Julianne Moore in "Maps to the Stars" or Helen Mirren in "The Hundred-Foot Journey."
Also
Best Supporting Actor
Rooting for: J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash." Justified acclaim for a veteran who's due.
Rooting against: Ethan Hawke ("Boyhood") and Robert Duvall ("The Judge"). Come on.
For the record: Mark Ruffalo ("Foxcatcher") and Edward Norton ("Birdman") are fantastic as well.
Best Supporting Actress
Rooting for: Jessica Chastain, "A Most Violent Year." See this movie, people (opening Jan. 16 in Chicago). It's exceptional.
Rooting against: Meryl Streep, "Into the Woods." Nominated only because she's Meryl Streep. Blah performance in a bad movie.
For the record: Emma Stone does career-best work in "Birdman."
Best Director
Rooting for: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel." No one does what he does, and he's rarely done it as well.
Rooting against: David Fincher, "Gone Girl." Love him and like the movie a lot, but this isn't his best work.
For the record: Ava DuVernay also is deserving for "Selma."
Best Screenplay
Rooting for: Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel." By now it's clear that I love this movie.
Rooting against: Graham Moore, "The Imitation Game." The structure hinders the storytelling.
For the record: Still not sure how anyone can feel the boozing stepdad stuff in "Boyhood" isn't groan-worthy.
Best Foreign Language Film
Rooting for: "Force Majeure." Talkable.
Rooting against: "Ida,""Leviathan." Overrated.
For the record: I haven't seen "Tangerines" or "Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem."
Best Animated Feature
Rooting for: "The Lego Movie." So imaginative, so funny.
Rooting against: "Big Hero 6." Goes south after its excellent first half.
For the record: I didn't see "The Book of Life" and liked "How to Train Your Dragon 2" and "The Boxtrolls."
Watch Matt review the week's big new movies Fridays at 11:30 a.m. on NBC.
mpais@tribune.com
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