Before the 61st Annual Golden Globe Awards are handed out on Jan. 25, we’re giving our two cents as to which of the top category nominees are most likely going to take home the coveted prize. Be sure to watch the show Sunday at 5 p.m. PT/8:00 p.m. ET on NBC–we will be, at least, to find out if we’re right.
Film
Best Motion Picture–Drama: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
The third and final installment to the J.R.R. Tolkien trilogy should easily take the Globe since its been winning most of the critics awards and is seeing little in the way of any real competition.
Best Director–Motion Picture: Peter Jackson, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
Ditto. Most people feel the talented New Zealand director’s time has finally come to reap the rewards for his tremendous accomplishment.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture: Charlize Theron, Monster
Turning in a tour-de-force performance as man-hating serial killer Aileen Wuornos, Theron has got the ever popular uuuu-gly vote going for her. Big time.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture: Sean Penn, Mystic River
Using his uncanny range of emotions, this talented method actor, who plays a distraught father mourning for his slain daughter in very personal–and very dangerous–ways, is the surest bet to win.
Best Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy: Lost in Translation
Although Finding Nemo‘s delightful tale about small fish in a big pond ranks up there, we think the equally delightful, hilarious and heart-tugging story about a big fish in a small country should take the Globe.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy: Diane Keaton, Something’s Gotta Give
Keaton should nab the prize for portraying a strongly independent and intelligent woman who falls in love for the first time and proves things only get better with age.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture–Musical or Comedy: Bill Murray, Lost in Translation
It was a tough choice between Murray‘s sardonic fading movie star and Johnny Depp‘s peculiar pirate captain in Pirates of the Caribbean, but we think Murray edges just slightly ahead.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Renee Zellweger, Cold Mountain
Even though Zellweger is a two-time Globe winner, we still think she’s got it in the bag as the rough and tumble Southern gal with a heart of gold. They like her, they really, really like her.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture: Alec Baldwin, The Cooler
Choosing a winner in this category was harder than we thought, but ultimately we picked Baldwin‘s fearlessness for playing a villainous, yet nostalgic, Las Vegas casino boss.
Television
Best Television Series–Drama: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Despite being nominated three times, this No. 1 rated, hard-bitten forensic drama series hasn’t won the Golden Globe, yet; we’re betting its going to this year.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series–Drama: Frances Conroy, Six Feet Under
The stars of this brilliant HBO series have been nominated countless times but have never won any awards. We think Conroy‘s textured performance as the Fisher family matriarch will finally change all that.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series–Drama: William Petersen, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
We’re kind of riding the CSI high with Petersen, as the obsessive leader of an elite team of investigators. Plus, we’re pretty tired of seeing all the usual favorites (i.e. West Wing‘s Martin Sheen) always win.
Best Television Series–Musical or Comedy: Sex and the City
Even with a list of some fairly eclectic nominees (What? No Friends?), the hip, racy HBO series on its last hurrah (the series ends this year) should take home the Globe.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series–Musical or Comedy: Debra Messing, Will & Grace
Honestly, we picked her because a) she’s really funny as the neurotic Grace and b) she won the Emmy in September and stands a good chance to follow up a career high with the Globe as well.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series–Musical or Comedy: Bernie Mac, The Bernie Mac Show
Someone needs to finally give this talented comedian an award for his gutsy, hysterical performance as a beleaguered pseudo-father–and we think the Hollywood Foreign Press Association is just the awards organization to do it.
Best Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television: Angels in America
HBO’s searing adaptation of Tony Kushner’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about angels, love and AIDS in the 1980s is a marvel in studied performances; it clearly stands out as the best of the nominees.
