A critics dinner gets ugly, and the Globes find unanimity.
When the chairman of a critics group is a critic legendary for hating all the movies that most critics like, and when that chairman also traditionally serves as the emcee of an awards ceremony that bestows honors on all those movies that most critics like, you're just asking for trouble. And trouble, apparently, is what they got on Monday night at the New York Film Critics Circle awards dinner. Lisa Schwarzbaum, a member of NYFCC, says the fuss began when director Darren Aronofsky (above), presenting an award to his "Black Swan" cinematographer Matthew Libatique, took a shot at NYFCC chair Armond White, who had trashed "Black Swan" (and "The Social Network," and "The Kids Are All Right," and "Toy Story 3") in print. Whereupon White responded that because Aronofsky "reads me, he knows the truth"; later, the host threw in snide asides directed at big winner "The Social Network" and non-winner "Greenberg." Says Schwarzbaum, "We all left – okay,I left – feeling sour and lectured to and embarrassed." Sounds to me as if White is a jerk, and Aronofsky takes this stuff a little too seriously. But Schwarzbaum, at least, sums up the mess nicely. (Entertainment Weekly)
Gold Derby assembles more pundits than you can shake a stick at to predict the Golden Globes winners. In four categories, it's unanimous, with all 21 of us going for "The Kids Are All Right" for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, "Toy Story 3" for Best Animated Feature, Natalie Portman for Best Actress – Drama and Annette Bening for Best Actress – Comedy or Musical. And in three other categories, there's only one holdout: "The Social Network" takes Best Screenplay over "The King's Speech," Colin Firth takes Best Actor – Drama over James Franco, and David Fincher takes Best Director over Tom Hooper, all by a score of 20-1. But the Best Motion Picture – Drama race is closer, with "The Social Network" edging "The King's Speech" 11-9 and "The Fighter" picking up a lone vote. (Gold Derby)
But despite all that certainty on their site, Gold Derby also takes stock of the fact that the history of the Golden Globes is riddled with upsets, and prepares a photo gallery of 10 Globes upsets that could happen. "The Fighter" as Best Picture – Drama? Stranger things have happened. Nicole Kidman as Best Actress – Drama? Unlikely, but … "Alice in Wonderland" over "The Kids Are All Right" for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical? Oh, hell no. (Gold Derby)
Scott Feinberg's source inside the Academy's writers branch, who goes by the name Deep Vote and has been contributing a slew of lengthy reviews with which I seldom agree, shares his nominating ballot and the reasons behind his choices. He only finds eight Best Picture candidates worth his vote, starting with "The Ghost Writer," "Blue Valentine" and "127 Hours," while only three Adapted Screenplays (tops: "The Ghost Writer") and four Original Screenplays ("Blue Valentine") make the cut. The way the Academy's preferential ballot works, you fill in as many lines as you want but you end up only casting a vote for one movie – and looking at this guy's ballot, I'd say that his vote will end up counting for "127 Hours" (his #3 pick) or "The Social Network" (#5) in the Best Picture race, and for "The Social Network" and "The King's Speech" (both #2s) in the writing categories, though his top choices there have an outside chance of counting. (ScottFeinberg.com)
