DECEMBER UPDATE & PRE-GOLDEN GLOBE PICTURE

 

It's January and that means all the eligible films for the 2013 season have been released, albeit some still in a limited capacity. Since late November nothing has changed for 12 Years A Slave and Gravity which both retain their frontrunner statuses going into the Globes on Sunday. The big players to enter the picture in December were American Hustle, and to a lesser extent The Wolf of Wall Street.

The former is anchored by great performances and could see Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence represent the film with nominations. David O. Russell is an Academy favorite after The Fighter and last year's Silver Lining Playbook so a Directing and/or Screenplay nom is possible. The film overall lacks a roaring fan base and although well liked by critics and with only minor flaws I don't see it really contending for Best Picture, Editing, or any of the big categories.

The Wolf of Wall Street suffers from being outrageous to a fault. Leo gives a good if not over the top performance and Jonah Hill is hilarious as his partner. The Best Actor field is loaded so seeing Leo get a nom much less a well overdue win is highly unlikely. The Supporting Actor category, after Jared Leto and Michael Fassbender, is fairly open so we could see Hill grab his second career nomination. The film is too uneven, especially in its final third, and too ridiculous and crude to see it be marked a contender, but due to Scorsese's named being attached we could see some nominations in the Best Picture and Screenplay categories.

The two films with limited releases that still haven't gotten the buzz going (which may be a good play as it's usually the films that catch fire after the Globes that do well at the Oscars) are Inside Llewyn Davis and Her. I profiled Llweyn Davis after seeing it at the Telluride Film Fest and it was very Cohen Brothers. Quirky for sure, and probably to the point of turning off voters, however I could see a dark horse nom for Oscar Issacs for Best Actor and it being a Cohen Brothers film, Director and Screenplay are never off the table. The music in the film is superb and Best Song and Score noms are virtual locks.

Her is the real mystery this season. Not everyone has seen it but Spike Jonze has a huge faithful following and might be due after Being John Malkovich, Adaptation, and Where the Wild Things Are. The Academy hates Joaquin Phoenix unfortunately and that may turn voters away. Very unfortunate considering I thought he should have won Best Actor last yThe Master, I was incredibly surprised he was even nominated. All that being said, Best Actor, Screenplay, Director, Picture, and Supporting Actress are all possibilities.
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We should know more after the Globes telecast tomorrow but for a season that has been fairly predictable so far we could see some surprises. Stay tuned. Below are the SAG and BAFTA nominations that have been announced:

http://www.sagawards.org/media-pr/press-releases/nominations-announced-20th-annual-screen-actors-guild-awards%C2%AE

http://www.bafta.org/press/nominations-announced-for-the-ee-british-academy-film-awards-in-2014,311,SNS.html