Golden Globes - here's who wins

The Golden Globes, whether we wanted them or not, are back. Historically, the Hollywood Foreign Press is all-over-the-place and everything everwhere all at once: Working Girl, Mrs. Doubtfire The Hangover and The Martian have actually won Best Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical. The judges, members of the Foreign Press, have exactly zero overlap with Oscar voters.

But rest easy, The Ten Buck Review has an 82% correct prediction rate (film categories) that could help you win your awards pool (or at least look really darn smart during the telecast).

Will Brendan Fraser show up? No. Will he win? Probably. See the predictions and what else is gonna happen:

Best Motion Picture — Drama

Avatar: The Way of Water
Elvis
The Fabelmans
Tár
Top Gun: Maverick

Winner: The Fabelmans
Spoiler: Elvis

Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Babylon
The Banshees of Inisherin
Everything Everywhere All at Once
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Triangle of Sadness

Winner: Everything Everywhere All at Once
Spoiler: The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Director — Motion Picture

James Cameron, Avatar: The Way of Water
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Baz Luhrmann, Elvis
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

Winner: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Spoiler: Steven Spielberg, The Fabelmans

Best Screenplay — Motion Picture

Todd Field, Tár
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin
Sarah Polley, Women Talking
Steven Spielberg and Tony Kushner, The Fabelmans

Winner: Martin McDonagh, The Banshees of Inisherin

Spoiler: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama

Austin Butler, Elvis
Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Hugh Jackman, The Son
Bill Nighy, Living
Jeremy Pope, The Inspection

Winner: Brendan Fraser, The Whale
Spoiler: Austin Butler, Elvis

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama

Cate Blanchett, Tár
Olivia Colman, Empire of Light
Viola Davis, The Woman King
Ana de Armas, Blonde
Michelle Williams, The Fabelmans

Winner: Cate Blanchett, Tár
Spoiler: Viola Davis, The Woman King

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Diego Calva, Babylon
Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Adam Driver, White Noise
Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Ralph Fiennes, The Menu

Winner: Colin Farrell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Spoiler: Daniel Craig, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy

Lesley Manville, Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris
Margot Robbie, Babylon
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Menu
Emma Thompson, Good Luck to You, Leo Grande
Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Winner: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Spoiler: Margot Robbie, Babylon

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin
Barry Keoghan, The Banshees of Inisherin
Brad Pitt, Babylon
Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Eddie Redmayne, The Good Nurse

Winner: Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Spoiler: Brendan Gleeson, The Banshees of Inisherin

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Kerry Condon, The Banshees of Inisherin
Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Dolly de Leon, Triangle of Sadness
Carey Mulligan, She Said

Winner: Jamie Lee Curtis, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Spoiler: Angela Bassett, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Best Motion Picture — Non-English Language

All Quiet on the Western Front
Argentina, 1985
Close
Decision to Leave
RRR

Winner: RRR
Spoiler: All Quiet on the Western Front

Best Motion Picture — Animated

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Inu-Oh
Marcel the Shell With Shoes On
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish
Turning Red

Winner: Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Spoiler: Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Best Original Score — Motion Picture

Carter Burwell, The Banshees of Inisherin
Alexandre Desplat, Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
Hildur Gudnadóttir, Women Talking
Justin Hurwitz, Babylon
John Williams, The Fabelmans

Winner: John Williams, The Fabelmans
Spoiler: Justin Hurwitz, Babylon

Best Original Song — Motion Picture

"Carolina" by Taylor Swift, from Where the Crawdads Sing
"Ciao Papa" by Alexandre Desplat, Roeban Katz, Gullermo del Toro from Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio
"Hold My Hand" by Lady Gaga, BloodPop, Benjamin Rice from Top Gun: Maverick
"Lift Me Up" by Tems, Rihanna, Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
"Naatu Naatu" by M.M. Keeravani, Kala Bhairava, Rahul Sipligunj from RRR


Winner: "Lift Me Up" from Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Spoiler:"Naatu Naatu" from RRR

RRR

Remember the moment right before you watch RRR because afterward the possibilities of cinema will seem changed forever. 

I don't know how I missed this film earlier in the year but watching this on my television felt like an IMAX. I've never seen anything quite like it. RRR (Rise, Roar, Revolt) is a wildly entertaining adrenaline rush that reimagines the story of Indian revolutionaries Raju and Gheem who contested the oppressions of British colonial power. While there's no record that they ever met, director/writer S. S. Rajamoul imagines them in the bromance of the 20th Century.

Rajamouli shoots the action with supercharged energy, amazing set pieces, heightened visuals and lean-forward originality. You won't be bored for a single second by the action — or the story. 

Marvel and DC should take note quickly.

It's the best action film of the year in what I'd describe as "superheroes meet Hong Kong action films meet the Matrix meets the Avengers and that T2 supercop meets Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon."  Yet, somehow it's something brand new.

It's also the musical of the year. Seriously. Bollywood meets the West Side Story Jet Sharks dance-off meets Les Miz meets something entirely original.

All of this above, yet it was played with conviction by the two Tollywood superstars; I was genuinely moved. As a warning, it is violent. It is an emotion-driven film built around a revolution started by aggressive oppression (both seen on screen), so it is bloody and heart-breaking in places. If you can get past an early horrifying scene with, perhaps your hands in front of your eyes, you'll realize it's worth it. Perhaps you'll be as invested as I am in seeing how the revolution plays out.

Like Star Wars, Pulp Fiction, T2 and Toy Story for me, it is next-level. Watching this film, I feel like cinema skipped to the next beat and I can't wait to see what it inspires. I hope RRR garners Oscar attention and returns to the theaters. I'd love to see this one on the big screen with a crowd. EncoRRRe, please!

In a nutshell: Exhilarating. Bursting with action, wild animals, showdowns, musical numbers and originality, RRR earns its three-hour running time. You won't be bored for a second.

Award potential: While not eligible for the Best International Feature Oscar, it is a contender for Best Non-English language film (Golden Globes). Fingers crossed the Academy sees it and considers Best Picture, Director, Actors and Screenplay. The song Naatu Naatu recently became the first Indian song to make the Oscar's shortlist for Best Original Song — hopefully, a nomination into the top five follows.

Where to watch: Netflix shows the Hindu-dubbed version. I used the subtitles in the settings. There are optional dubs in English and other languages.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

The 3 Best Movies of 2022 (and where to find them)

In 2022, Top Gun: Maverick And Avatar brought people back to the theaters (hurray). Aftersun, this year's C'mon C'mon, gave the feels. Elvis and Tar delivered uneven musical wows. Fablemans, Empire of Light and Babylon were maybe one too many films about Hollywood. And Everything Everywhere All At Once showed Dr. Strange and Marvel how to do the multiverse. But what films topped my list? Three very different films each bring laughs and tears in very different ways.

Best Dark Comedy: The Banshees of Inisherin

Colin Farrell, the actor who stars in a lot of movies you expect to be good, but aren’t, is finally in a good film. It’s feckin’ good. Banshees reunites In Bruge actors Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as frenemies living on the made-up Irish island of Inisherin in the 1920s. 

The island may not be real but from its thatched roofs, thick accents, local characters and dark brew pubs, this gorgeous film sure makes it seem so. Writer and Director Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Illinois) has assembled a dark comedy about two men and a friendship severed while giving a finger to predictive storytelling.

Where to watch: In theaters and available on HBOMax

Best Bright Comedy: Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris

Here's to dreams of all sizes. This film has no mention of the multiverse or hammer-wielding heroes, just the charming delight of grand British actress Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread, The Crown) as a widowed, cleaning lady from London who dreams of buying a couture dress in Paris. 

The delight of the film exudes from Manville's charismatically authentic performance, director Anthony Fabian's attention to detail, a stunning peek into the lavish house of 1950s Dior and the contagious giddiness around the idea of pursuing a somewhat silly dream. Yes, it's a predictable rom-com in disguise. But it is the escapist film I've been waiting for.

Where to watch: Peacock and VOD

Best Documentary: Good Night Oppy

If you've been looking for the next My Octopus Teacher, it has landed. Good Night Oppy is about Spirit and Opportunity. Literally. Spirit and Opportunity are the names given to two rovers sent to Mars in 2003. They were expected to last 90 days but lasted an unprecedented 7 and 14 years respectively. Shown via FX from Industrial Light and Magic, we have the opportunity to see what wasn't shot on Mars and glimpse the semi-humanness of the rovers. I dare say that it will take you by surprise.

Where to watch: Prime Video

The Ten Buck Review: All worth ten bucks.

*Not available yet, but excited to see Living, Glass Onion and Women Talking before end of year.

Good Night Oppy

This is a film about Spirit and Opportunity. Literally.

Spirit and Opportunity are the names given to two rovers sent to Mars in 2003. They were expected to last 90 days but lasted an unprecedented 7 and 14 years respectively. This new documentary captures the story of the team behind the rovers from launch until the final moment of communication, but it feels like the story of two rovers with personalities all their own.

If you've been looking for the next My Octopus Teacher (2021 Best Documentary Oscar winner), it has arrived.

The rovers captured images of Mars, not themselves of course. Shown via FX from Industrial Light and Magic, we have the opportunity to see what wasn't shot on Mars and glimpse the semi-humanness of the rovers. I dare say that it will take you by surprise. From guiding the rovers through survival moments where centimeters matter to asking Oppy to take a selfie, the Mission Control team and rovers featured in this document offer genuine cinematic entertainment. Good Night Oppy offers the chance to see engineers and scientists problem-solve, and also solve how to work together. It is truly fascinating and inspiring to be behind the scenes.

All this didn't need a voiceover by Angela Bassett (What's Love Got To Do With It, Wakanda Forever) to be big, but it does have that too. These rovers delivered more emotional wallop of the year than all the Avengers, Horror villains and mavericks that graced the cinema this year.

In a nutshell: A snappy, lighthearted crowdpleaser with heart. One of the best films of 2022.

Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video

Award potential: Should be a frontrunner for Best Documentary. It's unlikely to make the Best Picture list, but I got more out of it than The Fablemans, Tar and other films in the running.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

The Fablemans

Last year, Spielberg delivered the most expertly crafted film of 2021. West Side Story was a film that didn't need a remake but proved its worth — earning seven Oscar nominations. His follow-up film, The Fablemans, is a love letter to moviemaking and is his most personal film to date.

It was just named the Best Picture of 2022 by Time magazine and stands at the top of Oscar predictions for Best Picture. So that you can enjoy the film more than I did, let me dismiss all that and tell you that it's pretty good and pretty overhyped. Hopefully, you can now avoid the disappointment I felt and enjoy a pretty fine film.

The Fablemans is a family drama and a "fable" of Spielberg's coming of age between 1952 and 1965. Sammy Fableman (Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord) is inspired after his parents (Michelle Williams and Paul Dano) take him to see Cecil B. DeMille’s The Greatest Show on Earth. Sammy's pursuit of moviemaking as "more than a hobby" is supported by his concert pianist and artistic mom but not taken seriously by his electrical engineer dad.

That conflict is only part of the family story as Sammy's camera learns more about his family than anyone wanted. It's a heartbreaker.

On the level of craft, the film is impeccable from Spielberg's gift at wringing emotion from small moments to John Williams's soaring score. Scene by scene, everything worked. But as a whole, I never figured out which of the two stories the film wanted to be, or why it needed to be told in 151 minutes.

Kenneth Branaugh's semi-autobiographical Belfast (2021) had me invested for its clever 98 minutes. I walked out loving that film and was moved by its emotional highs and lows. That's why The Fablemans is worth your ten bucks but not the top ten hype.

In a nutshell: Steven Spielberg turns the lens on himself in a technically impressive film that ironically misses on that Spielberg magic. He didn't phone it in, but he didn't phone home either.

Where to see it: In theaters now. Available on VOD December 13th.

Award potential: It looks to be a threat in all categories from Best Picture and Director to Original Score and acting. 

Michelle Williams may win Best Actress, although her heart-wringing-wrangling scenes were undercut by her take on a 50s homemaker. To me, it was a distracting Judy Garland impression. Cate Blanchett's consistent Tar is the better performance and lacks the false bravado. There were so many scene-stealing performances (Judd Hirsch, Paul Dano, and one surprise) that these supporting slots may cancel each other out or impress with a category takeover. Time will tell.

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.

The Early Best Picture Shortlist: And why four films with semicolons in the title are front runners for Best Picture

Is anyone up for a Friday night screening of Triangle of Sadness? Perhaps Bones and All, a little meet-cute cannibal love story starring Timothée Chalamet? Tar? Avatar? Anyone?

If Oscar season films haven't captured your interest, you're not alone. It's been a pretty bummer movie at the cinema and with most fall prestige films falling flat, it looks like the Oscar Best Picture nomination list could seriously include sequels to Top Gun, Black Panther, Knives Out and Avatar — I'm not kidding.

Usually, by Thanksgiving weekend I'd have a good list for you to guide you through the films to choose from. It's a little tougher this year, but here's a roundup of the films in discussion for the most unusual prestige-film season that I can recall:

THE WAY-TOO-EARLY BEST PICTURE SHORTLIST

These top five:

The Banshees of Inisherin 

Everything Everywhere All at Once

The Fabelmans

Top Gun: Maverick 

Women Talking 

Plus five of these:
A Man Called Otto

Avatar: The Way of Water

Babylon

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever 

Elvis 
Emancipation

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery 
She Said 

Tár 

Till 

Triangle of Sadness 

The Woman King 

Films about Hollywood
The Fablemans, loosely based on Steven Speilberg's life is a front-runner for Best Picture and multiple nominations. It opens on Thanksgiving weekend. Damien Chazelle's (Whiplash, La La Land) Babylon plants Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie in 1920s Hollywood and opens Christmas weekend. Babylon has mixed early reviews but everyone seems to agree on Robbie's standout performance.

#METOO
Women Talking, directed by Sarah Polley, centers on women in a religious colony and stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Jessie Buckley, Judith Ivey, Ben Whishaw, and Frances McDormand. Not sure this is timed smartly, but it opens Christmas weekend. She Said, tells a recent story, abuse allegations against powerful Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein and the dawn of the #MeToo movement. She Said opened in theaters this week. In The Woman King, Viola Davis leads a group of all-female warriors to protect the African kingdom of Dahomey.

Musicians
Tár follows the story of fictional composer and conductor Lydia Tár, portrayed by Cate Blanchett. It is available on VOD. And from last summer and playing on HBOMax, Elvis starring Austin Butler is still shaking up the Best Picture race.

The Blockbuster: Sequels
ABC TV Network, home to the Oscars show, is probably the happiest with this news, but with a light turnout of prestige fare, Top Gun: Maverick, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Avatar: The Way of Water. That's a lot of semicolons.

Let's Get Serious
Apple's slavery film, Emancipation, starring Will Smith, and Sony's A Man Called Otto remake with Tom Hanks as the grumpy old man will be released in December with potential for nominations. Same for Till, the story of Mamie Till-Mobley's relentless pursuit of justice for her 14-year-old son, Emmett Till, who was brutally lynched. None of them have the unfortunate title of Triangle of Sadness, however. It's in the running for a nomination as well.

The Standouts
Fingers crossed that a documentary, Good Night Oppy, could replace a sequel.

The Banshees of Inisherin, a dark comedy set in Ireland and staring Colin Farrell, and Everything Everywhere All at Once, a sci-fi starring Michelle Yeohwere were standouts in the year and more traditionally what you'd expect to see in a Best Picture list— and are both Ten Buck-worthy.

Tár

In my home city, Tár was in the theater for just one week despite being on most lists for a nomination for Best Picture of the Year and a front-runner to win another Best Actress Oscar for Cate Blanchett.

As of this writing, you can now stream Tár at home. I prefer my quality films on a large screen with no distractions, but with a running time of 2 hours and 38-minutes, it's perhaps the ideal way to view this intimate film, if not solely for the opportunity to google "Is Tár a true story?" followed by "is Lydia Tár, a real person?"

I'll save you the trouble; she is not real although this performance is so tight you'll probably still check Wiki while watching from your couch.

Cate Blanchett stars as a world-famous conducto in a film directed by Todd Field (In The Bedroom, Little Children). For the first hour, we peel away at the protective cold exterior of the complicated title character hoping for a glimpse of who she is. One thing is for sure, there is a sense of dread that clicks like a piano meter—something is not going to end well.

If you loved both Whiplash (I did) and Black Swan (I didn't), this is your film. Since it's an at-home watch, you have the luxury of watching this as a two-episode event. Sorry, the running time is too long.

The Ten Buck Review: I respected it a bit more than I enjoyed it, but there are not a lot of quality options out there in 2023, bumping this to the top of any must-see list.

Award Potential: Expect a nomination for Best Picture and Cate's tour de force will give her front-runner status all season. With two Cate wins already for Actress (Blue Jasmine) and Supporting Actress (Aviator), I think voters will want to get one in the hands of Michelle Yeoh this year. But if anyone deserved to tie Meryl Streep in our lifetime, it would be Blanchett for this role of a lifetime.

Where to watch: Available to rent or buy on VOD (Apple, Amazon, and more.)

The Ten Buck Review: Worth ten bucks.