This Sunday / Monday morning sees the official start of Awards Season with the annual Golden Globes.
We'll have all the coverage, photos and analysis on Monday morning, but for now, we've got our annual tea-leaf reading and predictions. As we know, Deadpool is the upset in the Comedy / Musical category whilst Ruth Negga is now head-to-head with Amy Adams for Best Actress (Drama).
Here's our predictions in the film categories for this year.
BEST PICTURE (DRAMA)
Hacksaw Ridge
Hell or High Water
Lion
Manchester by the Sea
Moonlight
If there was justice in the world, it'd be handed over to Hell Or High Water without question. Granted, we've yet to see Moonlight and the word is very, very positive and there's a good chance the HFPA might spring for it. Manchester by the Sea could also win, but it's more likely to scoop up something in the acting categories than anything else. Hacksaw Ridge, again, we haven't seen but if the Don't Call It A Comeback of Mel Gibson continues apace, he could really win here. Most likely winner? Probably Hacksaw Ridge or Manchester by the Sea.
BEST PICTURE (COMEDY / MUSICAL)
20th Century Women
Deadpool
Florence Foster Jenkins
La La Land
Sing Street
It's fantastic to see both Deadpool and Sing Street get a look in this category, but La La Land has this sewn up to a tee. Not only that, La La Land is actually making money at the US box office and there's an incredible amount of goodwill out there for the film and musicals in general. La La Land's the clear winner here. If it doesn't, it'll be a huge upset.
BEST ACTOR (DRAMA)
Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea
Joel Edgerton, Loving
Andrew Garfield, Hacksaw Ridge
Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic
Denzel Washington, Fences
Unlike the Comedy / Musical category, this is a much tougher race to call. Casey Affleck's sexual harrassment cases are making headlines again and it's entirely possible that this could influence HFPA's voting here. Denzel Washington wasn't nominated for Best Director for Fences, but he's definitely a strong choice for Best Actor here. Andrew Garfield is next in line, however many were surprised that he wasn't nominated for Silence instead of Hacksaw Ridge. Sadly, Viggo Mortensen and Joel Edgerton are the two least likely candidates to win. Like we said, it's a tough race to call, but it's a split between Affleck and Washington in our mind.
BEST ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Amy Adams, Arrival
Jessica Chastain, Miss Sloane
Isabelle Huppert, Elle
Ruth Negga, Loving
Natalie Portman, Jackie
Amy Adams is having a banner year, what with Arrival and Nocturnal Animals featuring heavily in many end-of-year lists and her performance in both being praised to the hilt. Meanwhile, Natalie Portman's performance in Jackie essentially made the film, so there's an equal chance here. Our own Ruth Negga, however, seems to be the favourite. Her work in Loving really is that strong, understated and memorable that she really does deserve to win. Granted, Adams has been nominated more than a few times - six nominations to be precise, not including this year - so there's a good chance she win it here. Essentially, it's between Negga and Adams. If you're putting money down, split it between these two.
BEST ACTOR (COMEDY / MUSICAL)
Colin Farrell, The Lobster
Ryan Gosling, La La Land
Hugh Grant, Florence Foster Jenkins
Jonah Hill, War Dogs
Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool
Ryan Reynolds, step forward and claim your prize as Most Deserving Nomination. What a year's it been for that guy, eh? Does he have a chance of winning here? Not on your life. Ryan Gosling is the man to beat here. Colin Farrell definitely deserves to be nominated, as does Hugh Grant in Florence Foster Jenkins. Jonah Hill, however, definitely did not deserve anything close to a nomination for War Dogs. It was a plain, by-the-numbers crime dramedy and the most obvious example of category padding we've seen in quite a while.
BEST ACTRESS (COMEDY / MUSICAL)
Annette Bening, 20th Century Women
Lily Collins, Rules Don't Apply
Hailee Steinfeld, The Edge of Seventeen
Emma Stone, La La Land
Meryl Streep, Florence Foster Jenkins
Hailee Steinfeld was fantastic in Edge Of Seventeen and it's truly heartening to see her get nominated her. If by some miraculous occurrence that Emma Stone DOESN'T win for La La Land, Steinfeld should take the win here. Meryl Streep, sure, she's one of our greatest living talents, but Florence Foster Jenkins is unlikely to make any kind of an impact here. What's most surprising, however, is how Kate Beckinsale didn't feature for Love & Friendship. In any case, were she nominated, she wouldn't stand a chance against Emma Stone. This one's in the bag.
BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals
Mel Gibson, Hacksaw Ridge
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
The three most likely winners here are Mel Gibson, Damien Chazelle and maybe Kenneth Lonergan. Gibson could win here, cementing the Don't Call It A Comeback hype train that's been chugging away for the past few months. Chazelle wasn't nominated for Whiplash, so it's quite possible that HFPA might correct this egregious mistake with La La Land. That's not to say he's only getting it on that basis - absolutely not. Chazelle's work on La La Land was incredible, so he definitely deserves to win. Tom Ford, it's great to see him nominated, but he's unlikely to win here. Barry Jenkins, it's hard to say as we haven't seen Moonlight. The safe money would split between Chazelle and Gibson. Lonergan's the third option.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Mahershala Ali, Moonlight
Jeff Bridges, Hell or High Water
Simon Helberg, Florence Foster Jenkins
Dev Patel, Lion
Aaron Taylor Johnson, Nocturnal Animals
Jeff Bridges was fantastic in Hell Or High Water and really sold the film for us. Aaron Taylor Johnson, meanwhile, was not his usual bland and unremarkable self so that alone is worthy of note. Is it worthy of him getting a win here? No, not at all. Mahershala Ali could win here, to be honest, as a lot of the talk around Moonlight has centred on his performance. Dev Patel and Simon Helberg are outsiders. All going well, Jeff Bridges will win here - but don't surprised if Mahershala Ali also scoops it up.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Viola Davis, Fences
Naomie Harris, Moonlight
Nicole Kidman, Lion
Octavia Spencer, Hidden Figures
Michelle Williams, Manchester by the Sea
Viola Davis is the heavy favourite to win here. She's well versed in both the play and the character, having done runs on Broadway for it with Denzel Washington. If Washington doesn't win in the Best Actor category, Davis is even more of a cert here. The only other contender in this race is Michelle Williams for Manchester by the Sea, but there's a big gap between her and Davis. She's got this.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Damien Chazelle, La La Land
Tom Ford, Nocturnal Animals
Barry Jenkins, Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester by the Sea
Taylor Sheridan, Hell or High Water
Taylor Sheridan wasn't nominated for Sicario and that, to be honest, is a crime. That he's been nominated here is definitely good to see, but he's not the likely winner here. It's either between Lonergan for Manchester by the Sea or Chazelle for La La Land. Tom Ford is doubtful, as it's an adaptation and so to is Barry Jenkins. Typically speaking, the Golden Globes / HFPA doesn't favour adaptations all that much.
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE
Divines
Elle
Neruda
The Salesman
Toni Erdmann
It's great to see Paul Verhoeven back on our radar again and, hopefully, he'll make a deeply satirical Hollywood film that'll warp us all again and again. Toni Erdman has been picking up a lot of buzz so odds are this'll win out here. There's no clear winner unlike last year's Son Of Saul, but if Elle wins, that'd be really something.
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Kubo and the Two Strings
Moana
My Life as a Zucchini
Sing
Zootopia
It's really been a banner year for animated films, with Moana and Zootopia scoring big for the House of Mouse both critically and commercially. Kubo And The Two Strings was a beautiful, thoughtful, emotional animated film that sadly couldn't connect with audiences in the same way as Zootopia and Moana did. Any other year, Kubo would be the clear and outright winner. However, it's between Moana and Zootopia to lose. Odds are Zootopia will take home the gong here.
