Golden Globes, SAG Awards, and Oscars, Oh My!

A beautiful night at The Beverly Hills Hotel kicked off the 2024 award show season for the 81st annual Golden Globe Awards. Stars from both film and television graced the red carpet as they prepared for one of the biggest nights in Hollywood. 

The Golden Globes and the SAG Awards are the shows to pay attention to for the best clue as to who will win the film’s most significant award of the year, the Oscar.

As usual, there are many frontrunners this year, but the Academy loves a good comeback story. This was seen with Brendan Fraser, who won Best Actor for his role in The Whale, and Jamie Lee Curtis, who won Best Supporting Actress for her role in Everything Everywhere All at Once.

It is also important to note that the Academy usually tends to favor a drama over a comedy, so when these categories are split into two groups of nominees for the Golden Globes, it usually comes down to those two winners.

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This year’s film frontrunner is Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, which swept the night with wins in five categories, including Best Director, Best Drama, Best Original Score, Best Actor in a Drama, and Best Supporting Actor in a Drama. It would be easy to say this film is also taking these Oscars home because of how phenomenal it is, but I think some other films deserve recognition before a final decision. 

Another frontrunner that doesn’t seem to be getting the love it deserves is Greta Gerwigs’ Barbie. I suspect it will win for more of the theatrical elements, such as Best Costume Design and Best Production Design. However, I personally feel Ryan Gosling’s portrayal of ‘Ken’ was one of the most outstanding developments of a role I have seen in a while. 

Another film I wish was getting more love is Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. As I mentioned earlier, the Oscars love a good comeback story, and Paul Giamatti’s performance is nothing short of outstanding. It should definitely be put in the running for best actor, as well as his co-star Dominic Sessa (who was left out of the running for both the Golden Globe and SAG Award).

Da’Vine Joy Randolph – who took home the Golden Globe for her role in this film – is also a top contender for the Oscar, along with Emily Blunt and her work in Oppenheimer.

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The ‘best actress’ will come down to Emma Stone in Poor Things and Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon. Both are impeccable performances, so it is hard to say who will ultimately win the Oscar. If Lily Gladstone wins, it would also make her the first indigenous actress to win this category.

The music and score within a film truly make or break the experience for its audience. A moment can be emphasized through the use of an orchestra or an original song.

This year, Billie Eilish and Finneas wrote a beautiful ballad for Barbie titled, “What Was I Made For.” This song perfectly encompassed what the film was about and makes for a great listen outside of the film as well. This would be Eilish’s second win in this category. Ludwig Goransson put his whole being into a score for Oppenheimer that blew the audience and critics away (no pun intended).

For every great director, there is an even greater cinematographer telling them what is and is not possible to attain in terms of the director’s artistic vision. And if something is not possible, they’d better figure out how to make it work. This is arguably one of the most complex jobs on a set. This will likely go to Hoyte van Hoytema for his work on Oppenheimer.

There would be no film without a script. I especially appreciate when directors bring to life the stories they have personally written. The Best Original Screenplay award will go to Anatomy of a Fall, written by Justine Triet and Arthur Harari, or Past Lives, written by Celine Song. Best Adapted Screenplay will go to Barbie, written by Greta Gerwig.

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An excellent year for film means a great year for directors who completely throw themselves into their projects and make masterpieces. In the running for Best Director and Best Picture will be Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Greta Gerwigs’ Barbie, Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things, and Martin Scorsese’ Killers of the Flower Moon. I predict it will go to the masterpiece that is Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

Overall, 2023 was a great year in film (despite the strikes). Movies with stacked casts, development of characters that Stanislavsky himself would be proud of, music and scores that bring a tear to your eyes from the first note, and phenomenal scripts that made the films possible.

All these reasons and more contribute to why the movies are my favorite place to be. Even without an Oscar, everyone who worked on these films should be incredibly proud of the work they put into these films, which audiences now get to enjoy.