Golden Globe Awards: Streep & Clooney Shoo-Ins + Best Director Angelina Jolie?

Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady. The Golden Globe Awards’ Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category will definitely include Meryl Streep for her portrayal of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in Phyllida Lloyd’s Thatcher-lite The Iron Lady. That will mark the 17th nomination for Streep, who took home two Golden Globe statuettes in the long ago past: as Best Supporting Actress for Robert Benton’s Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) and as Best Actress – Drama for Alan J. Pakula’s Sophie’s Choice (1982).

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Meryl Streep is Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category shoo-in

Our SAG Award predictions were mostly, though admittedly not totally, accurate. We did, however, correctly predict every single contender for SAG’s Best Actress Award. So, here we are with our last-minute Golden Globe Awards Predictions in various motion picture categories.

In a way, the Golden Globes are easier to predict than the SAG Awards or the Oscars because, generally speaking, if you’re star, you’re in. Hence, Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie and The Tourist last year.

So, who are 2011’s stars, whether in front or behind the camera? In the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama category, our list seems complete:

• Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady.
• Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs.
• Viola Davis, The Help.
• Tilda Swinton, We Need to Talk About Kevin.
• Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn.

That matches our SAG Award predictions – and the SAG nominations themselves. These are also the likely Best Actress Oscar contenders.

Even so, there are a trio of runners-up that could upset things:

• Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
• Emma Stone, The Help.
• Sandra Bullock, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Cannes Film Festival Best Actress winner Kirsten Dunst is a runner-up runner-up for Lars von Trier’s apocalyptic drama Melancholia.

Due to her lesser star wattage, an even less likely contender is Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Felicity Jones (Like Crazy) and Brit Marling (Another Earth) have basically no chance here. The Los Angeles Film Critics Association‘s selection, South Korean Poetry actress Yun Jeong-hie, has no chance at all, even if eligible.

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Julia Roberts among Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical nominees?

Now comes the entertaining part, the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Actress in a Motion Picture Comedy or Musical category: Kristen Wiig is in for Bridesmaids and so is Charlize Theron for Young Adult. Who else?

Since these are the Golden Globes, let’s look for a few big names:

• Julianne Moore, Crazy Stupid Love.
• Rachel McAdams, Midnight in Paris.
• Julia Roberts, Larry Crowne (it’s okay to either laugh or sing; after all, this is a comedy or musical category).

Additionally, there’s always the possibility that My Week with Marilyn will be considered a comedy. If so, Michelle Williams will definitely be listed here (replacing Rachel McAdams and being replaced by Rooney Mara in the Best Actress – Drama category).

Else, Bérénice Bejo could be considered a lead actress for The Artist. Julia Roberts would then get the boot.

Else, your guess is as good as ours. Wild possibilities include:

• Jennifer Aniston, Horrible Bosses or Just Go with It.
• Emma Stone, Crazy, Stupid, Love.
• Noomi Rapace, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows.
• Cameron Diaz, Bad Teacher.
• Mila Kunis, Friends with Benefits.

Or maybe Katy Perry for The Smurfs and Tyler Perry for Madea’s Big Happy Family.

Brad Pitt in Moneyball. One of the top Hollywood stars of the last two decades, Brad Pitt has a good chance of becoming a double Golden Globe Awards nominee for his performances in Bennett Miller’s baseball drama Moneyball and Terrence Malick’s family drama/cosmic inquiry The Tree of Life. In case that does happen, it remains to be seen whether Pitt will be a double nominee in the Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama category, or if The Tree of Life will earn him a Best Supporting Actor nod. Pitt has been nominated for four Golden Globes, winning as Best Supporting Actor for Terry Gilliam’s Twelve Monkeys (1995).

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Double nominee Brad Pitt in Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama category

The likely nominees for the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama category are the following:

• Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar.
• Brad Pitt, Moneyball.
• Brad Pitt, The Tree of Life.
• Michael Fassbender, Shame.
• Ryan Gosling, Drive.

The top runners-up are:

• Michael Shannon, Take Shelter.
• Woody Harrelson, Rampart.
• George Clooney, The Ides of March.
• Gary Oldman, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

Demián Bichir was a SAG Awards surprise nominee for his performance as an undocumented immigrant in Chris Weitz’s A Better Life, but we don’t really expect Bichir will be as lucky with the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

He would possibly have a better chance had A Better Life co-starred Robert Pattinson or Kristen Stewart, two of the leads in Weitz’s The Twilight Saga: New Moon. As a starless small movie – in terms of budget and box office – A Better Life has little to no chance of earning Bichir a Best Actor nod.

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Jean Dujardin vs. George Clooney battle in Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category

The likely nominees in the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category are:

• Jean Dujardin, The Artist.
• George Clooney, The Descendants (assuming it’s listed as a comedy).
• Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris.

And then things get tricky. Our guess would be Joseph Gordon-Levitt for the box office disappointment 50/50 and Robert Downey Jr. for Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, though we certainly wouldn’t find it surprising to find Johnny Depp listed for the box office bomb The Rum Diary – or even Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Or both.

A couple of other possibilities are Ewan McGregor for Beginners and Steve Carell for Crazy, Stupid, Love.

Of course, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association could also choose to list Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol as a musical so they could nominate Tom Cruise, who does some pirouetting in that one.

Or perhaps the HFPA will go for Eddie Murphy in Tower Heist. That might help to soothe Murphy’s ego following the Oscar fiasco of a few weeks ago. But then again, it might not.

Mel Gibson for Jodie Foster’s The Beaver? Unlikely, though stranger things have happened at the Golden Globes.

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Double nominee ‘The Help’ in Best Supporting Actress category

Likely nominees in the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Supporting Actress category:

• Jessica Chastain, The Help.
• Octavia Spencer, The Help.
• Judi Dench, J. Edgar.
• Kate Winslet, Carnage.
• Bérénice Bejo, The Artist.

If Bérénice Bejo is listed as a lead actress in a comedy or musical, then Shailene Woodley would be in for The Descendants.

There are several strong runners-up:

• Melissa McCarthy, Bridesmaids.
• Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs.
• Carey Mulligan, Shame.
• Sissy Spacek & Bryce Dallas Howard, The Help.
• Jodie Foster, Carnage.

Runner-up runners-up:

• Maya Rudolph, Bridesmaids.
• Marion Cotillard, Midnight in Paris.
• Vanessa Redgrave, Coriolanus.

Albert Brooks in Drive. Best known for playing humorous characters, Albert Brooks (Lost in America, Defending Your Life) has received some of the best reviews of his career for his portrayal of a dour, violent gangster in Nicolas Winding Refn’s thriller Drive. One of this awards season’s top two Best Supporting Actors – the other being Christopher Plummer for Beginners – Brooks will likely be shortlisted for the Golden Globe Awards despite the fact that he has been just bypassed for the SAG Awards. In case Brooks does get nominated, that’ll be his first chance to take home a Golden Globe statuette.

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Albert Brooks vs. Christopher Plummer in Best Supporting Actor category

For the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Supporting Actor category, shoo-ins are Christopher Plummer for Beginners and Albert Brooks for Drive – the latter a shoo-in who inexplicably was left out of the SAG Awards, whereas Armie Hammer was included for J. Edgar.

We’re betting on a first-time Golden Globe Awards nomination for Brooks.

In addition to:

• Kenneth Branagh (as Laurence Olivier) in My Week with Marilyn.
• Andy Serkis (as a talking chimpanzee) in Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
• Nick Nolte (as a recovering alcoholic turned devout Catholic) in Warrior.

Runners-up include:

• Patton Oswalt, Young Adult.
• Armie Hammer, J. Edgar.
• Jonah Hill, Moneyball.
• Max von Sydow, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Runner-up runners-up:

• Jeremy Irons & Kevin Spacey, Margin Call.
• John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene.
• Christoph Waltz, Water for Elephants or Carnage.

As an aside, potential Golden Globe Awards first-timer Albert Brooks already has a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award nomination to his credit: for Broadcast News, a 1987 comedy-drama directed by James L. Brooks – no relation despite the middle-name connection (James L. Brooks was born James Lawrence Brooks while Albert Brooks was born Albert Lawrence Einstein).

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Look for a star in Best Director category

In the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Director category, look for a star. Or even better, stars. That’s why the likely nominees are:

• Steven Spielberg, War Horse.
• Martin Scorsese, Hugo.
• Stephen Daldry, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (the power of Tom Hanks & Sandra Bullock).

In addition to, are you ready, Angelina Jolie for In the Land of Blood and Honey.

Michel Hazanavicius is a shoo-in for The Artist simply because he can’t be ignored.

Three other strong contenders are:

• Clint Eastwood, J. Edgar.
• Tate Taylor, The Help.
• Alexander Payne, The Descendants.

In case In the Land of Blood and Honey hasn’t been made available for viewing, we’re betting on Payne as one of the Top Five.

Less likely but not impossible:

• Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive.
• Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris.
• Bennett Miller, Moneyball.
• George Clooney, The Ides of March.

A nomination for Lars von Trier – for Melancholia – would have been fascinating, but that’s hardly likely to happen.

The Help with Emma Stone. The Golden Globe Awards’ Best Motion Picture – Drama category will likely be filled with movies featuring big names either in front or behind the camera. One of them will surely be Tate Taylor’s sleeper domestic box office hit The Help, with Emma Stone leading a cast that also includes likely Golden Globe Best Actress – Drama nominee Viola Davis, likely Best Supporting Actress nominees Jessica Chastain and Octavia Spencer, in addition to Bryce Dallas Howard, Allison Janney, Mike Vogel, Chris Lowell, Ahna O’Reilly, and veterans Mary Steenburgen, Sissy Spacek, and Cicely Tyson.

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Big names in front and/or behind the camera in Best Motion Picture – Drama category

Likely nominees in the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Motion Picture – Drama category:

• The all-star The Help.
• Star director Martin Scorsese’s Hugo.
• Star director Steven Spielberg’s War Horse.
• Moneyball (the Brad Pitt effect).
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close (once again, the Sandra Bullock & Tom Hanks effect).

Runners-up:

• Drive.
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.
• The Tree of Life.
• J. Edgar.

Runner-up runners-up:

• Carnage (if listed as drama).
• The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
• Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy.

George Clooney’s The Ides of March isn’t an impossibility, but it’s a less likely nominee considering that Clooney will already be getting his invitation to the party via The Descendants.

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: More big names in front and/or behind the camera in Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category

Likely nominees in the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical category:

• Awards season fave The Artist.
• Assuming it’s listed as a comedy, The Descendants (the George Clooney effect).
• Star director Woody Allen’s all-star Midnight in Paris.
• Paul Feig’s sleeper box office hit Bridesmaids.
• Jason Reitman’s Young Adult (the Charlize Theron effect).

Mike Mills’ Beginners is a less likely possibility, but Roman Polanski’s Carnage could sneak in if listed as a comedy.

Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Best Screenplay & Best Foreign Language Film categories

Likely nominees in the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Screenplay category:

• The Descendants.
• Midnight in Paris.
• Moneyball.
• The Help.
• Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Runners-up include The Artist, Hugo, and J. Edgar.

We’ve been unable to find the list of eligible entries for the Golden Globe Awards’ Best Foreign Language Film category. Therefore, this is an off-the-cuff shortlist:

• Asghar Farhadi’s A Separation (Iran).
• Aki Kaurismäki’s Le Havre (Finland / France).
• Pedro Almodóvar’s The Skin I Live In (Spain).
• Nadine Labaki’s Where Do We Go Now? (Lebanon).
• Zhang Yimou’s The Flowers of War (China) – so The Dark Knight Rises’ Christian Bale will feel compelled to come to the party.

Golden Globes website.

Meryl Streep The Iron Lady image: The Weinstein Company.

Brad Pitt Moneyball image: Columbia Pictures.

Albert Brooks Drive image: FilmDistrict.

Emma Stone The Help image: Walt Disney Studios.

“Golden Globe Awards: Meryl Streep & George Clooney Shoo-Ins + Best Director Angelina Jolie?” last updated in June 2018.