comment #1

Bart Smith says ...

Between the shortened window between the Globes and the Oscars and there not being a televised awards ceremony, I really think the Globes are going to have no bearing on the Oscars. Hopefully, this year will be remembered as the year the Globes became completely irrelevant.

comment #2

bo4pres says ...

I'm pretty shocked Atonement beat No Country tonight, but I probably shouldn't be. Atonement really had the "feel" of an Oscar movie. (I use "feel" because I liked No Country better in every way, so I decided to make up an element of the film that is completely unexplainable.)

comment #3

JHRussell says ...

Academy voters don't take the Globes seriously (at least I hope not). The Globes got some things very right (Bardem, DDL, Depp, Blanchett, Cotillard, and Christie are all solid picks) but "Atonement" is a total head scratcher that I still do not believe will be a Best Pic nominee...if any film got a bounce tonight, it was "Diving Bell"...and I don't think the shutout for "Juno" will have any effect on Oscar noms...

comment #4

ASD says ...

All Oscar ballots have already been sent in so the only possible boost Atonement could receive is if it's already been nominated for the Oscar it can now trumpet Globe winner in its FYC ads. Atonement received the most GG nominations so its win shouldn't be seen as much of a surprise but because of the number of nominees in the drama category and the small number of voters, Atonement could have won with as few as 15 or so votes.

Incidentally, I predict this will be the first year that both the drama and musical comedy winners will miss out on a Best Picture nominee. Yay irrelevance!

comment #5

ZacharyTF says ...

The two biggest surprises for me were Julian Schnabel winning Director and Atonement winning Drama. I don't think it'll translate into Oscar, but at this point, you never know.

I was 9 for 25 in my predictions. Ouch! :)

comment #6

JHRussell says ...

I agree with ASD - I don't see either Atonement or Sweeney Todd getting a Best Pic nom...

comment #7

qwiggles says ...

For perspective, last year's big winners were Babel and Dreamgirls. And lest you get *too* excited about Cotillard, last year's winner in this category was Streep. As I recall, LMS got shut out as well...

comment #8

EDouglas says ...

I'm not surprise about the Atonement and Sweeney Todd wins...these are the Hollywood FOREIGN Press and I should have kept in mind that they would go for the most European movies rather than anything even remotely American like No Country. I'm thinking maybe they just didn't get Juno enough to go with it over a straight musical. It may be too late for the Golden Globe win to have much of an effect on Oscar nominations and I wonder how it can get in after being snubbed by most of the guilds (Sweeney Todd too)

comment #9

Lee says ...

As others have posted, this will have no bearing on Oscar nominations, as that's already a done deal. But "back in the game"? ATONEMENT has only been written off by Wells and a few other echo-chamber bloggers. Everyone I know considers it a strong contender, along with maybe one of AMERICAN GANGSTER, CHARLIE WILSON, ENCHANTED, SWEENEY TODD ... The Academy likes Hollywood movies too, though not to the exclusive extent bloggers like dark, quirky auterisms.

comment #10

Bilge says ...

ATONEMENT was and is still a major contender for an Oscar BP nomination. I don't think it won because of any anti anything votes. NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and THERE WILL BE BLOOD probably appeal to very similar subsets of viewers, and as such one can assume they split their votes to some degree. ATONEMENT's win is a bit of a surprise -- but not as much as Schnabel's win.

Either way, I don't think the Academy is taking much of its cues from the GGs. Not this year. They might have done so conceivably if it had been a bad year for films and voters were hurting to find titles to fill up their ballots. But with this strong a year, people will just vote for the films they love.

comment #11

Dirty Harry says ...

ATONEMENT beat NO COUNTRY? You've got to be-- Oops, sorry. I forgot nobody cares about how Hollywood masturbates itself.

History is the ultimate judge and in twenty-five-years no one will remember ATONEMENT but we'll all meet again as we're wheeled into the Arclight for the anniversary screening of NO COUNTRY.

Check out the AFI series at the Arclight:

https://www.arclightcinemas.com/ArcLight/faces/Home.jsp

I think only THE APARTMENT won a best picture Oscar -- proving self-given awards can't transcend history if the movie doesn't back it up.

comment #12

Doug says ...

The Foreign Press traditionally votes for foreign nominees - Day Lewis, Christie, Bardem, Blanchett, Cotillard. The only American to win a film acting award tonight is Johnny Depp - and doesn't he live in France?
Also, "Atonement" is a British film.
And in TV, they voted three awards for "Longford" (British) and "Extras" as best comedy (also British).
Doug

comment #13

truefaith says ...

I'm glad ATONEMENT won the Golden Globe for BP. It is an excellent film and deserves a BP Oscar nomination. I liked the many usage of perspective in it, and how it didn't shy away from its political theme as THE ENGLISH PATIENT did. I wasn't surprised that Julian Schnabel won the Golden Globe for Best Director. After all he won the Best Director prize at Cannes. I was more surprised that THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY won for Best Foreign Language Film. I don't understand the attachment to these sort of films. I didn't care for THE SEA INSIDE, and I didn't care for THE DIVING BELL either. I'm also glad that Daniel Day-Lewis won the Golden Globe for Best Actor. I hope he repeats it at the Oscars. He's far too talented of an actor not to win the Oscar for Best Actor at least twice.

comment #14

Craig Kennedy says ...

Good. Now when No Country gets a nomination, AMPAS can vote for it in good conscience without fearing they'll get the stink of the HFPA on them.

comment #15

ZayTonday says ...

So basically TWBB is the Ralph Nader of the 2008 Oscar race, amirite?

comment #16

Dave says ...

Jeff-- Bilge is correct; logic argues that No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood split the votes for *BOTH* Best Picture and Best Director, handing the awards to other films.

The two of them are the best movies of the year, and nearly every critic agrees with that-- unfortunately, it's the same exact critical base (i.e. folks like you and me), thus leaving other films the opening.

I won't be shocked if the split happens at Oscar time, too.

comment #17

Krazy Eyes says ...

I finally caught up with "No Country" over the weekend and I don't get the problem people have with the "ending." Is it because it doesn't end in a car chase and kinetic shoot-out between TLJ and Bardem? I thought the ending as is was perfect for the material and general tone of the whole story.

comment #18

BurmaShave says ...

I hear that because the Critics awards are a public forum, people are less inclined to show their racism than in the secret ballot of the Academy Awards. I also think women were turned off by NO COUNTRY, and especially how it was peevish and condiscending in the last debate. Not to mention ATONEMENT welling up on the verge of tears really showed it had a human side. It will be interesting to see which way the black vote in South Carolina goes. John Edwards has no chance at an Oscar, but could continue to take votes. He's such a fucking loser.

comment #19

Crimzon says ...

I dont think Globes affects NCFOM's winning chances at all. Only concern is whether "There Will Be Blood" votes cancel. Its bizarre that people think the race is between these two. Its not. They are both very male-centric and wont be embraced by the Academy completely, though NCFOM has the upper hand.

comment #20

Crimzon says ...

Just to add, I dont know how anyone would think its not a pro-Atonement sentiment. It was nominated for 7 awards, three acting nods and direction and they won two.

They gave the Coen's screenplay so if they didnt like the ending, why award them that?

comment #21

Jay T. says ...

Hey, we now have what we can call The Jeffrey Wells Factor... as soon as Jeff pronounces something as done for (Hillary Clinton, Atonement) it/they come roaring back.

You really should have said Zodiac has no chance whatsoever of winning any awards - it probably would have cleaned up. ;-)