NOVEMBER, 17


By Charlie Kiggs

Not too many surprises in the list of nominations. The movies that are are the movies that should be. And same goes for the talents. When there are a nice number of quality movies released during a Season, it is difficult that any of them may become a record breaker at the GMA, as nominations – and awards – usually split between them.

So no movie this Season reaches the 7 nominations of ‘Pompeii’, ‘Lyra’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ – and that does not mean that any of these Season’s releases were not as good or even better than those -, and probably no movie will reach the 5 awards got by ‘Carousel’.

But beside records, it is an interesting Edition of the awards as I can’t see clear winners in almost any of the categories. There are going to be tough fights at some of them as more than one clear favorite is in them. Predictions look tougher than ever this time…

THE HIGHLIGHTS

Three very different movies are the most nominated ones. A sci-fi crime movie like ‘Robots Of Dawn’, a classic mob story like ‘Gaspipe’ and a sentimental drama like ‘The Rock Star’. A blockbuster, a decent box office and a flop. The trio shows the versatility in voters’ preferences. And it also shows that CMP knows to make good movies of almost any genre.

As a peculiarity of this Edition, I think that this is the first time that the three movies nominated for Best Picture and Best Screenplay are different. Usually, there’s a link between both categories. But not this time.

Sam Mendes, director of the most awarded movie ever in CMP, ‘Carousel’, finally gets his first nomination at the GMA. It was so unfair when he was ignored as director of that multi-awarded and critically acclaimed musical. Although ‘The Rock Star’ flopped at box office, at least he has a personal success at the GMA with this nomination.

Ridley Scott makes two landmarks with this Edition. First director to have been nominated three times and first director to be nominated two Seasons in a row.

Josh Collins and Matt Kubrick, although being the most active CMP’s screenwriters, had been away from the nominations list for quite some Seasons. They are finally back this time. The funny thing is that, after having written so many blockbusters, they both are back with movies that did not work in box office.

Three movies have put three talents in the nominations list: ‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’ (Abigail Breslin, Daniel Day-Lewis and Robin Wright-Penn), ‘Gaspipe’ (Andy Garcia, Ray Liotta and Michael Madsen) and ‘Altered States’ (George Clooney, Julianne Moore and Bob Balaban, in fact its whole cast here). That doesn’t happen too often.

Two talents will fight for more than one award this Edition: Jeff Bridges and Kate Beckinsale, from ‘The Rock Star’, can win both as couple and individually. Talents like Claire Danes, for ‘Carousel’ and Catherine Z. Jones, for ‘Foul Games’, made it before. Bill Murray also won both Best Villain and Best Supporting Actor for ‘Life and Facts of a Dirty Mind’.

THE IGNORED

Tradition respected. Again, a mega-blockbuster is ignored at the GMA. The most successful CMP’s movie ever, ‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’ did not get a single nomination. Same thing happened with ‘The Ice Princess’. It seems like GMA's voters do not like record breakers.

In fact, the second biggest hit of the Season, ‘Bullet Witch 0’, has also been ignored by voters. Another successful Makalaster’s franchise, ‘Magic – The Gathering’ was forgotten too by voters. And also the brilliant ‘The Dark Tower: Waste Lands’, another box office’s big hit of the Season, has only got a minor recognition. No matter it was a sequel and voters do not usually support sequels, I think it was one of the best movies of the Season.

In my opinion, two talents did not get as much recognition as they deserved. The work of Daniel Day-Lewis in ‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’ should have reached the Best Actor category and not only a minor one, like Best Villain. And the excellent job of Paul Giamatti both in front and behind the cameras in ‘The Miracle Men’ should have been remembered beyond the ‘Best Starring Couple’ category.

And talking about ‘The Miracle Men’, my personal opinion is that Will Ferrell made such surprising quality work that a nomination as Best Actor would have been deserved. And same goes for the brilliant performance of Holly Hunter in that very same movie. She should have joined the Best Supporting Actress trio.

Finally, superheroes movies stay popular at box office but keep having a hard time at the GMA. As I said, Silver Sable was completely ignored. ‘Wonder Woman’ at least got a minor recognition being nominee for ‘Most Wanted Sequel’. And the two parodies of the genre, ‘Married To The Supervillain’ and ‘The Revengers’, although both worked at box office, were forgotten too.

THE RETURNS

As usual, a bunch of talents are not new at the nominations list:

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS: It seems obliged to nominee this prestigious actor each time he makes a CMP’s movie. Three movies for CMP, three nominations. The two previous ones were for Best Supporting Actor (‘Quadrophenia’) and already past Season for Best Starring Couple together with Angelina Jolie (‘Tender Is The Night’). Maybe the third one will be the good one for him.

BRUCE WILLIS & PAUL BETTANY: One of the surprises of this edition. Willis and Bettany already won the Best Starring Couple award for ‘The Naked Sun’ back in Season 8. Three Seasons later, they have been nominated again for playing the same characters in ‘Robots Of Dawn’. Claire Danes was nominated twice too as Best Supporting Actress for playing the same character in ‘The Great War Series’, but she didn’t win any of them.

PAUL GIAMATTI: Giamatti becomes one of the most nominated talents in CMP. This is his 5th nomination. In Season 1, he won the Best Starring Couple award together with another one of this Season’s nominees, George Clooney, for ‘Bill and The Rocket Man’. His other previous nominations were: Best Actor (Season 1, ‘Bill and the Rocket Man’), Best Supporting Actor (Season 2, ‘Fools Game’) and Best Starring Couple again now with Kate Winslet (Season 6, ‘Man In The Mirror’). Working with James Bradley has been so profitable for him in terms of GMA’s nominations.

ZACH BRAFF: Braff is also getting used to be nominated. Third nomination for him. He fought before for Best Actor (Season 6, ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’) and Best Starring Couple (Season 9, ‘Mary’s Dark Side’). Also the third might be the good one for him.

ABIGAIL BRESLIN: Second time around for sweet Abbie. In Season 9, she had Zach Braff as her rival in the Best Starring Couple category. That time, she was nominated together with Dakota Fanning for their work in ‘The Fantastic Mansion’. Abbie may become the first young star to win the Best Actress category.

GEORGE CLOONEY: This one is also his second time around. 10 Seasons after winning together the Best Starring Couple award for ‘Bill and The Rocket Man’, Clooney and Giamatti meet again in a GMA ‘s ceremony, now starring different movies.

RIDLEY SCOTT: He has already won the Best Director award back in Season 2 with ‘Uncommon Valour: The Frigate Capatain’. Past Season, he got his second nomination as Best Director for ‘The Gunpowder Plot’. Now, Scott is back aiming to become the first director to win twice the award.

JAMES BRADLEY: The most awarded CMP’s screenwriter is back. Bradley has already won 3 Best Screenplay awards: ‘Fools Game’ (Season 2), ‘The Toymaker’ (Season 3) and ‘The Funeral Drum’ (together with Joey Stark, Season 8). But he has been nominated another 4 times: ‘Chevrolet’ (Season 2), ‘Pompeii’ (Season 6), ‘The Chinese Bride’ (Season 8) and ‘Things I Forgot To Tell You’ (Season 9). A veteran at the ceremony here.

JOSH COLLINS: Another screenwriter experienced at the GMA, although he had been away from the nominations list for a while. He won his only Best Screenplay award back in Season 7 with ‘Velcro’. And he has other 4 previous nominations: Best Screenplay and Best Director for ‘Hollyweird’ (Season 5), and Best Screenplay for ‘Blink’ (Season 6) and ‘Lyra’ (Season 7).

MATT KUBRICK: Kubrick does not usually write the kind of movies to be in awards ceremonies. That’s the reason why this prolific author does not show up too often at the nominations list. After 69 movies written for CMP, he only has one previous nomination for Best Screenplay (‘Home’, Season 3) and one nomination for Best Director (‘Wild Cards’, Season 2).

THE PREDICTIONS

And here comes my personal failure of every GMA’s Edition. Each time this moment comes, I have to apologize for my past sins. Yes, I was the one who said past Season that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would never win Best Actor… I’m soooorry. Ok? Can I go on now?

Just remember, please, that these predictions are made as soon as the nominations are announced and the voting for the winners has not begun yet. There are no trustable hints in them. And yes, I have to assume personally any very wrong prediction in them.

BEST VILLAIN

DANIEL DAY-LEWIS
In Favour: This award is not enough. His splendid work in ‘Fireflies’ should have given him not just a nomination but a victory at the Best Actor award.
Against: Kucan’s character adapts better to what voters may understand as the classic concept of ‘Villain’.
All in All: He should win. But I am not 100% sure if he will.

JOSEPH D. KUCAN
In Favour: He has created an eccentric, funnily excessive and memorable villain.
Against: A too minor star compared to Day-Lewis.
All in All: Winner or not, his character in the ‘Command & Conquer’ franchise may become an iconic villain if sequels are developed.

MICHAEL MADSEN
In Favour: His screen presence. Madsen always disturbs you as soon as he shows up on screen.
Against: His character is not as memorable as his rivals’.
All in All: Considering the two opponents, it would be a miracle if he wins.

BEST STARRING COUPLE

BRUCE WILLIS & PAUL BETTANY
In Favour: This couple of human and robotic investigators have already entered in CMP’s History.
Against: Would it make sense to reward them again for the same characters they already got this award for with ‘The Naked Sun’?
All in All: They shouldn’t win. Just because it would be unnecessarily repetitive.

JEFF BRIDGES & KATE BECKINSALE
In Favour: Everybody loved ‘The Rock Star’. Their chemistry was perfect.
Against: Not much. Only the quality of the other two couples.
All in All: It looks as this will be their night either here or at the Best Actor and Actress categories.

PAUL GIAMATTI & WILL FERREL
In Favour: The whole movie looked conceived to make them win this award.
Against: Absolutely nothing.
All in All: I bet for them. Their splendid work deserves this award.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

ANNETTE BENING
In Favour: She has proven again her comedic skill after being the unforgettable and craziest groupie ever in ‘The Metal’. Deserved.
Against: A bit overacted work?
All in All: She has a chance although the appeal of the other nominees is high.

ROBIN WRIGHT-PENN
In Favour: I always like her so much that I can’t be objective here.
Against: Her character didn’t show up too many minutes in the movie.
All in All: I have always loved Robin and always will, no matter if she wins or not.

TILDA SWINTON
In Favour: She has built up a mostly disturbing character not needing to fall into acting excesses.
Against: Too supporting. She was only a supporting character in one of the three stories of the movie.
All in All: I have the intuition that voters will go for her.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BOB BALABAN
In Favour: Everything in ‘Altered States’ was efficiently disturbing. His performance too.
Against: I am not convinced his work was memorable enough to deserve the award.
All in All: It’s hard to imagine voters choosing him instead of Liotta or Braff.

RAY LIOTTA
In Favour: Liotta is a classic. He always fills up the screen.
Against: Not a very original character after all.
All in All: If we are voting for screen presence here, he should win.

ZACH BRAFF
In Favour: He is an everybody’s favorite in CMP.
Against: His movie flopped and sometimes that’s a dead weight to win.
All in All: My bet here. He built up a funny character and showed again the many different kind of comedy characters he can play.

BEST ACTRESS

ABIGAIL BRESLIN
In Favour: A young star playing an intensely dramatic character? Looks as a sure bet.
Against: Does everybody like Abbie as much as Josh Collins does?
All in All: Looks like Collins’ efficient campaign promoting her win here might work.

JULIANNE MOORE
In Favour: She is the option for those a bit tired of too emotionally intense characters.
Against: It wasn’t the type of character that usually win awards.
All in All: Not this time. It will be either Abigail or Kate.

KATE BECKINSALE
In Favour: She played the most memorable female character of the Season.
Against: Prejudices: nobody associates the name of Kate with quality acting.
All in All: Abigail, be afraid. She could ruin your night.

BEST ACTOR

ANDY GARCIA
In Favour: He played the classic ‘bigger than life’ character perfect to win awards.
Against: Jeff.
All in All: As time passes, I assure his work in ‘Gaspipe’ will still be remembered, winner or not.

GEORGE CLOONEY
In Favour: He has proven again he is a great actor and not only a sexy man.
Against: Why some people seem to deny George that condition of ‘great actor’ just because he is handsome?
All in All: It will be hard for him to beat Andy and Jeff.

JEFF BRIDGES
In Favour: His melancholic character touched everybody’s heart.
Against: Andy.
All in All: I think he will win by a very slight difference of votes.

BEST SCREENPLAY

JAMES BRADLEY
In Favour: He wrote what probably is the most solid and original story of the Season.
Against: He has won this award so many times that voters may be tired of supporting his work.
All in All: Bradley does not need awards to keep proving he is an excellent screenwriter.

JOSH COLLINS
In Favour: Collins seems to have found the perfect tone for his dramas lately. A mature and quality work.
Against: Will voters be in the mood for supporting ‘Fireflies’ and drama or ‘Miracle Men’ and comedy?
All in All: I will always think that ‘The Rock Star’ was a better Collins’ screenplay than this ‘Fireflies’, but voters rule…

MATT KUBRICK
In Favour: Matt surprised us all with an adult comedy full of comedic situations and brilliant dialogues.
Against: The strong influence of Woody Allen’s style spreads all over his screenplay.
All in All: The consistency of the other two screenplays nominated will make it hard for him to win.

BEST DIRECTOR

BRETT RATNER
In Favour: He has directed a great movie. As simple as that.
Against: He is not considered an ‘auteur’ like his two opponents.
All in All: No, not this time.

RIDLEY SCOTT
In Favour: Past Season, the Wachowski Brothers stole him an award he deserved much more than them.
Against: There is nothing really new or original in ‘Gaspipe’.
All in All: Awarded or not, Scott is without doubt one of the most prestigious and respected directors in CMP.

SAM MENDES
In Favour: He deserves this award since the times of ‘Carousel’, when he wasn’t even nominated.
Against: ‘The Rock Star’ was more a screenwriter’s than a director’s movie.
All in All: He did not connect with audiences, but the truth is that he put up a brilliant movie.

BEST PICTURE

GASPIPE
In Favour: It’s a sure bet. There’ll be no controversy if it wins.
Against: The feeling of déjà vu that impregnates the whole movie.
All in All: A trustable bet.

ROBOTS OF DAWN
In Favour: It’s engrossing, entertaining and very well done.
Against: Looks more like a blockbuster than an award winner production.
All in All: It has a chance. Not big. But a chance.

THE ROCK STAR
In Favour: Well, at the end, it looks as The Movie Of The Season, no matter its box office’s disaster.
Against: Isn’t it only a nice little movie?
All in All: I think it will make it.