By Kofi Outlaw

“Talk amongst yourselves!” is the prevailing philosophy of what we here at Critics Rant call our “critical forum”—an opportunity of our readers to discuss certain topics WITH us, rather than listening to us run our mouths at them.

That said, I’d like to open our first critical forum by taking a look at this year’s list of nominees for the Golden Globe Awards. If you haven’t had a chance to memorize every nominee in every category like I have, no worries. A detailed list appears below. Take a look over the list, then rant back to us about actors and/or films YOU feel don’t deserve to be on that list, actors and/or films you feel deserve to be on that list, or even if you feel like the list (and the award show it represents) stopped being relevant a long time ago.

This is your chance to “tell us how you really feel.” Welcome to the critical forum.

As an opening salvo, I’ll toss out the opinion that the categories of Best Film (Drama), Best Actor (Drama) and Best Supporting Actor (Drama) are all spot on. As usual however, the actress have gotten hosed. Neither Jodie Foster nor THE BRAVE ONE should appear anywhere on any award list—and as I stated in my review for ATONEMENT, Vanessa Redgrave’s name should definitely be on that supporting actress list. Robbery.

After predicting their good things from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN and THERE WILL BE BLOOD, and not being one iota disappointed by either film, I’m surprised to see BLOOD director Paul Thomas Anderson missing from the category he easily ranked in before for MAGNOLIA. And how many people did Jerry Seinfeld pay off to get BEE MOVIE in the Best Animated Feature category? I am a devout SIMPSONS fan, but RATATOUILLE took that particular crown many months ago. Finally I love the fact that WALK HARD has made the cut. Can’t wait to see it!

So those are my joys and gripes. Rant back and let me hear yours. After you leave your comment, I’ll comment on your comment, and from there we will let the daggers fly! En Garde!

Golden Globe Nominees 2007 (FILM)

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
AMERICAN GANGSTER
ATONEMENT
EASTERN PROMISES
THE GREAT DEBATERS
MICHAEL CLAYTON
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
THERE WILL BE BLOOD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
CATE BLANCHETT — ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE
JULIE CHRISTIE — AWAY FROM HER
JODIE FOSTER — THE BRAVE ONE
ANGELINA JOLIE — A MIGHTY HEART
KEIRA KNIGHTLEY — ATONEMENT

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
GEORGE CLOONEY — MICHAEL CLAYTON
DANIEL DAY-LEWIS — THERE WILL BE BLOOD
JAMES MCAVOY — ATONEMENT
VIGGO MORTENSEN — EASTERN PROMISES
DENZEL WASHINGTON — AMERICAN GANGSTER

BEST MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
ACROSS THE UNIVERSE
CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
HAIRSPRAY
JUNO
SWEENEY TODD

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
AMY ADAMS – ENCHANTED
NIKKI BLONSKY – HAIRSPRAY
HELENA BONHAM CARTER – SWEENEY TODD
MARION COTILLARD – LA VIE EN ROSE
ELLEN PAGE – JUNO

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – COMEDY OR MUSICAL
JOHNNY DEPP — SWEENEY TODD
RYAN GOSLING — LARS AND THE REAL GIRL
TOM HANKS — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN — THE SAVAGES
JOHN C. REILLY — WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
BEE MOVIE
RATATOUILLE
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
4 MONTHS, 3 WEEKS AND 2 DAYS (ROMANIA)
THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY (FRANCE AND USA)
THE KITE RUNNER (USA)
LUST, CAUTION (TAIWAN)
PERSEPOLIS (FRANCE)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
CATE BLANCHETT — I’M NOT THERE
JULIA ROBERTS — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
SAOIRSE RONAN — ATONEMENT
AMY RYAN — GONE BABY GONE
TILDA SWINTON — MICHAEL CLAYTON

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
CASEY AFFLECK — THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
JAVIER BARDEM — NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR
JOHN TRAVOLTA — HAIRSPRAY
TOM WILKINSON — MICHAEL CLAYTON

BEST DIRECTOR – MOTION PICTURE
TIM BURTON — SWEENEY TODD
ETHAN COEN & JOEL COEN — NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
JULIAN SCHNABEL — THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
RIDLEY SCOTT — AMERICAN GANGSTER
JOE WRIGHT — ATONEMENT

BEST SCREENPLAY – MOTION PICTURE
DIABLO CODY — JUNO
ETHAN COEN & JOEL COEN — NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
CHRISTOPHER HAMPTON — ATONEMENT
RONALD HARWOOD — THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY
AARON SORKIN — CHARLIE WILSON’S WAR

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE – MOTION PICTURE
MICHAEL BROOK, KAKI KING, EDDIE VEDDER — INTO THE WILD
CLINT EASTWOOD — GRACE IS GONE
ALBERTO IGLESIAS — THE KITE RUNNER
DARIO MARIANELLI — ATONEMENT
HOWARD SHORE — EASTERN PROMISES

BEST ORIGINAL SONG – MOTION PICTURE
“DESPEDIDA” — LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA
Music by: Shakira, Antonio Pinto
Lyrics by: Shakira
“GRACE IS GONE” — GRACE IS GONE
Music by: Clint Eastwood
Lyrics by: Carole Bayer Sager
“GUARANTEED” — INTO THE WILD
Music & Lyrics by: Eddie Vedder
“THAT’S HOW YOU KNOW” — ENCHANTED
Music & Lyrics by: Alan Menken
“WALK HARD” — WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY
Music & Lyrics by: Marshall Crenshaw, John C. Reilly, Judd Apatow, Kasdan

(MTV NEWS)

LINKS
1 http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2007/12/13/golden-globe-nominations-the-full-list/
2 http://www.criticsrant.com/archive/2007/12/11/ATONEMENT-Fantastic-Setup-Ok-Payoff.aspx
3 http://criticsrant.com/archive/2007/11/07/NO-COUNTRY-FOR-OLD-MEN-and-THERE-WILL-BE-BLOOD.aspx