On Sunday night, the Hollywood Foreign Press will honor the year’s best in film and TV at the 71st Annual Golden Globes. To get you prepared for the upcoming ceremony, we’re posting our own predictions and proclamations, taking a look at who will win, who should win and who got snubbed.
Don’t forget to join us back here Sunday night at 8 p.m. EST as we liveblog the show, keeping you informed of all the winners and commenting on all the broadcast’s highlights (of which, considering Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are back as hosts this year, there are sure to be many).
Best Motion Picture, Drama
12 Years A Slave, Captain Phillips, Gravity, Philomena, Rush
Who Will Win: 12 Years a Slave
Who Should Win: 12 Years a Slave
Who Got Snubbed: Mud
After three amazing films, Jeff Nichols knows what it’s like to be snubbed, having zero Oscar or Golden Globe nominations to his name. But Mud, Nichols’ follow-up to Take Shelter, is a heartbreaking tale of lost love and life’s next steps that deserves to be considered among the year’s best dramas.—Ross Bonaime
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Drama
Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock, Gravity; Judi Dench, Philomena; Emma Thompson, Saving Mr. Banks; Kate Winslet, Labor Day
Who Will Win: Sandra Bullock
Who Should Win: Cate Blanchett
Who Got Snubbed: Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Bullock’s performance in Gravity will probably prove more popular, but Woody Allen brought out one of Cate Blanchett’s best performances in a career that includes playing queens, elves and Bob Dylan. By summoning Blanche DuBois, Blanchett finds compassion in a layered character that too often just frustrates the ones around her.—Ross Bonaime
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Drama
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave; Idris Elba, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom; Tom Hanks, Captain Phillips; Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club; Robert Redford, All is Lost
Who Will Win: Chiwetel Ejiofor
Who Should Win: Matthew McConaughey
Who Got Snubbed: Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
When I first heard the conceit of Dallas Buyers Club—Matthew McConaughey loses weight, plays a resilient character with AIDS—I have to admit that my cynical side emerged. It sounded like pure Oscar bait, and I wasn’t sure McConaughey would have the chops to transcend his rom-com leading man sensibilities. I was doubtful, and I was wrong. Because in Ron Woodroof, Matthew McConaughey is a changed man, and not just bodily. He’s flinty and gaunt, with a new, earth-bound charisma that looks nothing like the two-dimensional debonair flash of his acting past. Woodroof operates with the hard cunning of a desperate survivor, and McConaughey disappears completely into the role, evincing the man’s irresistible rage and hunger for life in the face of the kind of corporate enemies who will kill you with a polite smile and a tepid apology. Woodroof is their opposite; every electron is humming, every vein is pulsing, every word is burning. It takes a force of nature to battle an institution, and in channeling this vitality, McConaughey transformed his entire career.—Shane Ryan
Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
American Hustle, Her, Inside Llewyn Davis, Nebraska, The Wolf of Wall Street
Who Will Win: Inside Llewyn Davis
Who Should Win: Inside Llewyn Davis
Who Got Snubbed: Before Midnight
Her is also an incredibly deserving film, and in a less stacked year, it’d likely be the victor here, but there’s no stopping the Coen Brothers’ wonderful Inside Llewyn Davis. Look for Her to take home Best Screenplay as a consolation prize instead.
Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Amy Adams, American Hustle; Julie Delpy, Before Midnight; Greta Gerwig, Frances Ha; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Enough Said; Meryl Streep, August: Osage County
Who Will Win: Amy Adams
Who Should Win: Julie Delpy
Who Got Snubbed: Scarlett Johansson, Her
Delpy and her costar Ethan Hawke just keep getting better and better as actors. They’re at the top of their game in Before Midnight, where they create possibly the most fully realized portrait of a mature relationship ever put to celluloid. We’ve all been privileged to watch Jesse and Celine go through life together; some of us have even grown up with them. See you in nine more years.—Michael Dunaway
Best Actor in a Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy
Christian Bale, American Hustle; Bruce Dern, Nebraska; Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street; Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis; Joaquin Phoenix, Her
Who Will Win: Oscar Isaac
Who Should Win: Oscar Isaac
Who Got Snubbed: James Gandolfini, Enough Said
If the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis can be thought of as a companion piece to their A Serious Man—stories about ordinary men at the mercy of fate and luck—then it’s worth noting that both films featured breakthrough performances from exceptional, little-known actors. A Serious Man introduced audiences to the respected TV and theater actor Michael Stuhlbarg, and now Inside Llewyn Davis demonstrates that Oscar Isaac will no longer be considered just a fine character actor. Distinctive in everything from Sucker Punch to Robin Hood to Drive, this Julliard-trained, theater-seasoned actor grew up playing in different rock and punk bands, and he brings all those different disciplines to his portrayal of Llewyn Davis, a struggling solo artist in the early-‘60s New York folk scene. It’s a performance of enormous subtlety that balances on a knife’s edge between tragedy and comedy: Many of us recognize in ourselves Llewyn’s thwarted ambitions and soulful searching for his place in the world, and yet we also see the personal failings that may keep him (and us) from any sort of happy ending. Beautifully reserved yet hinting at his character’s unknowable depths of sadness and frustration, Isaac gives Inside Llewyn Davis its spirit, its humor, its beautiful poignancy. In the process, a fine character actor becomes an indisputably great star.—Tim Grierson
Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine; Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle; Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave; Julia Roberts, August: Osage County; June Squibb, Nebraska
Who Will Win: Lupita Nyong’o
Who Should Win: June Squibb
Who Got Snubbed: Léa Seydoux in Blue Is the Warmest Color
June Squibb first collaborated with director Alexander Payne on About Schmidt—she played Schmidt’s wife who dies early on—but she’s given a real platform with their second pairing. In Nebraska, she’s Kate Grant, the much-exasperated wife of Woody (Bruce Dern), whose endless foolishness has slowly sharpened her BS-detector over time. Nebraska can sometimes overdo its maudlin, wistful examination of family and mortality, but Squibb’s wonderfully grumpy performance keeps the film on its toes—just like Kate’s endlessly funny brusqueness keeps her mopey kin from tripping into despair.—Tim Grierson
Best Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips; Daniel Brühl, Rush; Bradley Cooper, American Hustle; Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave; Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Who Will Win: Jared Leto
Who Should Win: Michael Fassbender
Who Got Snubbed: James Franco, Spring Breakers
“Cruelty” is not an easy emotion to play. Hannah Arendt coined the phrase “the banality of evil” while reporting on the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolph Eichmann in the early ‘60s. It’s a perfect descriptor of systems that encourage conformity in the service of human mistreatment, and slavery in the United States is no exception. Otherwise decent men like Ford, the slaveowner played by Benedict Cumberbatch in 12 Years a Slave, fell into the category of those who found it in themselves to abide evil because it was so commonplace. Within that spectrum, though, there are men who are cruel on an individual level; they indulge their dark sides and use the evil framework to bring excessive pain to others. Edwin Epps, the sadistic plantation owner played by Michael Fassbender, fell into this latter category. His task was to portray a historical atrocity, but to remove the history from the equation and convey this raw, personal evil with an immediacy that destroyed the larger context and functioned as pure, timeless terror. He succeeded by preserving a vestige of humanity; the suggestion of a pained heart, lurking somewhere below the drunken, tyrannical surface, was like a guidepost showing the incredulous exactly how someone can become a man like Epps. It was not beyond belief; we could see a sliver of ourselves in Fassbender’s sneer, and the flick of a wrist holding a whip. How better to convey the horror of slavery than to show us our own reflection? This was evil, and there was nothing banal about it.—Shane Ryan
Best Director, Motion Picture
Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity; Paul Greengrass, Captain Phillips; Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave; Alexander Payne, Nebraska; David O. Russell, American Hustle
Who Will Win: Alfonso Cuaron
Who Should Win: Alfonso Cuaron
Who Got Snubbed: Spike Jonze, Her
Too few slots here kick out some of the greatest living filmmakers like the Coen brothers and Martin Scorsese, but the real snub here is Spike Jonze, whose directing in Her presents some of the most stunning images in a 2013 film and his use of restraint makes the relationship between Joaquin Phoenix and his computer all the more real.—Ross Bonaime
Best TV Series, Drama
Breaking Bad, Downton Abbey, The Good Wife, House of Cards, Masters of Sex
Who Will Win: Breaking Bad
Who Should Win: Breaking Bad
Who Got Snubbed: Mad Men
The fact that Mad Men’s strongest season ever was overlooked this year seems practically criminal. Downton Abbey had a down year and doesn’t deserve any accolades; Masters of Sex is a promising new series, and I’m pleasantly surprised by its nod, but over Mad Men? Let’s get serious.
Best Actress in a TV Series, Drama
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife; Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black; Taylor Schilling, Orange is the New Black; Kerry Washington, Scandal; Robin Wright, House of Cards
Who Will Win: Kerry Washington
Who Should Win: Tatiana Maslany
Who Got Snubbed Claire Danes, Homeland
Maslany’s absolutely incredible on Orphan Black. Each clone she comes across—the uptight suburban mom, the gay hipster scientist, the Ukrainian religious fanatic—feels like such a different character that it’s easy to forget that the same actress is behind them all. Even when one dresses up like another, the mannerisms are distinct enough to feel like characters making poor attempts to fit into each other’s skin.—Josh Jackson
Best Actor in a TV Series, Drama
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad; Liev Schreiber, Ray Donovan; Michael Sheen, Masters of Sex; Kevin Spacey, House of Cards; James Spader, The Blacklist
Who Will Win: Bryan Cranston
Who Should Win: Bryan Cranston
Who Got Snubbed Jon Hamm, Mad Men
How you can have an award show that celebrates the best in television and not give Mad Men one nomination, I will never know. Most deserving was Jon Hamm as Don Draper, who had his most conflicted and emotional year in season six. If where he ends the season is any dedication, we’re about to see a new side of Draper, and hopefully THAT can get the Globes’ attention.—Ross Bonaime
Best TV Series, Comedy or Musical
The Big Bang Theory, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Girls, Modern Family, Parks and Recreation
Who Will Win: Modern Family
Who Should Win: Parks and Recreation
Who Got Snubbed Arrested Development
While its big sibling The Office always suffered from repetition, Parks and Recreation always strives ahead to try out new ideas even when they’re difficult for the show’s format to sustain. 2013 featured Parks’ biggest moment ever, Leslie and Ben’s wedding, not to mention numerous new stories focused around Leslie’s job on the Pawnee city council that would’ve been impossible if the show weren’t willing to let her out of the parks department. While the slowdown following their wedding was a bit divisive, the season finale “Are You Better Off?” showed that there was a careful construction to these seemingly smaller episodes, and made the second half of the season just as significant as the first. Throughout this, Parks has maintained its standard repertoire of heart and humor, taking us in new places but with the same joy and humanity that’s made it the best comedy on television.—Sean Gandert
Best Actress in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical
Zooey Deschanel, New Girl; Lena Dunham, Girls; Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie; Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Veep; Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation
Who Will Win: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
Who Should Win: Amy Poehler
Who Got Snubbed Laura Dern, Enlightened
Another great show that got completely snubbed, Enlightened came into its own in its (premature) final season. Laura Dern’s Amy made an impact on her office and her dedication to do the right thing, while also continually trying to better herself, and it made her one of the most awkward and uplifting characters since Michael Scott.—Ross Bonaime
Best Actor in a TV Series, Comedy or Musical
Jason Bateman, Arrested Development; Don Cheadle, House of Lies; Michael J. Fox, The Michael J. Fox Show; Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory; Andy Samberg, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Who Will Win: Jim Parsons
Who Should Win: Jason Bateman
Who Got Snubbed Adam Driver, Girls
Michael Bluth has always thought he was the most balanced person in his family, yet by the end of the fourth season of Arrested Development, it’s clear that he might be one of the worst. It’s hard to make Jason Bateman not likable, but through Michael’s decisions, it’s easy to be against him.—Ross Bonaime
Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
Jacqueline Bissett, Dancing on the Edge; Janet McTeer, The White Queen; Hayden Panettiere, Nashville; Monica Potter, Parenthood; Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Who Will Win: Sofia Vergara
Who Should Win: Monica Potter
Who Got Snubbed Michelle Fairley, Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones is a difficult series from which to pull a nominee because the show is so narratively and geographically sprawling that there aren’t traditional leads and supporting characters. That said, a great performance is a great performance, and Michelle Fairley’s is arguably the best among a cast stocked from top to bottom with excellent actresses. Fairley commands the screen and our emotions in the most dramatic scene of the TV year with Thrones’ Red Wedding as she whips between shock, rage, grief and despair.—Aaron Channon
Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or TV Movie
Josh Charles, The Good Wife; Rob Lowe, Behind the Candelabra; Aaron Paul, Breaking Bad; Corey Stoll, House of Cards; Jon Voight, Ray Donovan
Who Will Win: Aaron Paul
Who Should Win: Aaron Paul
Who Got Snubbed Will Arnett, Arrested Development
Was there any character in the last year everyone loved more that Jesse? I mean, ask anyone prior to the finale what they wanted to see and the consensus seemed to be, “I don’t care as long as Jesse gets a good ending.” Paul knew how to play Jesse to perfection, with heart-crushing depression, yet with the occasional glimmer of hope that one day, things could get better.—Ross Bonaime