Recap: Last Night's Golden Globes

Margaret Keane's best "Big Eyes" painting was in attendance at last night's ceremony.

If there's anything learned watching last night's Golden Globes, it's that the HFPA really is into doing their own thing. Several categories went in a completely different direction, awarding the underdogs in their respective races. It seems like the Globes are really trying their best to distance themselves away from the organization that nominated "The Tourist" back in 2011, especially in regards to the television categories.

Amy Adams & Christoph Waltz Battle Over Big Eyes

After it was announced that Julianne Moore has just about dominated the Best Actress race, I suppose it was inevitable that we'd get a look at Amy Adams (the presumed front runner until Moore surprised us all) in "Big Eyes". Directed by Tim Burton, the film looks to be anything but the types of films we've come to expect from the creepy auteur... and it leaves a lot to be desired.

A Few Words on our Best Actress Contenders

At this point in the game, we have a rousing 17 contenders (that stand a good chance) at being nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. As we all know, however, there can only be 5, and even though we're going purely on buzz at this point, it's pretty easy (based on Oscar's own predictability) to narrow it down to at least 2 or 3 nominees.

There really aren't a whole lot of contenders (particularly in this category) from films that have premiered thus far to compete against the women who are waiting in the wings. Sure, there's Shailene Woodley from "The Fault in Our Stars", and while critics are banging the drum for her now, will they still be banging when "Big Eyes" premieres? Or when Meryl Streep and the rest of the "Into the Woods" women show up onscreen? It's hard to say.

But as I said before, there's at least 2 or 3 that you can (probably) safely bet on seeing next year at the Oscar telecast.

"Big Eyes" Rumors; Tim Burton Could Rake in Several Oscar Nominations

Tim Burton hasn't had a great film in several years; his last 2 outings were tepidly received at best. "Alice in Wonderland" broke box office records and started a brief fascination with 3-D films, however, the film was critically lampooned. His follow up, "Dark Shadows" was neither embraced by critics or audiences, so it's safe to say that the director of classics like "Edward Scissorhands" and "Big Fish" is in need of another great project.

It seems like that great project might just be his most recent picture, "Big Eyes" starring 5-time Oscar nominee Amy Adams and 2-time Oscar winner Christoph Waltz.

Links Links Links

• Sasha Stone of Awards Daily explains 5 different ways the BAFTA's can change the Oscar race, most notably in Best Picture & Actor. Do Gravity and Matthew McConaughey really have this all tied up? 
• Speaking of changing tides, doesn't it feel like Amy Adams is having a last minute charge to the podium over frontrunner Cate Blanchett? Jeffs Wells of Hollywood-Elsewhere certainly seems to think so.
• Probably the most talked about piece of news, Oscar nominated Actress Ellen Paige (Juno, Inception) came out the other night. Watch her beautiful speech at the HRCF's Time to Thrive conference here. The Film Experience's Nathaniel Rogers seems to think that this is going to open up phase 2 of her very promising career as an actress. 

More stories below.

Dylan Farrow's Open Letter Specifically Names Cate Blanchett

I don't know if any of you have been keeping up with the recent explosion of bad press Woody Allen has been receiving lately, but it seems to be consuming the movie related news cycle as of late. An open later, penned by Allen's adopted daughter Dylan, was posted by The New York Times just the other day (you can read it here if you so choose).

For those of you who don't know, Dylan Farrow had accused her adoptive father of molesting her at some point. The allegations came shortly after a dramatic divorce between Mr. Allen and Mia Farrow. The allegations were explored shortly after they surfaced, with the courts ruling that (in a nutshell) Dylan Farrow had "difficulty determining fact from fantasy", and that no such molestation happened.

The open letter addresses (for the first time that I'm aware of) what happened from Dylan's point of view, in addition to her feelings and the repercussions of what transpired. It's a brave piece for someone in her position to publicize; Woody Allen is a revered public figure, and the backlash this situation received in the past has exploded ten fold with the publication of this letter. The fact we live in an internet age doesn't help at all.

In the letter, Farrow points a finger at actors and actresses who have worked with Woody, most notably, Cate Blanchett:

"What if it had been your child, Cate Blanchett? Louis C.K.? Alec Baldwin? What if it had been you, Emma Stone? Or you, Scarlett Johansson? You knew me when I was a little girl, Diane Keaton. Have you forgotten about me?"

In doing so, Farrow is not only asking the public not to support Allen, but she points the question to the people who help bring his work to life. She also addresses the fact that Blue Jasmine (the film in which Blanchett and Allen have collaborated on) is an Academy Award Nominee for Allen's writing.

So, what does this all mean for The Academy Awards? And more specifically, Cate Blanchett?

Jesse Eisenberg and Jeremy Irons Cast in the New Batman vs Superman

After it was announced Ben Affleck would be playing Batman/Bruce Wayne in the upcoming sequel to Man of Steel, today Warner Bros. announced that Academy Award Nominee Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network) and Academy Award Winner Jeremy Irons would be joining Affleck, and veterans Henry Cavill and Amy Adams.

Amy Adams channels Elphaba from Wicked, Tarantino's Next Film & More Stories

My school closed today due to the large amount of snow we got yesterday, so I'm planning on not really doing much today except keeping warm and watching movies. However, I found a few things I thought you all would find interesting. So, enjoy!

• The Huffington Post (courtesy of TMZ) posted a video of Amy Adams singing "Defying Gravity" from the musical Wicked during karaoke. It's a little raw/rough, but god I can't say I don't love this woman.
• Why Are The Oscars Wrong For Young Women?
• Why are MORE Best Picture Nominees actually thinning out the number of actual contenders?
• Trent Reznor, hot off of his Academy Award winning score for The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, is back with another project
• Quentin Tarantino's screenplay for "Hateful Eight" leaked, and he's not happy about it.
• The Film Experience came up with a list for 10 actors in need of Oscar Nominations. I agree wholeheartedly with this list, and I highly recommend reading through it

Screen Actors Guild Award Predictions: Big Night for American Hustle?

The cast of American Hustle looks poised to con the award for Best Ensemble. 

The Screen Actors Guild is one of the most important precursor awards to have behind you or the film your in; the actors are the largest voting body in the Academy, and though SAG is significantly smaller than the AMPAS voting actors, it's very telling of which performances could win at the Oscars.

Unlike the Globes, the SAG awards take place before voting, so they have the power to influence voters. The Academy likes voting for winners, and a winner who can deliver a great speech is like catnip to them.

However, winners at SAG haven't always gone on to win the Oscar; Viola Davis not only won the Leading Actress award, but a shared award with the ensemble of The Help. Sadly, none of this was enough to conquer Meryl Streep, who went on to win her 3rd Oscar for The Iron Lady. Streep's Oscar narrative was just too strong I suppose.

So if you win the SAG award, its not set in stone that you will win an Oscar, just like being nominated does not guarantee you an Oscar nomination (.... Helen Mirren and Emma Thompson anyone?).

So where does that bring us in terms of this year? 12 Years A Slave will face off with American Hustle (Gravity has one nomination in Sandra Bullock, in no fault of its own as the cast is made up of her and George Clooney) for Supporting Actress (Jennifer Lawrence vs. Lupita Nyong'o) and the Ensemble award (SAG's equivalent to Best Picture). Lawrence won the Globe, but Nyong'o just won the Broadcast Critics' Award, which tends to line up with Oscar more often than not, so the edge is with Nyong'o on this one. But American Hustle's starry cast is almost irresistible, and the acting is really the movie's only true strength.

Expect Hustle to take the Ensemble award, it's almost stupid to bet otherwise. If there were more support for Lee Daniels': The Butler or August: Osage County, they could surprise and win it, but those ensembles are just lucky to be there honestly. I suppose 12 Years A Slave could upset... it did land more nominations than American Hustle did, but the popularity of American Hustle is just too hard to ignore.

But this will not be the end of the Best Picture race... that will come with the announcement of the PGA, on Sunday.

Read my official predictions below:

What the Oscar Nominations Tell Us

Here are some takeaways from this morning's Oscar Nominations (if you're interested in what I think)

Golden Globe Winners: What Does It All Mean?

American Hustle won 3 of the top awards (including trophies for Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence)

The Golden Globes are a weird case of award show. They take place before the Oscar nominations are announced, but after the voting for nominees has closed. What this means, is that no matter what happens at the Globes, it has nothing to do with a film or person's chances at getting nominated for an Oscar.

Unlike SAG, BAFTA, DGA and PGA, the Hollywood Foreign Press has no association with the Oscars. For example, the members of SAG are all members of the Academy, so their choices for winners are indicative on how the much larger voting body of actors will vote come time to decide a winner. But the HFPA is their own body, with entirely different people voting. And as history will tell you, they love nominating and awarding stars over character actors.

So then, what does it all mean? If this award has nothing to do with Oscar nominations, why is it important? Is it simply just another glamorized but meaningless award ceremony?

Central Ohio Film Critics Association

Amy Adams gets some recognition outside of the Globes for her amazing work in American Hustle. 

Best Film:

• American Hustle
• Before Midnight
• Frances Ha
• Gravity
• Her
• Inside Llewyn Davis 
• Nebraska
• 12 Years A Slave
• Upstream Color
• The Wolf of Wall Street

American Hustle: A Entertaining Mess

Amy Adams & Bradley Cooper strut their stuff in O.Russel's wild caper. 

"Some of this actually happened" David O. Russel tells us at the very beginning of American Hustle before leading into a long take of Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) fixing his, as Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) describes it, "elaborate" comb over. And boy, is it elaborate. But what we'll come to know through Irving's comb over is that he's just as elaborate; not what he seems at all, and consisting of many layers. He's a con man, but he has to be to survive.

And that's what the film is truly about; At the center of American Hustle's loud, obnoxious and zany retelling of the FBI led ABSAM scandal of the 70's, is a survival story.

First American Hustle Screenings: Jennifer Lawrence is on Track for Oscar nomination #3

That's right! The biggest question mark in this year's Oscar race has finally been unveiled. Kris Tapley of incontention.com reports that after many test screenings and editing sessions, Sony Pictures held a screening of the film for various press members, among them are SAG members who will be voting on this year's nominations in just a few weeks.