2017 Golden Globe Nominations

The list of nominations for the 2018 Golden Globes:

MOVIES

Best motion picture, drama
“Call Me By Your Name”
“Dunkirk”
“The Post”
“The Shape of Water”
“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best motion picture, comedy or musical
“The Disaster Artist”
“Get Out”
“The Greatest Showman”
“I, Tonya”
“Lady Bird”

Best actress in a motion picture, drama
Jessica Chastain, “Molly’s Game”
Sally Hawkins, “The Shape of Water”
Frances McDormand, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Meryl Streep, “The Post”
Michelle Williams, “All the Money in the World”

Best actress in a motion picture, comedy or musical
Judi Dench, “Victoria & Abdul”
Helen Mirren, “The Leisure Seeker”
Margot Robbie, “I, Tonya”
Saoirse Ronan, “Lady Bird”
Emma Stone, “Battle of the Sexes”

Best actor in a motion picture, drama
Timothée Chalamet, “Call Me By Your Name”
Daniel Day-Lewis, “Phantom Thread”
Tom Hanks, “The Post”
Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”
Denzel Washington, “Roman J. Israel, Esq.”

Best actor in a motion picture, comedy or musical
Steve Carell, “Battle of the Sexes”
Ansel Elgort, “Baby Driver”
James Franco, “The Disaster Artist”
Hugh Jackman, “The Greatest Showman”
Daniel Kaluuya, “Get Out”

Best supporting actress in a motion picture
Mary J. Blige, “Mudbound”
Hong Chau, “Downsizing”
Allison Janney, “I, Tonya”
Laurie Metcalf, “Lady Bird”
Octavia Spencer, “The Shape of Water”

Best supporting actor in a motion picture
Willem Dafoe, “The Florida Project”
Armie Hammer, “Call Me By Your Name”
Richard Jenkins, “The Shape of Water”
Christopher Plummer, “All the Money in the World”
Sam Rockwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”

Best director, motion picture
Guillermo del Toro, “The Shape of Water”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Christopher Nolan, “Dunkirk”
Ridley Scott, “All the Money in the World”
Steven Spielberg, “The Post”

Best animated feature film
“The Boss Baby”
“The Breadwinner”
“Coco”
“Ferdinand”
“Loving Vincent”

Best screenplay, motion picture
Guillermo del Toro and Vanessa Taylor, “The Shape of Water”
Greta Gerwig, “Lady Bird”
Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, “The Post”
Martin McDonagh, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Aaron Sorkin, “Molly’s Game”

Best original song
“Home,” “Ferdinand”
“Mighty River,” “Mudbound”
“Remember Me,” “Coco”
“The Star,” “The Star”
“This Is Me,” “The Greatest Showman”

Best original score, motion picture
Carter Burwell, “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”
Alexandre Desplat, “The Shape of Water”
John Williams, “The Post”
Jonny Greenwood, “Phantom Thread”
Hans Zimmer, “Dunkirk”

Best foreign language film
“A Fantastic Woman”
“First They Killed My Father”
“In the Fade”
“Loveless”
“The Square”

TELEVISION

Best TV series, drama
“The Crown” (Netflix)
“Game of Thrones” (HBO)
“The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)
“Stranger Things” (Netflix)
“This Is Us” (NBC)

Best actress in a TV series, drama
Caitriona Balfe, “Outlander” (Starz)
Claire Foy, “The Crown” (Netflix)
Maggie Gyllenhaal, “The Deuce” (HBO)
Katherine Langford, “13 Reasons Why” (Netflix)
Elisabeth Moss, “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)

Best actor in a TV series, drama
Jason Bateman, “Ozark” (Netflix)
Sterling K. Brown, “This Is Us” (NBC)
Freddie Highmore, “The Good Doctor” (ABC)
Bob Odenkirk, “Better Call Saul” (AMC)
Liev Schreiber, “Ray Donovan” (Showtime)

Best TV series, musical or comedy
“Blackish” (ABC)
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)
“Master of None” (Netflix)
“SMILF” (Showtime)
“Will & Grace” (NBC)

Best actress in a TV series, musical or comedy
Pamela Adlon, “Better Things” (FX)
Alison Brie, “GLOW” (Netflix)
Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon)
Issa Rae, “Insecure” (HBO)
Frankie Shaw, “SMILF” (Showtime)

Best actor in a TV series, comedy
Anthony Anderson, “Blackish” (ABC)
Aziz Ansari, “Master of None” (Netflix)
Kevin Bacon, “I Love Dick” (Amazon)
William H. Macy, “Shameless” (Showtime)
Eric McCormack, “Will & Grace” (NBC)

Best TV movie or limited series
“Big Little Lies” (HBO)
“Fargo” (FX)
“Feud: Bette and Joan” (FX)
“The Sinner” (USA)
“Top of the Lake: China Girl” (Sundance)

Best actress in a TV movie or limited series
Jessica Biel, “The Sinner” (USA)
Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies” (HBO)
Jessica Lange, “Feud: Bette and Joan” (FX)
Susan Sarandon, “Feud: Bette and Joan” (FX)
Reese Witherspoon, “Big Little Lies” (HBO)

Best actor in a TV movie or limited series
Robert De Niro, “The Wizard of Lies” (HBO)
Jude Law, “The Young Pope” (HBO)
Kyle MacLachlan, “Twin Peaks” (Showtime)
Ewan McGregor, “Fargo” (FX)
Geoffrey Rush, “Genius” (National Geographic)

Best supporting actress in a series, limited series or TV movie
Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies” (HBO)
Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu)
Chrissy Metz, “This Is Us” (NBC)
Michelle Pfeiffer, “Wizard of Lies” (HBO)
Shailene Woodley, “Big Little Lies” (HBO)

Best supporting actor in a series, limited series or TV movie
David Harbour, “Stranger Things” (Netflix)
Alfred Molina, “Feud: Bette and Joan” (FX)
Christian Slater, “Mr. Robot (USA)
Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies” (HBO)
David Thewlis, “Fargo” (FX)

The Iceman - DVD Review

Starring Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta, Chris Evans, David Schwimmer, James Franco, Robert Davi, John Ventimiglia and Stephen Dorff. Directed by Ariel Vroman.

★★½

Michael Shannon is a terrific presence, and he needs it here in this undercooked biopic about one of America's most notorious killers - Richard "The Iceman" Kuklinski.  It starts out interesting enough, almost a Donnie Brasco vibe to the proceedings, as low-man on the totem pole works his way up because he's so good at killing.  Ray Liotta plays Ray DeMeo, the boss that gave him a chance for higher profile hits for the Gambino family.

As the story goes, it gets repetitive after a while. We see Kuklinski kill someone, and then we see him kill someone, and then we see him kill someone, and then we see him kill someone, and then we get a scene where he enjoys his wife and two daughters, oblivious to how he really earns his money, and then we see him kill someone...

I liked Winona Ryder and Chris Evans in their roles. No complaints as far as acting goes; I just wish the film had more purpose behind what story it's trying to tell.

This Is the End - Movie Review

Starring Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jay Baruchel, Jonah Hill, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Emma Watson, Michael Cera, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Rihanna and David Krumholtz.
Directed by Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg.

★★½

This meta-movie where these actors play versions of themselves actually works quite nicely.  Many of them tend to play themselves over and over, so why not just have them be themselves instead of with "character" names? I wonder if Adam Sandler's upset he didn't think of this first.

Jay Baruchel is visiting L.A., a town he doesn't really like.  He and Seth Rogen hang out and get high (what's a Seth Rogen movie without everyone doing pot?) and then head to a party at James Franco's house.  Jay doesn't really want to hang out, but that's when the apocalypse hits.

After the rapture and fire and brimstone and chaos, the cast gets whittled down to Seth, Jay, Franco, Jonah, Craig and Danny, and the six of them are holed up in Franco's house until they can figure out what their next move is.

Each guy is willing to make fun of himself. Jonah Hill has a new air of superiority about himself now that he's forever an "Academy-Award nominee."  Even when he prays he introduces himself to God as "Jonah Hill, from Moneyball."  Franco has a man-crush for Seth but wishes Danny would just die already.  The six have to look at their shallow actorly lives to figure out why they've been left behind.

There is a lot of crudeness and pot humor, but it has a lot of funny moments as well.

Oz the Great and Powerful - Movie Review

Starring James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zack Braff, Joey King, Bill Cobbs and Tony Cox.  Directed by Sam Raimi.

★★½

Sam Raimi does to Oz what Tim Burton essentially did to Wonderland.  He's created a magical world more concerned with special effects and set pieces than in creating a timeless tale, and so as the years pass, most will forget it ever happened.

Don't get me wrong.  I enjoyed a lot of it. I liked meeting new sidekicks, like the talking winged monkey and the Little China Girl. The 3D effects were well-done.  But...

James Franco is miscast as Oscar Zoroaster, a carnival con-man who gets swept up by a cyclone one black-and-white day in 1905.  He lands in the land of color, in a lake where the good witch Theodora (Kunis) happens to be walking by. She mistakes him for the wizard, foretold by prophecy (whose prophecy?) to free the land of Oz from the reign of the wicked witch.

This is a prequel to the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz moreso than a prequel to the books, and when it comes to Oz prequels, Wicked had a better origin story. This movie leaves itself room for a sequel that'd still fit in between this and when Dorothy arrives. Since this one ends all happy-fuzzy, maybe that movie will show the Wizard of Oz regress into the cowardly agorophobe who sends a young girl off to go kill the Wicked Witch herself.

I liked Return to Oz more.

Random Movie Stuff - 7/12/12

- John Francis Daley & Jonathan Goldstein (Horrible Bosses) have written a sequel to the National Lampoon's Vacation movies, this time focussed on grown-up Rusty Griswold and the misadventures he has vacationing with his family.  (I'm assuming Chevy Chase and Beverly D'Angelo will show up at some point as Grandpa and Grandma Griswold).  Ed Helms is in talks to play Rusty.

- Channing Tatum will play daredevilling pioneer Evel Knievel in a biopic.


- The Hunger Games: Mockingjay will be split into two films.  Part I will open in November 2014 and Part II in November 2015.  The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens November 2013, and in case you missed it, Philip Seymour Hoffman has signed on to play new gamesmaster Plutarch Heavensbee.


- Deadfall will now open December 7.  It stars Eric Bana (Funny People) and Olivia Wilde (Cowboys & Aliens) as two siblings on the run from a botched casino heist. They're trying to make it to the Canadian border during a whiteout blizzard.  Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Kate Mara (American Horror Story), Treat Williams, Sissy Spacek and Kris Kristofferson co-star.

- Jim Piddock (The Man, Tooth Fairy) has been hired to write the screenplay for the big-screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey.  If he takes the Exit to Eden approach, he's going to get crucified.

- More cast members have signed on for Olympus Has Fallen, starring Aaron Eckhart as the US president when the White House is overtaken by terrorists.  Gerard Butler, Angela Bassett and Radha Mitchell had previously been announced, but now Melissa Leo (The Fighter), Ashley Judd and Robert Forster have been added.

- And here's the trailer for Sam Raimi's Oz: The Great & Powerful.  It looks as visually interesting as Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, but it didn't do anything to ease my main fear: James Franco doesn't seem like the right choice to play the Wizard.

Random Movie News 9/15/11

- Robert DeNiro and Diane Keaton will star in The Big Wedding, about a long-divorced couple who are forced to pretend they're still happily married at their son's wedding. It co-stars Katherine Heigl, Amanda Seyfried, Topher Grace, Ben Barnes, Susan Sarandon and Robin Williams. It's slated to open October 19, 2012.

- Hugh Grant has joined the ensemble Cloud Atlas, starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugo Weaving, Jim Broadbent, Susan Sarandon, Ben Whishaw and Bae Doona. It's about people from different time periods, narrators that "hear each other's echoes down the corridor of history."

- Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) will join Jessica Chastain (The Help, The Debt) in Mama, a horror movie from producer Guillermo Del Toro.

- Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (28 Weeks Later) is close to signing on for the remake of Highlander.

- Seth Rogen will co-write, co-producer, co-direct The Apocalypse with longtime partner Evan Goldberg. It'll star Rogen as well as James Franco, Jonah Hill and Jay Baruchel, playing themselves locked in a house while the apocalypse happens outside, but the longer they're holed up, the more they get on each other's nerves.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes - Movie Review

lll 1/2

Starring James Franco, Andy Serkis, Frieda Pinto, John Lithgow, Brian Cox, Tom Felton, David Oleyowo and Tyler Labine.
Directed by Rupert Wyatt.

There is a universal theme that keeps surfacing in movies - the oppressed fighting back against the powerful. Sometimes it's a native who rises (Braveheart), sometimes it's someone who crosses over (Dances with Wolves, Avatar), but there's usually a central leader who inspires his masses to rise.

The tale may be as old as Pharaoah's adopted son Moses leading the slaves out of Israel, but when it's done right, it can be very powerful. So here we have a prequel no one was really clamoring for, but it's now the best in the series.

I mean, I like the Charlton Heston original, and I grinned at the plethora of in-jokes sprinkled throughout, but this for me was a landmark achievement in what we're calling motion-capture technology.

I can't praise Andy Serkis and the WETA team enough. There are still several spots where you can tell it's computer animation or not a real ape, but it's the best CGI performance on film to date. Serkis has been the motion-capture guy for Gollum and King Kong in Peter Jackson films past, but he is the star here as Caesar. James Franco may get top-billing, but it's The Serkis Show.

Franco plays Will Rodman, a scientist working on a cure for Alzheimer's. He cuts some corners in his desperation for a cure, as his father (John Lithgow) has Alzheimer's and is degenerating quickly. (Hooray for corner-cutting scientists! Imagine how many movies we wouldn't have if corner-cutting never happened.) One unexpected result from his drug testing is Caesar.

Caesar is a smart chimp that Will takes home to raise himself. Caesar knows he's not human, but he never really appreciates what it means to be an ape until he's forced to live among them.

The movie is largely character-based, and it builds nicely to a third-act showdown on the Golden Gate bridge. Director Rupert Wyatt (The Escapist) demonstrates his skill with acting, special effects, and action, and I'm stunned he doesn't already have his next job lined up. (My guess: the next Apes movie.) It's a concise, well-balanced movie, and just another good entry in what's been a surprisingly high-quality summer.

Random Movie Stuff - 5/27/11

- Snow White & the Huntsman (starring Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron) had its release date moved up to June 1, 2012. In response, Relativity moved its Snow White movie (starring Julia Roberts and Lily Collins) to March 16, 2012. The Relativity one is said tob e more family-friendly, while Snow White & the Huntsman is going to be more for the PG-13 Twilight crowd.

- Jessica Biel and Bill Nighy are joining Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale and Bryan Cranston in the Total Recall remake, scheduled to open August 3, 2012.

- Andy Samberg (Saturday Night Live) and Rashida Jones (Parks & Recreation) will star in Celeste & Jesse Forever, about a divorcing couple who try to remain friends. Elijah Wood and Emma Roberts co-star.

- Zach Braff (Scrubs) has joined the cast of Oz: The Great & Powerful, a prequel starring James Franco (The Wizard), Michelle Williams (Glinda), Rachel Weisz (Witch of the East) and Mila Kunis (Witch of the West). It's scheduled to open March 8, 2013.

- Jeff Conaway has died after being taken off life support, which he's been on since a drug overdose on May 11. He was the star of movies (Grease, Pete's Dragon) and television (Taxi, Babylon 5) and appeared on VH1's Celebrity Rehab in 2008. He was 60.

127 Hours - Movie Review

lll1/2

Starring James Franco, Amber Tamblyn, Kate Mara, Clemence Poesy, Treat Williams, Kate Burton and Lizzy Caplan.
Directed by Danny Boyle.

If you have a one-setting plot, then dang, it had better be good. Fortunately this story is in the hands of Academy-Award-winning director Danny Boyle.

This is the true story of Aron Rolston, the hiker who cut off his own arm after being trapped for five days in the canyons of southern Utah. James Franco is perfectly cast as the breezy risk-taker, a man with joie de vivre but little regard for consequences.

I really liked that it didn't rely on flashbacks to break up the monotony of being stuck in one place. It followed more of a stream of consciousness, of memories that brought him to his current state.

The arm-cutting scene is about three minutes, and yeah it's graphic, but ultimately it's a movie about overcoming adversity, and I like it more now that I'm a few days away from it.