The question you may have been asking yourself after the Golden Globe Awards Sunday — apart from “Why wasn’t Ricky funnier?” — is whether there’s now any point in watching in the Academy Awards. Coming just three days after the Critics Choice Movie Awards, which had many similar results, the Globes had a feeling of déjà vu:
The Artist for Best Picture? Check.
George Clooney for Best Actor? Check.
Octavia Spencer for Best Supporting Actress? Check. Christopher Plummer for Best Supporting Actor? Check and double check.
It’s looking like a very long and familiar road towards the Oscars on Feb. 26, with many of the prizes for 2011 movies now mostly locked in. But a closer examination of the Globes and CCMAs suggests there will still be reasons to tune in to see Billy Crystal do his Academy strut once again. Here are five of them:
Best Actress is still up for grabs: Meryl Streep’s portrayal of Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady and Viola Davis’s stalwart servant Aibileen Clark in The Help represent opposite extremes of social and economic clout. But the two performances are neck-and-neck in prize momentum, with Streep taking the Globe for Best Dramatic Actress and Davis taking the CCMA’s Best Actress accolade. Both will surely be nominated for Oscar’s Best Actress glory; either of these popular women could win.
The outcome is impossible to predict. There’s also the chance of a spoiler from Michelle Williams, whose well-received turn as Marilyn Monroe in My Week with Marilyn won her the Globe for Best Comedy/Musical Actress. If votes split between Streep and Davis, Williams could come up the middle, like the NDP in a Canadian election.
