Golden Globe Awards Predictions: Who Will Win?

There are plenty of reasons to tune in to the Golden Globe Awards this Sunday. Reason number one: Ricky Gervais returns as host, meaning more of his hilarious, celeb-skewering jokes. Reason tumber two: Brad Pitt, Meryl Streep and many more of your favorite stars are nominated and will be on hand to accept their trophies (fingers crossed). Reason number three: It's Sunday night, and Monday's a holiday. Do you have anything better to do?

If your answer to that last question is "yes," then consider the following. Sunday is the perfect opportunity to have a get-together with friends. Invite a few over. Make some yummy snacks and beverages. And have a little bet going on about which nominees will win which awards. If you go with our picks (see below), then you're guaranteed to win back what ever money you put up.

Here's the list of nominees with stars by the winners. Guard it with your life — it might be worth cold, hard cash.

Best Motion Picture – Drama
*The Descendants
The Help
Hugo
The Ides of March
Moneyball
War Horse

PREDICTION: With The Artist out of the picture by being nominated in the comedy category, the race for Best Drama is nearly wide open. Seriously, any of these films stand a chance, except for maybe The Ides of March. While it's possible either Hugo or War Horse could win it, we're putting our money on The Descendants.

Best Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
50/50
*The Artist
Bridesmaids
Midnight in Paris
My Week with Marilyn

PREDICTION: What a strong comedy field this year! Of course, The Artist — with nearly universal praise — already has it in the bag, but we're crossing our fingers the Globes will prove us wrong and give it to the funniest movie of the year, Bridesmaids, instead.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama
*George Clooney, The Descendants
Leonardo DiCaprio, J. Edgar
Michael Fassbender, Shame
Ryan Gosling, The Ides of March
Brad Pitt, Moneyball

PREDICTION: Real-life pals Brad Pitt and George Clooney are neck-in-neck for this one, but anyone who's seen The Descendants can't deny that Clooney delivers the performance of a lifetime. He deserves it.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama
Glenn Close, Albert Nobbs
Viola Davis, The Help
Rooney Mara, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
*Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady
Tilda Swinton, We Need To Talk About Kevin

PREDICTION: The Critics' Choice Movie Awards named Davis over Streep, but they're likely do such a thing just to stir up the race. Streep is a Golden Globe vet (this will be her eighth Globe) who almost wins the Globe even if she loses the Oscar. Plus she's always a hoot during acceptance speeches. It's hers to lose!

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
Jodi Foster, Carnage
Charlize Theron, Young Adult
Kristen Wiig, Bridesmaids
*Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn
Kate Winslet, Carnage

PREDICTION: We're looking forward to seeing Michelle Williams accepting this award for her brilliant portrayal of My Week with Marilyn. She was great in Brokeback Mountain and Blue Valentine. Now she's getting her due!

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy Or Musical
*Jean Dujardin, The Artist
Joseph Gordon Levitt, 50/50
Ryan Gosling, Crazy Stupid Love
Brendan Gleeson, The Guard
Owen Wilson, Midnight in Paris

PREDICTION: Jean Dujardin, for his expressive face-making and physical comedy shtick, will win, but we'd like to see it go to Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who was fantastic in 50/50.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Berenice Bejo, The Artist
Jessica Chastain, The Help
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
*Octavia Spencer, The Help
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

PREDICTION: Octavia, girl! Go get your trophy. You earned it. Shailene Woodley, you were amazing, but you're young and you've got promise. Janet McTeer, you've already got a Globe, but what do you have to do to get an Oscar…?

Best Performance by an Actor In A Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
Kenneth Branagh, My Week with Marilyn
Albert Brooks, Drive
Jonah Hill, Moneyball
Viggo Mortensen, A Dangerous Method
*Christopher Plummer, Beginners

PREDICTION: Would it be totally out of line to rename "Best Supporting Actor" as "Award For Aging Acting Veterans Who Somehow Never Won An Oscar"? Nominated last year, winning this year: Christopher Plummer.

Best Director – Motion Picture
Woody Allen, Midnight in Paris
George Clooney, The Ides of March
*Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
Alexander Payne, The Descendants
Martin Scorsese, Hugo

PREDICTION: Hazanavicius is the man to beat, unless there's a major Hugo upset or a Midnight in Paris windfall — which would be unexpected and fun.

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture
Midnight in Paris
The Ides of March
The Artist
*The Descendants
Moneyball

PREDICTION: It's a strange category, given that the Academy logically divides the award between "adapted" and "original" instead of lumping them together like this. We're predicting a Descendants near sweep, so we'll give Alexander Payne this award, meaning he's lost Best Director. Aaron Sorkin, for Moneyball, is also deserving, but he won last year for The Social Network.

Best Animated Feature Film
*The Adventures of Tintin
Arthur Christmas
Cars 2
Puss in Boots
Rango

PREDICTION: None of these films were as well-reviewed as Tintin, plus it gives the HFPA a chance to award Spielberg while stiffing him on War Horse.

Best Foreign Language Film
Flowers of War
The Land of Blood and Honey
The Kid with A Bike
*A Separation
The Skin I Live In

PREDICTION: We're tempted to say the HFPA may go crazy and give it to Angelina Jolie's The Land of Blood and Honey, which won't be nominated for an Oscar, but the frontrunner here is Iran's A Separation. Almodovar's The Skin I Live In is a great film, but he's won enough Globes already and honestly he's in a category all his own. Can the publicly financed Flower of War, from China, stage an upset? Probably not.

Best Original Score – Motion Picture
*The Artist
W.E
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
War Horse
Hugo

PREDICTION: When we talk about the score for The Artist, we're basically talking about the only sound in the entire film. If the Globes name it Best Comedy, as they will, then c'mon — this one's easy.

Best Original Song – Motion Picture
*Gnomeo and Juliet
Machine Gun Preacher
Albert Nobbs
The Help
Masterpiece, W.E

PREDICTION: Elton John, the master! He wins for "Hello, Hello."

Best Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Enlightened
Episodes
Glee
*Modern Family
New Girl

PREDICTION: Have the Globes had enough of Modern Family yet? We haven't.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Drama
Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
*Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Kelsey Grammar, Boss
Jeremy Irons, The Borgias
Damian Lewis, Homeland

PREDICTION: Tough category. Buscemi and Grammar are both deserving, as is Lewis. But Cranston's work is still the best TV has to offer.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Drama
*Claire Danes, Homeland
Mireille Enos, The Killing
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Madeline Stowe, Revenge
Callie Thorne, Necessary Roughness

PREDICTION: The Globes are notorious for awarding new nominees, and there's enough good press surrounding Revenge that we could see Madeline Stowe accepting the show's only award. But we're just gonna go crazy and say Danes, for the heck of it.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
Laura Dern, Enlightened
*Zooey Deschanel, The New Girl
Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Laura Linney, The Big C
Amy Poehler, Parks and Recreation

PREDICTION: Let's do the math on this one. The two separated-at-birth Lauras will split each other's votes for their near-identical shows, while SNL alums Fey and Poehler will also split their votes. That leaves Deschanel the last 'Girl' standing. Poehler really should get this one, though.

Best Performance by an Actor In A Television Series – Comedy Or Musical
*Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
David Duchovny, Californication
Johnny Galecki, The Big Bang Theory
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matt LeBlanc, Episodes

PREDICTION: Another tough one, so we'll go with the safe bet and say Baldwin — that is, if he can put down his iPhone long enough to get up and deliver an acceptance speech.

Best Mini-Series Or Motion Picture Made for Television
Cinema Verite
*Downton Abbey
The Hour
Mildred Pierce
Too Big to Fail

PREDICTION: Downtown Abbey is the hottest thing right now. Are you obsessed yet? It's so gonna win this.

Best Performance by an Actress In A Mini-series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Romola Garai, The Hour
Diane Lane, Cinema Verite
Elizabeth McGovern, Downton Abbey
Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult
*Kate Winslet, Mildred Pierce

PREDICTION: Winslet won the Emmy, deservedly, and now it's time for the Globe. Easy. If she weren't in the running we could see McGovern snatching it — or Watson.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Hugh Bonneville, Downton Abbey
*Idris Elba, Luther
William Hurt, Too Big To Fail
Bill Nighy, Page Eight
Dominic West, The Hour

PREDICTION: Movie stars nominated in made-for-TV categories have the best chance. Say it with me, remaining for nominees: "Able was I ere I saw Elba." There you go.

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
*Jessica Lange, American Horror Story
Kelly MacDonald, Boardwalk Empire
Maggie Smith, Downton Abbey
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
Evan Rachel Wood, Mildred Pierce

PREDICTION: While it'd be cool to see Evan Rachel Wood win it for her watchable wickedness in Pierce, it's no secret that American Horror Story would be nothing but a two-dollar gimmick without two-time Oscar winner Jessica Lange.

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
*Peter Dinklage, Game of Thrones
Paul Giamatti, Too Big to Fail
Guy Pearce, Mildred Pierce
Tim Robbins, Cinema Verite
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family

PREDICTION: You're the man, Dinklage. You're the man.

—JUSTIN JANNISE

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