The Hush-Hush News Report 1.19.09: The Golden Globes At A Glance

Posted by Jeremy Thomas on 01.19.2010

This week we look at the Golden Globes results and see what they mean in the grand scheme of things! Plus news on the Jonah Hill 21 Jump Street remake, a character-driven Captain America, which movie scored the second-best test screening score in Sony's history, Sam Raimi's post-Spidey plans, new mini-reviews and more!

Welcome one and all to the Hush-Hush News Report! I'm your host Jeremy Thomas, and I can promise you that this is one column where you won't hear a damn thing about NBC and late night talk shows. I go to bed at 9:00 thanks to a 4:30 work schedule, so it's all YouTube and Hulu for me anyway. So we've got a lot to get into here; let's jump into it, shall we?

Before you start reading, have you bookmarked 411Mania.com yet? It's the easiest thing in the world to do, and it'll get you your daily dose of entertainment news that much quicker! Typing the URL out in the address bar is such a pain, don'tcha think? Hell, make it your home page and it'll be that much easier for you!

The Globes Are Golden for NBC



The Golden Globe Awards grew for the second straight year, continuing the rebound from the strike-scuttled 2008 ceremony.

The Ricky Gervais-hosted awards drew 16.9 million viewers (based on time zone-adjusted ratings for the live broadcast) Sunday (Jan. 17), an improvement of 2 million viewers over last year's ceremony. "Avatar" and "The Hangover" won the two best-picture awards (drama and comedy), while "Glee" and "Mad Men" were named best comedy and drama on television.

The show's adults 18-49 numbers also grew, rising to a 5.4 rating from a 4.9 last year. NBC says the awards brought the network its biggest non-sports Sunday audience since the 2004 Golden Globes. (The 2006 and '07 Globes also outdrew Sunday's show, but those aired on Monday nights.)

The Globes continue a trend of improving ratings for awards shows. In the past few months the Primetime Emmys, the County Music Association Awards and the People's Choice Awards have all posted better numbers than the previous year.

The list of Golden Globe winners follow:

FILM:
BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA: Avatar
BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: The Hangover
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA: Jeff Bridges, "Crazy Heart"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA: Sandra Bullock, "The Blind Side"
BEST DIRECTOR: James Cameron, "Avatar"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Robert Downey Jr., "Sherlock Holmes"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Meryl Streep, "Julie & Julia"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE: Christoph Waltz, "Inglourious Basterds"
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A MOTION PICTURE: Mo'Nique, "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire"
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: The White Ribbon
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Up
BEST SCREENPLAY: Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner, "Up in the Air"
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE: Michael Giacchino, "Up"
BEST ORIGINAL SONG: "The Weary Kind (Theme from 'Crazy Heart')" (written by Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett), "Crazy Heart"

TELEVISION:
BEST TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA: "Mad Men," AMC
BEST TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: "Glee," Fox
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA: Michael C. Hall, "Dexter," Showtime
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, DRAMA: Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife," CBS
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Toni Collette, "The United States of Tara," Showtime
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES, COMEDY OR MUSICAL: Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock," NBC
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: John Lithgow, "Dexter," Showtime
EST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Chloe Sevigny, "Big Love," HBO
BEST MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: "Grey Gardens," HBO
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Kevin Bacon, "Taking Chance," HBO
BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MINISERIES OR MOTION PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION: Drew Barrymore, "Grey Gardens," HBO

I'm going to comment more on the winners below; this was just a convenient place to put them. On the other hand, I'm happy to see the Globes rating rise under Gervais's tenure. Some critics are split on the British actor's performance, with detractors claiming he was "toothless." Frankly, I don't know what they were expecting. Did they think Gervais would take low blows at people so they could call him mean-spirited? With the man's sarcastic sense of humor, it was sort of a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. I didn't think he was as funny as he could have been, but some of his lines were actually quite funny and I thought he did quite well as a host.

One group that has to be looking at this with big smiles is the producers of the Academy Awards. With ratings up across the board for awards shows, the AMPAS has to believe that they're going to follow suit and hopefully that will mean they take things more seriously. Last we heard, producer Adam Shankman was teasing fans with appearances from So You Think You Can Dance contestants, the High School Musical and Twilight posse and other tween-oriented groups. The bar's been raised just a touch and if Shankman is smart, he'll just let Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin take center stage and rock the house.


Damon and Pitt get their Feet Wet



Matt Damon and Brad Pitt haven't made a movie together since Ocean's Thirteen, but Movieline hears that the two actors have both been cast in an upcoming film directed by George Miller.

Pitt and Damon will both be voicing characters in Miller's Happy Feet 2, a 3-D sequel to his 2006 animated film. They'll be joining original cast members who include Robin Williams and Elijah Wood.

Warner Bros. refused comment on the casting, but Movieline sources say that it's a done deal — in fact, both Pitt and Damon were recording for it this week. Happy Feet 2 is currently set for release on November 28, 2011.

I'm not surprised that WB is refusing to comment on this bit of casting, since one of the big questions hanging over this production is what will happen to Brittany Murphy's character Gloria. I doubt the film makers know exactly what they're going to do with that and I doubt they will confirm much casting until they've figured out what to do about that one. Either way, I'm not too enthused about this sequel. Happy Feet was a pretty lackluster animated film and while it made a load of cash for the studio, I don't see the sequel being any better. I'm glad to see Elijah Wood continuing to get work, but otherwise I don't have much reason to care about this.


Unnecessary Remake News of the Week



"Superbad" and "Funny People" actor Jonah Hill tells Coming Soon that they hope to shoot the film adaptation of classic 80's TV series "21 Jump Street" this year.

Though the film will keep the same basic premise as the series, rookie cops who go undercover as students in a high school, the tone will not be the parody many are expecting.

"It's a comedy with really cool action. We're not doing something serious like 'Miami Vice.' But it's not a parody. It's a funny movie with a lot of great action and a real story. I've been saying that it's like a John Hughes movie with 'Bad Boys' style action" says Hill.

At present the script is being tweaked to fit in with the vision of recently hired directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller ("Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs"). No further cast is currently lined up.

The immediate question that jumps out at me about this project is, "Why call it 21 Jump Street?" Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that they aren't making it a parody film. But the original television series was a drama—even if it was one that not a lot of people took seriously. That would be like taking The Simpsons and turning it into a big screen, animated drama, or bringing The Dukes of Hazzard to theaters under Rob Zombie as a companion film to The Devil's Rejects about a hillbilly crime spree. It just doesn't make sense, and I don't see how this will work. Are they keeping the characters the same? If so, I would expect Hill to be Doug Penhall, as played in the eighties by Peter DeLuise. That only begs to ask who will play Johnny Depp's Tom Hanson. If it's Michael Cera, I say we riot.


Online Critics Love the Locker and the Basterds



"The Hurt Locker" has been named best picture of 2009 by the Online Film Critics Society. It also earned awards for director Kathryn Bigelow, actor Jeremy Renner and editors Chris Innis and Bob Murawski.

"Inglourious Basterds" also took home four awards: best actress, Melanie Laurent; supporting actor, Christoph Waltz; original screenplay, Quentin Tarantino; and cinematography, Robert Richardson.

"Anvil!: The Story of Anvil" was named best documentary. "Up" was hailed as best animated feature and earned a second award for Michael Giacchino's score. And "The White Ribbon" took the prize for best picture not in the English language.

Mo'Nique took home another trophy as best supporting actress for her work in "Precious." The adapted screenplay award went to Wes Anderson and Noah Baumbach for "Fantastic Mr. Fox."

Founded in 1997, the 145-member Online Film Critics Society is the oldest organization of Internet-based film journalists.

The Online Film Critics named WALL-E as the best film of 2008 last year, which in the eyes of some was more deserving than the actual Oscar winner. While the group doesn't have the best record at Oscar predicting (it's four for twelve to date), it also doesn't seem to be quite as compromised by awards hype as some of the major awards. Deserving films like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, A History of Violence, Almost Famous, L.A. Confidential and Mulholland Drive have been honored in the past, and this could well be a year the society is right on with its winner. One piece of news that makes me especially happy is to see the best actress award, which was awarded to the much-passed over Melanie Laurent for Inglourious Basterds. Laurent has not gotten nearly enough credit and it's nice to see her getting props from someone.


Johnston Promises Character-Driven Captain America



Joe Johnston - the guy tasked with writing and directing the Captain America movie - has been speaking about his approach to the project this week. In an interview with Boxoffice Magazine, he said that the comic adaptation will be more character-focused than many have expected.

"He's an every man who's been given this amazing gift of transformation into the perfect specimen - the pinnacle of human perfection" Johnston said. "How does that affect him? What does that mean for him emotionally and psychologically? He was this 98-pound weakling, he was this wimp, and he's transformed instantly into this Adonis. You'd think he got everything he wanted. Well, he didn't get everything he wanted. The rules change at that point and his life gets even more complicated and dire."

Johnston goes on: "But at the heart of it, it's a story about this kid who all he wants to do is fit in. This thing happens and he still doesn't fit in. And he has to prove himself a hero - essentially go AWOL to save a friend. Eventually at the very end, I don't want to give away too much, but he does fit in."

Johnston also gave a quick update on the future of the Jurassic Park franchise (he directed the third movie) and confirmed what he said last November...

"Well, there is going to be a Jurassic Park IV. And it's going to be unlike anything you've seen. It breaks away from the first three - it's essentially the beginning of the second Jurassic Park trilogy. It's going to be done in a completely different way. That's pretty much all I can tell you."

The First Avenger: Captain America is set for a summer 2011 release.

Let's get one thing out of the way: No Jurassic Park 4, please. The first movie is a classic, but both sequels were victims of the law of diminishing returns both in quality and grosses. That franchise was believed to be dead after Michael Crichton passed away in November of 2008, and I would prefer it stayed that way. I can't possibly imagine that 4 will be able to do anything that the first three didn't.

Now, onto the big news. I like the idea of the Captain America being a more character-focused story. The prospect of making this film work has always been a bit dodgy, and turning it into too much of a gimmick film or a war film would have not fit into the "Marvel movie" feel very well. I notice he's staying well away from giving any expectations as to who might be cast—likely because they don't have any clue yet—and that's smart. Wait until Iron Man 2 comes out and Thor is building up nicely…then announce who. For the record, I still support Sam Worthington in the role if they can make him look like a ninety-eight pound weakling. Otherwise, James McAvoy has shown he can handle "nerdy to badass" well. He'd just need to pack on some weight and make sure it's toned.


(Test) Audiences Love the Kid



Entertainment Weekly reports that the upcoming remake to The Karate Kid has achieved the second highest test screening score in Sony's history. A score said to be in the '97th percentile' (essentially the entire audience loved it).

Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan star in the remake, a film which was on a lot of 'most dreaded of 2010' lists before the trailer came out a few weeks ago. The only film to have a higher rating for Sony is 2005's Hitch, which starred Smith's father Will Smith. That film ended up grossing $370 million worldwide.

The film opens June 11th, opposite another 80's remake--The A-Team.

Now frankly, this news is surprising as hell to me. Apparently there are people out there who thought that the Karate Kid trailer was pretty cool, and I don't understand that; it just looked like a tired rehash to me. On the other hand, you have to look at what audiences gave the highest rating to if you want to be a bit skeptical. I'm not going to say Hitch was terrible, because it was an okay film. But the most loved film in test screenings ever? It just goes to show that great test screenings do not make a great film. I'm sure Sony is very happy about this because it gives the box office chances quite a boost, but that's about all I'm going to give it. The A-Team trailer impressed me a lot more than the Karate Kid one so I know which film is getting my money that weekend at this point.


Raimi's Plans for War Not Quite Set?



Last July, Blizzard Entertainment and Legendary Pictures announced that Sam Raimi had signed on to direct a movie based on the award-winning Warcraft universe.

"At its core, 'Warcraft' is a fantastic, action-packed story. I am thrilled to work with such a dynamite production team to bring this project to the big screen," Raimi said then. In October, Raimi also revealed that Saving Private Ryan and The Patriot screenwriter Robert Rodat was writing the script for Warcraft.

Raimi was expected to develop the game adaptation while he was shooting Spider-Man 4. Of course, last Monday Sony made the big announcement that the "Spider-Man" franchise was going to be rebooted in 2012, leaving fans wondering if he would turn his attention fully to the Warcraft movie instead.

iF Magazine got a chance to talk to Warcraft producer and Raimi's partner, Robert Tapert, who said the helmer hasn't made a decision yet. "It's in development," Tapert said. "We're in the outline/story/script phase."

"I don't want to speak on Sam's behalf, because the 'Spider-Man' thing happened so recently," added Tapert. "I think he's getting his feet under him and trying to decide. He might want to do a teeny, tiny small film, but I don't know what he wants to do. I know he had a great time doing 'Drag Me to Hell.'"

I'm a player of World of Warcraft, so of course I'm very intrigued to see what Raimi has up his sleeve for the Warcraft film. However, comments I made on the Podcast aside, I don't know that I really want him to focus on the MMO adaptation first. Prepping for a movie like Spider-Man 4 has to be a draining process and I'd rather see the director tackle something smaller before he gears up for the tales of Azeroth. Raimi does his best work when he's having fun and excited about the project—just look at the difference between Drag Me to Hell and Spider-Man 3 to see that. If he has a smaller film that he wants to do first that he can continue to prep Warcraft then more power to him; I can wait to see Sylvanas Windrunner and the Black Dragonflight on the big screen if it makes for a better film in the end.

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From Hahahaha:
Spiderman franchise is dead. I knew it. Fact is, the franchise is already a distant memory in today's ADD world.

A reboot is necessary.

I disagree, because when people think of Spider-Man they think of Tobey Maguire; when they think of MJ they think of Kirstin Dunst. Same with Willem Dafoe and Norman Osborne, Rosemary Harris as Aunt May...and so on. A reboot is neither necessary or a remotely good idea.


From Steve Gustafson:
I just emailed Columbia and asked them to next time break this news on Sunday.

Why do you get all the cool news?

Great Top 10, by the way! I've got to see The Damned United!

You know, I won't lie...when I saw that, I was all, "Thank Christ that broke on Monday!" I'm kidding. Steve is a great writer, guys, and you should totally check out his awesome work on the Big Screen Bulletin and the Hollywood 5&1!


From Alex Ewing:
District 9 wasn't in your top ten? God dam man, that movie ruled.

From Wisecraker:
No District 9 man you people are high.

From Guest #9374:
you sir are an avatard

From james:
Avatar's story is so much been there done that. It reminded me of Pocahontas, seriously.

The story left alot to be desired from me - we get it natives fighting people with technology, its your basic native American story. I didn't see anything groundbreaking or new as far as the storytelling went.

Special effects were another story, they were amazing, but for substance it was very meh.

District 9 was just outside my Honorable Mentions. Yes, it's a great film and I loved it--just check the podcast for the week afyter it came out to see how I went speechless praising it--but it's not the original masterpiece people are making it out to be. It's Alien Nation with a touch of Cloverfield. Oh, and that Pocahontas/Last Samurai/Dances With Wolves story that Avatar is being accused of copying? Let's see...

1. Another culture is oppressed by the majority government.
2. A generally sympathetic but ignorant man is brought in by the military to deal with it.
3. Said man goes native, due to circumstances not entirely under his control.
4. Said "gone native" man becomes one of the oppressed and helps the minority fight back.

Yep, sounds like the plot of District 9 to me. Just sayin'.


From quilombo:
how do you reboot a franchise that is only about 10 years old? that is utterly stupid. if the same generation of people are able to remember the original, it shouldn't be rebooted.

My thoughts exactly.


From Guest#2202:
Jonah Hex.... soo another slutty role for Megan Fox? This time it's the medieval bitch eh?

That's what it looks like. I'll have to see a trailer to see more, though.


From pete:
Good call on The Damned United. I'd like to think that it was capable of crossing borders, as it really is that good. Michael Sheen might be one of the best actors around at the moment.

100% agreed. If audiences were ready for rugby in Invictus, they were ready for English football.


From The Great Capt. Smooth:
In the future, I'd love to see a Spiderman/Human Torch team-up flick.

You know, I'd totally pay to see that.


From Guest#6391:
I liked Avatar when I first saw it but it's sadly seems to be destined to become one of those completely overhyped movies. It's ok but not great, not even close, and really shouldn't be on anyone's top 10 list, let alone the top spot as it robs movies which were actually above average. And seriously, you can definitely compare it to the Star Wars prequels, in fact considering Avatar suffers from a weak, cliched plot and some atrocious dialogue (I... see... you...) the comparison is perfect, but no one can seriously compare it to the original Star Wars can they? The original Star Wars was an instant classic, Avatar is pretty but nothing much else. To put it over movies like Star Trek and The Hangover, which were vastly superior, is just kind of sad. Then again if you're the type of guy who thinks the Star Wars prequels should have clean sweeped the Oscars I guess it's to be suspected.

You lose eleventy billion internets. For the record, I loathed the Star Trek prequels, so you're making a lot of assumptions about me. I said Star Wars, not the prequels. There's only one Star Wars no matter what George "Need More Money" Lucas tried to retcon. So I think someone was reading a bit too much into it. Anyway, you're welcome to your opinion that Avatar isn't all that, but you don't get to tell me I'm wrong any more than I get to tell you you're wrong. Thanks for reading though!

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Jennifer's Body: 2009 was a good year for horror comedies, a genre which included this second film from Diablo Cody. The Juno screenwriter takes a dig into the bloodier side of teen comedy with this story as directed by Girlfight's Karyn Kusama. Amanda Seyfried and Megan Fox are wonderfully cast as the nerdy girl and her popular best friend, who are close enough that they share a nearly psychic link. Those who dislike Cody's hipper-than-hip dialogue will not be happy with the lingo in the film, but those who can get past it will find a lot to enjoy. Fox's performance is exactly what it needs to be and she shows a flair that hasn't been seen in her previous roles, while Seyfried handles the nerdy role very nicely and her journey toward a stronger character is surprisingly believable. The story makes for a good satirical statement about high school dynamics and social pressures, with some solid humor including the band who serves as the catalyst for the story's progression. This is not the strongest horror comedy made or even in 2009, but it makes for enjoyable viewing.

Final Rating: 7.5

Angel of Death: Stuntwoman Zoe Bell has become one of those rare potential breakout stars; a stuntwoman who has found success on her own as a star. After her swan song in front of the camera in Death Proof Bell has continued both as a stuntwoman and an actress; her first true starring role is that of Eve in Angel of Death, which originally started out as a web series. Bell plays an assassin for a crime family who, when she suffered a head injury during a job, finds herself seeing her victims haunting her. The premise is interesting but the plot lacks in ambition, settling for being generic over something more intriguing. There are some fun performances by Lucy Lawless, Ted Raimi, Doug Jones, Vail Bloom and more, which certainly helps make the movie more enjoyable. The action scenes are good enough for a low-budget film; the absurd fun of seeing Bell walking around the earlier moments of the film with a knife protruding from the top of her head is almost worth the entirety of the movie alone. This is a film that speaks more toward Bell's potential than for itself, and while it may be a middling straight-to-video film it at least anchored itself to a rising star.

Final Rating: 5.0

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The Hush-Hush Editorial Section: The Golden Globes At A Glance

So the 67th Annual Golden Globes have come and gone. Jokes have been made, awards have been given and acceptance speeches cut short, the after parties are looking like the end of the Black Eyed Peas "I've Gotta Feeling" video. In the Monday post-celebration hangover (no pun intended), we at Hush-Hush Headquarters thought it would be a good time to look at the ceremony and ask, "what does it all mean?"

In the past as well as this year, the Golden Globes have had a reputation of being somewhere in between the Academy Awards and the laughable MTV Movie Awards in terms of credibility. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is notorious for choosing commercially-successful yet lighter fare over smaller and more lauded films, and the awards ceremony is usually considered to be a much more laid-back, almost low-brow affair compared to the stuffiness of the Oscars. This year was no exception on both counts; for example, could anyone imagine the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences allowing Ricky Gervais to make comments about how his small hands made his genitalia look bigger when he held them? This has its good points and its bad points, of course. While Gervais was allowed to cut loose a little, it also hurts the show's credibility, for right or wrong. Older audiences wouldn't buy into those kinds of jokes; hell, they might be offended by the Mel Gibson drunk crack. While we all might think they were funny, not everyone will and that does have an effect whether we'd like to believe it or not.

The same criticism can be applied to the award winners, to some degree. To start off with, the awards show has always seemed to suffer a bit by such things as breaking the Best Picture category up into Drama and Musical/Comedy and favoring blockbusters. Now, Avatar was my personal favorite film of the year and I'm not disappointed to see it win Best Drama. I also think that The Hangover was deserving of its Best Musical/Comedy win over Nine, Julie & Julia and It's Complicated. I personally liked (500) Days of Summer better, but I'm not going to quibble just because my personal favorite didn't win. But when you get into the acting categories, things get a bit muddled. I'm happy to see Jeff Bridges get a long-overdue award for Crazy Heart, Christoph Waltz deserved Best Supporting Actor and no one was surprised by Mo'Nique's win either; but Robert Downey Jr. winning for Sherlock Holmes is just head-scratching. Why he was in Best Musical/Comedy when Avatar and Up in the Air were considered dramas is beyond me. I'm never upset to see Downey win awards and he did well as Holmes, but one has to wonder if his nomination and win was simply to boost ratings for the show. Sandra Bullock's win for The Blind Side was a minor surprise as well, and one has to believe that again the unlikely blockbuster status of that movie had to help her against four other actresses who's films didn't even combined to gross a third of hers.

On the television side, things took an equally interesting turn as the HFPA bucked the Emmy voting as well. Despite some stalwarts like Alec Baldwin, Toni Collette and Mad Men picking up awards, we saw some moments that pleased those of us who feel the television awards have been growing stale for a while now. Michael C. Hall picked up his first and long-deserved award for playing Dexter Morgan, while John Lithgow took the Supporting Actor award for playing the Trinity Killer in the same show. Glee won, to many people's joy including that of someone very close to yours truly. The TV Globe awards also saw overdue awards given to Kevin Bacon (Taking Chance), Drew Barrymore (Grey Gardens) and Julianna Margulies (The Good Wife), though winning for those particular performances may not be the best choices.

One of the most important questions coming out of the Golden Globes is this: what does it mean for Oscar predicting? Well, ultimately only a few things have become clearer. First off, Sandra Bullock's Oscar chances just got a heck of a lot better. The performance has come out of nowhere the past month to become a surprise front-runner, neck and neck with Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia. The Globes have often been off as to what the Academy goes with—check out Sally Hawkins' snub last year for Happy-Go-Lucky after her Globes win—but in this case I think it adds credence to Bullock's chances to score a nomination. Some are even early-predicting a win for her. Jeff Bridges, Mo'Nique and Christoph Waltz pick up even more momentum for their awards; on the other hand, there isn't a chance in Hell that Downey will earn an Oscar nomination. Nor will The Hangover. The big question now comes—is Avatar the new front-runner? Not many had taken its Oscar chances seriously, and I don't know how much more credence its domination at the Globes lends it. I would still consider The Hurt Locker and Kathryn Bigelow to be out in front of the pack; even Up in the Air may have better chances than the sci-fi epic. But at this point, at least, a Na'vi-fueled Oscar win isn't completely doubtful as Cameron's little space film that could continues to roll. In the end, I think we come out of the Golden Globes the same way we went in—with a wide open field. Look for speculation to enhance in the next week as the BAFTA nominees are announced and the SAG Awards are presented. It should be a very interesting month for movie fans.

And before we take off, it is time of course for the Random Video of the Week. This week instead of a trailer, I thought I would give those who skipped the Globes a chance to check out Gervais's opening monologue. What do you guys think—did he score or flop?



This is Jeremy Thomas, off the record, on the QT…



…and definitely, "Hush Hush!"