Awards Season Update: A First Crack at Golden Globe Predictions

2020 is nearly over, but awards season is just getting started. Yes, as the precursor awards and critics groups begin to announce, Phase One is underway. We’re somewhat getting the sense of who and what the industry is fond of this year. 2021 will be when it all happens, but right now, it’s no longer the calm before the storm, but the emerging storm. As such, anyone with even a passing interest in the Academy Awards, Golden Globe Awards, or any big event should take notice. Things are heating up. The colder the weather gets, the hotter awards season does. It’s all in the long build up to an Oscar ceremony that will be unlike any we’ve had before. In a year of firsts and unique situations, expect the unexpected, even if predictions largely remain stagnant right now.

With the recent news that Promising Young Woman was getting categorized as a Comedy at the Golden Globes, as opposed to a drama, it felt like the right time to debut my Globe predictions. We already knew that Minari would be in the Foreign Language category, so placements are coming into focus. Plus, it’s just a different exercise. Of course, the top Oscar contenders like Mank, Nomadland, One Night in Miami…, and The Trial of the Chicago 7 are duking it out in the Drama category. However, Musical or Comedy presents a number of interesting options. Promising Young Woman could sweep to victory, sure, but maybe On the Rocks, Palm Springs, or The Prom finds its time to shine? If so, does that help it with the Academy? These are the questions we’ll seek to answer in the coming weeks. For now, it’s prediction time, ladies and gentlemen!

Below are my updated predictions, both for the Academy Awards, as well as the initial set of Golden Globes picks. Take a gander and sit back for more to come as we turn the page slowly towards 2021…

First up my Globe picks, which are here on the site:

Best Motion Picture – Drama – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Second Spot: Mank)

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy – Promising Young Woman (Second Spot: On the Rocks)

Best Director – Motion Picture – David Fincher for Mank (Second Spot: Chloe Zhao for Nomadland)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama – Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman (Second Spot: Frances McDormand for Nomadland)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama – Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Second Spot: Anthony Hopkins for The Father)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy – Carey Mulligan for Promising Young Woman (Second Spot: Meryl Streep for The Prom)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy – Sacha Baron Cohen for Borat Subsequent Moviefilm (Second Spot: Andy Samberg for Palm Springs)

Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture – Amanda Seyfried for Mank (Second Spot: Ellen Burstyn for Pieces of a Woman)

Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture – Bill Murray for On the Rocks (Second Spot: Sacha Baron Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture – Aaron Sorkin for The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Second Spot: Chloe Zhao for Nomadland)

Best Motion Picture – Animated – Soul (Second Spot: Wolfwalkers)

Best Motion Picture – Foreign Language – Minari (Second Spot: The Life Ahead)

Best Original Score – Motion Picture – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Mank (Second Spot: Ludwig Göransson for Tenet)

Best Original Song – Motion Picture – Diane Warren – lo Si (Seen) from The Life Ahead (Second Spot: Rita Wilson – Everybody Cries from The Outpost)

As always, you can also go here for the Oscar predictions. That’s where the full lineups are. However, in case any of you want to see the Cliff Notes version of them, my current predicted winners in each category are as follows. You can see the victors, as well as who or what occupies the number two spot in each category:

Best Picture – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Second Spot: Mank)

Best Director – David Fincher for Mank (Second Spot: Chloe Zhao for Nomadland)

Best Actor – Chadwick Boseman for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Second Spot: Anthony Hopkins for The Father)

Best Actress – Vanessa Kirby for Pieces of a Woman (Second Spot: Frances McDormand for Nomadland)

Best Supporting Actor – Bill Murray for On the Rocks (Second Spot: Sacha Baron Cohen for The Trial of the Chicago 7)

Best Supporting Actress – Ellen Burstyn for Pieces of a Woman (Second Spot: Amanda Seyfried for Mank)

Best Original Screenplay – Aaron Sorkin for The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Second Spot: Emerald Fennell for Promising Young Woman)

Best Adapted Screenplay – Kemp Powers for One Night in Miami… (Second Spot: Chloe Zhao for Nomadland)

Best Animated Feature – Soul (Second Spot: Wolfwalkers)

Best Production Design – Mank (Second Spot: Tenet)

Best Cinematography – Mank (Second Spot: Nomadland)

Best Costume Design – Mank (Second Spot: Ammonite)

Best Film Editing – The Trial of the Chicago 7 (Second Spot: Mank)

Best Makeup & Hairstyling – Mank (Second Spot: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom)

Best Sound – Sound of Metal (Second Spot: Tenet)

Best Visual Effects – Tenet (Second Spot: The Midnight Sky)

Best Original Score – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross for Mank (Second Spot: Ludwig Göransson for Tenet)

Best Original Song – Diane Warren – lo Si (Seen) from The Life Ahead (Second Spot: Rita Wilson – Everybody Cries from The Outpost)

Best Documentary Feature – Dick Johnson is Dead (Second Spot: John Lewis: Good Trouble)

Best International Feature – Another Round (Second Spot: I’m No Longer Here)

Stay tuned for another update to my predictions next week!