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GOLDEN GLOBES 2007: AND THE WINNER IS... EUROPE?

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association voted Atonement the Best Picture (Drama) of 2007, Should You Care?

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By Johnny Alba

Before we jump to conclusions, let’s not forget that this year in particular, the Golden Globes have no influence on the Oscars. First of all, AMPAS voters are quiet different from the HFPA voters (which would explain why their Best Picture choices have grown more and more apart over the last years) and, it is important to note that by the time the press conference started, Oscar ballots were already sent back to the PWH headquarters for counting.

It’s also important to note how pro-foreigners the Golden Globes are, most of its membership is made of European journalists so Atonement’s victory shouldn’t really be a shocker (same goes for Cotillard’s and Schnabel’s triumphs).

Ten things I found worth-discussing about this year’s “show:”

- The Press Conference format should never, ever be used by any awards group of any kind and hopefully, Hollywood will take notes from tonight’s fiasco and make sure our beloved Oscars happen (that’s all I care about now).

- Daniel Day-Lewis is the lock of the season. His acclaimed tour-de-force in There Will Be Blood seems destined to earn him that coveted second Oscar.

- Johnny Depp wins his first Golden Globe Award and he couldn’t be there. That’s really sad.

- Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh is, next to Daniel Plainview, the most iconic character of 2007 cinema and the Spanish actor will kill his competition at the Oscars just like he did tonight.

- Julian Schnabel receives a very deserving Best Director win (regardless of the euro-factor) although the Coen brothers would have been deserving choices as well. Expect the three to make the Oscar lineup.

- The celebrity-hungry HFPA went for Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There over Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone but will AMPAS follow? Newcomers and unknowns have found a place in the heart of AMPAS before so I wouldn’t be ruling Ryan out just yet.

- Brit acting legend Julie Christie and the very French Marion Cotillard take home Best Actress in a Drama and Comedy respectively. The race for the Oscar is already down to these two ladies so expect this little golden guy to fly Europe very soon.

- Italian composer Dario Marianelli rode the European wave and he’s probably on his way to a Best Original Score win at the Oscars too.

- Sweeney Todd is the big “American” winner of the night (although is still set in London). Will Sweeney Todd appeal to AMPAS voters or will they go for Juno?

- Proving my point that the Golden Globes are a shamelessly banal group of well connected, pseudo-journalists; they managed to get the next best thing to a celebrity they could get to present awards: celebrity news reporters.

Do not forget the Producers Guild of America Awards are coming tomorrow and those are the awards we should all be talking about.

Meanwhile, Share your Golden Globe thoughts here!

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