Returning host Ricky Gervais will ensure that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association gets the respect it deserves (which is minimal) on Sunday, but the Golden Globes are not quite the total joke they once were.
This shadowy band of merry freeloaders has cleaned up its act so its choices often do point forward to the Oscar nominations, which will be announced Thursday.
Herewith, some fearless Globes predictions:
Best motion picture, drama
What should win: “Spotlight,” perhaps the last great movie about newspapering and the Oscar front-runner.
What will win: “Spotlight”
Best actor, drama
Who should win: Bryan Cranston, brilliant as a blacklisted screenwriter in “Trumbo.”
Who will win: Leonardo DiCaprio of “The Revenant,” who’s been reminding everybody daily for the past three months what a grueling shoot he had.
Best actress, drama
Who should win: Brie Larson, for her tour de force as an abducted mother in “Room.”
Who will win: Larson
Best motion picture, comedy or musical
What should win: It’s totally gerrymandered into this category, but, “The Martian.”
What will win: “The Big Short,” a financially oriented comedy-drama picking up serious Oscar momentum.
Best actor, comedy
Who should win: Matt Damon, who actually does show off his comic chops in the survival drama “The Martian.”
Who will win: Damon
Best actress, comedy
Who should win: A tie between sublime veterans Lily Tomlin (“Grandma”) and Maggie Smith (“The Lady in the Van”).
Who will win: Amy Schumer of “Trainwreck,” because she best embodies the let-it-all-hang-out values of the HFPA.
Best supporting actor
Who should win: Stage legend Mark Rylance, who steals the show as a wry Russian secret agent in “Bridge of Spies.”
Who will win: The sentimental choice, Sylvester Stallone of “Creed,” who lost for best actor at the Globes in 1977 for the same role in “Rocky” to Peter Finch, who won posthumously for “Network.”
Best supporting actress
Who should win: Jane Fonda, brilliant in a one-scene cameo in “Youth.”
Who will win: Alicia Vikander, who will lose out on best actress for “The Danish Girl” but will win for the suddenly surging sci-fi drama “Ex Machina.”
Best director
Who should win: First-time nominee George Miller, because this is where the HFPA decides to honor the accomplishment of “Mad Max: Fury Road.”
Who will win: Miller
Best Animated Film
What should win: No contest — “Inside Out.”
What will win: “Inside Out”