Whoops!! That was not good predicting. The Globes came and went, and I was left with only five correct picks in 13 categories. Consollation prize might be that I got four out of six in the acting categories, and the other two were really odd choices. Another big thing is definitely the win of No Man's Land, the movie from my homeland of Bosnia. Congratulations to Danis Tanovic! Had my brain not listened to my heart, I would have won in a few more categories (like both Best Picture categories, Best Screenplay and Best Song), as you will see from my prediction comments, but I think some of the choices of Hollywood Foreign Press Association were surprising to others, as well. Still, main surprises were in the TV side of the show (where some of my favorites did win, like Jennifer Garner for Alias and Band of Brothers and Six Feet Under), while the movies pretty much followed the path of the favorites. A Beautiful Mind and Moulin Rouge won top honors in their categories and combined for seven wins, while no other movie won more than one. For some reason, Black Hawk Down wasn't in this contest, but knowing it will be there for the Oscars, I can't help thinking that the Oscar race is going to be close once again. Read on for my predictions and winners, and stay tuned for the upcoming list of Top 10 Movies of 2001. (following was written on January 17, except the "winner:" sections) With the Golden Globe award ceremony just few short days away, I barely made it in time. Let it be known that I have three favorites all this year on all award shows. They will be featured prominently on an upcoming Top 10 Best Movies Of 2001 list, and they are, in particular order, Shrek, Memento and Lord of the Rings. So, in the predictions that follow, when in doubt, I picked one of these three. BEST PICTURE – DRAMA Nominated: A Beautiful Mind, In the Bedroom, Lord of the Rings, The Man Who Wasn’t There and Mulholland Drive Two giants stand out among the smaller movies – Mind and Lord. Although Mind is more critically acclaimed, I give a slight edge to the Fellowship. It’s a question of taste, I guess. My pick: The Lord of the Rings Winner: A Beautiful Mind BEST PICTURE – MUSICAL/COMEDY Nominated: Bridget Jones’s Diary, Gosford Park, Legally Blonde, Moulin Rouge, Shrek. So, this is the Shrek category. Others, with the possible exception of Moulin Rouge, are in it for show. Moulin may have half a chance, because of all those other nominations, but it won’t have enough power. My pick: Shrek. Winner: Moulin Rouge BEST ACTOR – DRAMA Nominated: Russell Crowe, Will Smith, Kevin Spacey, Billy Bob Thornton, Denzel Washington Spacey and Washington seem to always be in this category, but this year, their movies are inferior. Two best performances of the year would be Crowe and Smith, and I like Crowe’s chances. My pick: Russell Crowe Winner: Russell Crowe BEST ACTRESS – DRAMA Halle Berry, Judi Dench, Nicole Kidman, Sissy Spacek, Tilda Swinton This seems to be the easiest category to call – it’s all about Sissy Spacek. Nicole Kidman may have better chance in the Musical/Comedy category, and the others are merely big names in small pictures. My pick: Sissy Spacek. Winner: Sissy Spacek BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL/COMEDY Nominated: Gene Hackman, Hugh Jackman, Ewan McGregor, John Cameron Mitchell, Billy Bob Thornton. Yes, Billy Bob again, this time for The Bandits (the first one was for The Man Who Wasn’t There). He’s right up there with McGregor, but Hackman is not far behind. Since Globes are a popularity contest, the best chances has the actor from the most popular movie. My pick: Ewan McGregor Winner: Gene Hackman BEST ACTRESS – MUSICAL/COMEDY Nominated: Thora Birch, Cate Blanchett, Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Renee Zellweger It’s good to see Birch in this company, but it’s still not yet her time. This is decided between Cate Blanchett and Nicole Kidman. Blanchett was great in The Bandits, but she was better in some other movies. The tiebreaker here might be the popularity of the movie again. My pick: Nicole Kidman Winner: Nicole Kidman BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR Nominated: Jim Broadbent, Steve Buscemi, Hayden Christensen, Ben Kingsley, Jude Law, Jon Voight This category serves as the proof that Golden Globes may have an "edge" at some point, because a lot of the nominees come from small or independent movies or both. I haven’t seen Ben Kingsley in Sexy Beast yet, and Jon Voight is all make-up in Ali. This may be one of those lone awards for a movie coming out of left field. My pick: Jude Law Winner: Jim Broadbent BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS Nominated: Jennifer Connelly, Cameron Diaz, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Marisa Tomei, Kate Winslet Again, lots of movies nobody watched. One was even represented by two nominations (Mirren and Smith for Gosford Park). This smells like it’s gonna be a mainstream winner. My pick: Jennifer Connelly Winner: Jennifer Connelly BEST DIRECTOR Nominated: Robert Altman, Ron Howard, Peter Jackson, Baz Luhrmann, David Lynch, Steven Spielberg The difference between directors is vision. Spielberg’s movie reflected Kubrick’s vision, and Altman and Howard didn’t have one of their own. Lynch’s is always too strange for awards, so that leaves with Luhrmann and Jackson, with two of the best-looking movies of the year. It’s a tie, and I use my own tiebreaker here. My pick: Peter Jackson Winner: Robert Altman BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM Nominated: Amelie, Behind the Sun, No Man’s Land, Monsoon Wedding, Y Tu Mama Tambien I haven’t seen any of the movies, but since I’m a Bosnian movie critic, the choice is clear. My pick: No Man’s Land Winner: No Man's Land BEST SCREENPLAY Nominated: Joel and Ethan Coen, Julian fellowes, Akiva Goldsman, David Lynch, Christopher Nolan After I’ve seen Memento, I wanted it to be a serious awards contender. And the category where the odds of winning would be the best is the screenplay. Sure enough, it’s the only nomination for this very original small movie. Sure, a bigger movie may take this, like A Beautiful Mind, but I’m sticking with my favorites. My pick: Christopher Nolan Winner: Akiva Goldsman, A Beautiful Mind BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Nominated: John Williams, James Horner, Lisa Gerrard and Pieter Bourke, Howard Shore, Craig Armstrong, Angelo Badalamenti, Hans Zimmer, Christopher Young Bunch of heavyweights in this one, and I’ve seen all movies but one (Badalamenti, Mulholland Drive). It’s hard to say which music was most effective, and most of Moulin Rouge was not that original. I’m sticking with my favorites again, but I really think that in The Lord of the Rings, the music was best used as a tool to enhance the atmosphere. My pick: The Lord of the Rings Winner: Craig Armstrong, Moulin Rouge BEST ORIGINAL SONG Nominated: Sting, Enya, David Baerwald, Dianne Warren, Paul McCartney The only original song from Moulin Rouge was not nearly good enough to be among the bits and pieces of better songs. Pearl Harbor lost its box-office touch in the closing months of the year, and I think this category will be decided between Sting and Enya. Again... My pick: The Lord of the Rings Winner: Sting, "Until..." from Kate and Leopold