Top 5 – 2017 Golden Globe Nominees

The nominees for the 74th Golden Globes was announced this morning and it is by far the most interesting batch of nominees I have seen in a long time from the Hollywood Foreign Press.  We got out fair share of snubs and surprises, as well as inevitable picks from future Oscar nominees.  Here are my picks for my favorite nominations from this morning.  I only focused on the movie categories, as I don’t watch enough T.V. to warrant an opinion.

5 – SIMON HELBERG FOR BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS

This one is definitely one of the biggest surprises of the morning, if not the biggest.  I absolutely loved Helberg in Florence Foster Jenkins.  As the infamously bad singer’s piano player, he has to swallow his pride and play like a professional, even though the woman he is playing for is the worst singer ever.  He’s sweet and incredibly funny, with some great facial expressions and one-liners.  It would be easy for a young actor to get lost in the talents of Meryl Streep and Hugh Grant, both of whom received nominations as well this morning.  But Helberg doesn’t get lost.  He, in fact, stands out amongst the duo of all-stars and it’s nice to see him get recognized for it.

4 – ALL THE LA LA LAND

This is not a surprise at all.  La La Land is a marvelous movie that was all but guaranteed a slew of nominations.  The film is probably going to sweep all of its categories, including Best Picture, Actress, Actor, Director, and maybe even screenplay.  This is my favorite movie of 2016, and with only a few weeks left in the year, it looks like it is going to have staying power.  This is just one step closer to Oscar glory, which is exactly what this film deserves.

3 – HELL OR HIGH WATER IS A LEGIT CONTENDER 

Hell or High Water continues to be “the little indie that could”.  After making a huge splash critically and having a great box office this summer, it looked like the film could be a long-shot awards contender.  Its nominations today proved that it is a surefire awards player.  With nominations in Best Picture – Drama, over films like Fences and Jackie, the loaded Best Screenplay category, and Best Supporting Actor for the sensational Jeff Bridges solidified that Hell or High Water is a movie everyone needs to watch out for.

2 – HACKSAW RIDGE AND THE RETURN OF MEL GIBSON 

In my review for Mel Gibson’s war epic Hacksaw Ridge, I said Gibson had never gone away and that he had always been a good director, he just made dumb life choices.  Well he’s now back in the awards game what a welcoming it is.  Hacksaw Ridge is one of my favorite movies of 2016 and Gibson, along with star Andrew Garfield, being nominated for such a brilliant movie has me ecstatic.  Maybe Hollywood has moved on from Gibson’s past shenanigans.  Or are they finally separating art from life?  Either way, I love a good comeback story, and seeing Gibson back in awards contention is the best comeback of 2016.

1 – THE POWER OF DEADPOOL 

This is far and away the best thing that happened this morning.  Deadpool, the R-rated, global hit about a fast talking, vulgar, violent superhero got nominated for Best Picture – Musical/Comedy and Best Actor for its star Ryan Reynolds.  This is absolutely amazing.  I love Deadpool and am so excited it is getting some love from other people besides fanboys.  But, what this really means is a giant step forward for comic book films.  This is the first comic book movie to be nominated for any kind of Best Picture (not even The Dark Knight (2008) got a nomination).  This shows that comic book movies can be taken seriously and can be taken to the highest recognition possible.  Maybe this will start a new wave of comic book movies being nominated, maybe it won’t.  But this is a legendary nomination and one that could truly change the game.

Check out the full list of nominees here and make sure to follow Kevflix on Twitter and Instagram, @kevflix, and on Facebook and YouTube by searching Kevflix.