Oscar race begins at Globes

2008-12-10 12:00

Los Angeles - Brad Pitt and Batman are expected to be among the front-runners here on Thursday as the race for Oscars glory swings into top gear with the announcement of nominees for the 66th Golden Globes.

Hollywood heart-throb Pitt is vying for honours for his performance in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, an adaptation of F Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 short story about a man who ages in reverse.

Director David Fincher's movie, which sees Pitt star opposite Australian icon Cate Blanchett, does not open in the United States until December 25 but has already wowed critics and audiences at sneak previews.

"I think the presumption among pundits right now is that Benjamin Button is the front-runner," Tom O'Neil, an awards-season expert with the Los Angeles Times' theenvelope.com, told AFP.

Long-regarded as an indicator of films likely to challenge for top honours at the Oscars, which take place on February 22 next year, the Globes have thrown up a series of red herrings in recent years.

Globes hint at Oscar favourites

The last movie to achieve the Golden Globes best drama and Oscars best picture double was 2003's fantasy epic The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

However the Globes, which are chosen by around 80 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and handed out on January 11, can help to shape the overall field and give valuable momentum to front-runners.

While Benjamin Button has emerged as the early favourite - receiving another boost on Tuesday with eight nominations for the Broadcast Film Critics Association's annual awards - it faces stiff competition from a glut of other films including blockbuster The Dark Knight.

As well as raking in nearly $1bn worldwide since its release in July, director Christopher Nolan's sequel was widely hailed as a masterpiece of movie-making that transcended its superhero genre.

The movie was also notable for an extraordinary performance from late Australian actor Heath Ledger, who is being strongly tipped to win a posthumous Oscar at next year's Academy Awards for his cackling portrayal of the Joker.

Blockbusters appreciated

"Whether The Dark Knight was the best movie of the year is a subject of debate, but it was certainly the movie of the year," O'Neil said. "It was the most talked about, the one that mattered most, the one that made the most.

"And the Globes have an obvious appreciation for blockbusters, the big crowed pleasers."

O'Neil cautioned however that studio films such as Paramount's Benjamin Button and Warner Bros' The Dark Knight could yet be upset by a crop of smaller budget movies.

These include Milk, Gus Van Sant's biopic starring Sean Penn as trailblazing gay San Francisco politician Harvey Milk, and Slumdog Millionaire, British film-maker Danny Boyle's soaring love story about a boy seeking to escape poverty in Mumbai who appears on the Indian version of television game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.

"These uplifting movies like Slumdog Millionaire and Milk are likely to play a big role," O'Neil said. I think both of those films are pretty sure bets for best picture nominations at the Oscars and the Globes."

- AFP