Golden Globes. B'gak.

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA
"Atonement"

BEST MOTION PICTURE, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
"Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

BEST MOTION PICTURE, FOREIGN LANGUAGE
"The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

BEST DIRECTOR
Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"

BEST SCREENPLAY
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"

BEST ACTOR, DRAMA
Daniel Day-Lewis, "There Will Be Blood"

BEST ACTOR, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Johnny Depp, "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"

BEST ACTRESS, DRAMA
Julie Christie, "Away From Her"

BEST ACTRESS, MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Marion Cotillard, "La Vie en Rose"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem, "No Country for Old Men"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett, "I'm Not There"

BEST ANIMATED FILM
"Ratatouille"

BEST SCORE
"Atonement," composed by Dario Marianelli

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Guaranteed," performed by Eddie Vedder - "Into the Wild"


So, um, yeah. Whether or not the Globes actually mean anything in the long run, I think I'd feel more comfortable if we just said they didn't, how bout you? Some of last night's winners might be red flags, but in terms of Best Picture, I think we can rest easy that they don't mean shit. What were their big winners last year, "Babel" and "Dreamgirls"? The latter was snubbed completely, and while "Babel" at least eked out a nomination, I'm guessing this year both of the Globes' Best Picture winners won't even get nominated come Oscar time.

Given "Atonement's" complete shutout at the guilds, I'd say this is the case of a film that was right up HFPA's alley but won't translate to Oscar. Some people have asked me why I'm rooting so hard against "Atonement," a film I genuinely like. Well, in all honesty, it's because I think if "Atonement" gets nominated for Best Picture, it has a very good chance to win, and in a year with "No Country" and "There Will Be Blood," that'd be a travesty.

Now, these may mean nothing like everything else, but three wins in particular made my head cock to the left. One was obviously Julian Schnabel's win for best Director for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Could support for the film be stronger than I thought? Could it manage more than just a Best Director nod on nomination morning?

Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy also made me think. I actually was rooting for Cotillard since I think, theatrics and all, it's a much better performance than Ellen Page's very strong but overly-jizzed-on work in "Juno." But she seemed to have lost whatever steam she had earlier in the year till now. The Best Actress race started as a two-woman show between Christie and Cotillard, than became three when Page's popularity started to surge... could we be back to two?

And, most interestingly, "No Country" taking Best Screenplay may mean more than anything. While the HFPA has been way off on this category before ("About Schmidt" won in 2003 and then didn't even get a nomination from Oscar), this may be a sign that the "Juno" backlash is beginning to settle in. Winning zero of its three nominations, this was the one that was a sure bet for the big-film-masquerading-as-a-little-film-that-could. If "Juno" was a lock for anything, it was Best Screenplay and it somehow didn't make it. I don't know exactly what it indicates, but it certainly can't be good.

Day-Lewis' win was expected, and I'm extremely happy that he's emerged as this season's far-and-away front-runner. It's truly a performance for the ages, and one the Academy will be proud they rewarded decades from now. And hey, doesn't somebody need to finally break their streak of giving Best Actor to performers playing real-life people? Daniel Plainview sounds like just the one to do it. The wins by Christie, Depp and Bardem were also wholly predictable and, for the most part, deserved. Supporting Actress was thought to go to Amy Ryan, as it has been all season, but I had a feeling the star-fucking HFPA would give it to Blanchett or Julia Roberts.

So what's to be made of all this? Well, like it or not, it's the first real sign of weakness for "No Country," even if it did pick up two major awards (and even if the HFPA does have a tendency to avoid rewarding violent male-skewing films). And at the very least, the "Atonement" and "Sweeney" camps have got to be grateful for whatever boosts these wins will give them, more likely at the box office than anything else. My opinions seem to be changing each day, but now I think "No Country" and "Into the Wild" are the only real (pretty) sure bets for Best Picture nominations. Then it would seem to be "There Will Be Blood," "Michael Clayton," "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly," "Juno" and "Atonement" (in that order) fighting it out for those last three slots. We'll know for sure in a week.