I'm Ringing Church Bells, Church Bells, Church Bells

My fifty favourite singles of 2009...
(Not according to ITunes, but that's another matter)

50. Pet Shop Boys – Love etc.
49. Robbie Williams - Bodies
48. The Nextmen feat. Miss Dynamite – Lion’s Den
47. Empire of the Sun – Walking on a Dream
46. Leona Lewis – Outta My Head
45. Tori Amos – Welcome to England
44. Mika - Rain
43. Bombay Bicycle Club – Always Like This
42. Adam Lambert – For Your Entertainment
41. Rihanna – Russian Roulette

40. Alexandra Burke feat. Flo Rida – Bad Boys
39. Bat For Lashes – Daniel
38. Cheryl Cole – Fight For This Love
37. Annie – Songs Remind Me of You
36. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – Heads Will Roll
35. The XX – Basic Space
34. Lily Allen – Not Fair
33. Grizzly Bear – Two Weeks
32. Natalie Imbruglia – Want
31. The Gossip – Heavy Cross

30. Patrick Wolf – Vulture
29. La Roux – Quicksand
28. Yeah Yeah Yeah’s – Zero
27. Black Eyed Peas – Meet Me Halfway
26. Paloma Faith – New York
25. Empire of the Sun – We Are the People
24. Blake Lewis – Sad Song
23. Dan Black – Symphonies
22. Mariah Carey – Obsessed
21. Camera Obscura – French Navy

20. Arctic Monkeys – Cornerstone

Gorgeously romantic in the way that The Cure were. Honest and alarmingly flagrant with their words.

19. Friendly Fires – Skeleton Boy
"I close my eyes on the dancefloor and forget about you" -- addictive.

18. Jordin Sparks – Battlefield
Daryl Zanuck didn't know the meaning of the word epic, this is it! Better go get your armour...

17. Yeasayer – Ambling Alp
A shuffling, tentative opening turns into one of the most musically assured offerings of the year. Wisdom in every way.

16. Roisin Murphy – Orally Fixated
This song is constantly building, from the one-minute bubbling intro to the severe chorus. Roisin's is THE 2010 album I'd give anything to have right now.

15. Miley Cyrus – Party in the U.S.A.
"And a Britney song was onnnnnnnnn!". I'm a staunch defender of Miley and this song proves she's capable of writing a classic. Yeah, forget The Climb.

14.Florence and the Machine – Rabbit Heart
What a great year this lady and her outfit had, and this was the pick of the bunch. Immense chorus.

13. Micachu and the Shapes – Lips
Packed into barely even a minute, Lips is like the wailing call of a child. The album's much the same. The shapes have promise.

12. The Maccabees – Love You Better
I actually think this is the love song of the year. Love songs are supposed to be heart-achingly sad, and this is anthemic melancholy at its finest.

11. Jack Penate – Tonight’s Today
Speaking of anthems, Penate came back with an impressive follow-up album to his fine debut. Tonight's Today trumps anything he's ever done before.

10. Ellie Goulding – Under the Sheets
"You're not the answer, I should know. Like all the boys before, like all the boys before". Sad but true.

9. Julian Casablancas – 11th Dimension
I have no idea what this song is about but I was absoloutely entranced by it. Unrelenting, and I could listen to the final thirty seconds forever.

8. Erik Hassle – Hurtful
I generally find scandinavian male voices more interesting, and Hassle really captivated me with his. Hurtful is a real powerful tearjerker.

7. Lady Gaga – Poker Face
A playful dance classic, filled with some huge lines like the opening "I wanna hold em like they do in Texas League, and marked by the now-legendary "P-P-P-Poker face, P-P Poker face".

6. Annie – Anthonio
Such an unashamedly faithful ode, and yet it feels like more of a celebration.

5. Shakira – She Wolf
Bonkers, but anyone that can factor the word "lycanthropy" into a pop song deserves major kudos.

4. Girls Can’t Catch – Keep Your Head Up
In a similar way to The Saturdays last year, Girls Can't Catch made me feel uplifted and devoted to their chorus. This was the Itunes number one, FYI.

3. Girls Aloud – Untouchable
I'm pretending they released the six-minute version. In any case they kept the beautiful robots dancing alone. This is one of the best pop songs ever made.

2. La Roux – In for the Kill
How someone can build a song around an "OOOOh, OOOOh!" is beyond me but doesn't it work AMAZINGLY?

1. Lady Gaga – Bad Romance
Well, I didn't want to be cliche but this is such an incredible tune. As if the "Ra Ra, Ah Ah Ah" tribal lust wasn't mental enough the song shifts from raw passion to longing, extended rapturous calls for romance. It's also probably the vainest love song ever. The whole thing is a show.

Hottest Track: Miike Snow - Silvia

Brief SAG Reaction

Only two real surprises:

1) The rather random inclusion of Diane Kruger in Supporting Actress

Everybody loves the Basterds this Awards season!. On the one hand I think it's a fun and occasionally delicious performance, and on the other I find it a real shame that Melanie Laurent was campaigned by the Weinsteins in the Leading category, as she clearly would have got in here if they'd settled for Supporting. Laurent and Kruger remain outside shots, but the inevitable split that will occur from this probably means that neither will make it and the last spot will be taken up by either Julianne Moore, Academy favourite Samantha Morton, or the mishandled Marion Cotillard. At least that's my take on the situation.

And while we're on it, if Nine is going to be the worst-reviewed film to get a Best Picture nomination this decade, is it really going to get this many major nominations? It seems comparable with Memoirs of a Geisha four years ago, which got equally poor reviews and probably would have managed a spot in a ten-wide field, given its six nods. None of those, however, were for the big six categories, and so it seems to me that Marion Cotillard is on kind of shaky ground given that she now seems behind Cruz and is saddled with a film that people simply don't like? Nine will probably win the Globe but I can't see it gaining any real momentum before the Oscar ballots are posted.

2) The ensemble snub of Up in the Air

While early precursors suggested Up in the Air had enough to emerge as a solid favourite the support for it clearly doesn't rival that of previous BP winners, and it certainly seems to be dwindling under the euphoric love for The Hurt Locker. At the moment it seems like a three-way tussle between Reitman's film, Bigelow's critical favourite, and James Cameron's beastly, cinema-altering production. Say what you want for the ten-wide category but it's feeling very nostalgic to those forties Best Picture winners (I'm looking at you Rebecca and Casablanca) which only managed one or two other victories. That's possibly why Avatar might have the edge, given that it's likely to win multiple effects prizes, but at the moment it seems pretty wide open.

Hottest Track: Kelis - Acapella

Official 2009 Golden Globe Nominations

Motion Picture, Drama
“Avatar”
“The Hurt Locker”
“Inglourious Basterds”
“Precious”
“Up in the Air”

Prediction Score: 4/5
Reaction: This is great for Avatar, and it seems completely on course for an Oscar BP nod, given that it's probably going to be completely up the alley of the Producers and Director's guilds. They didn't love precious (no Director or Screenplay nomination) but it still made it here, and you'd expect it to turn up in the SAG ensemble category. I love that The Hurt Locker and Inglourious are doing so well in the awards race thus far.

Motion Picture, Comedy/Musical
“(500) Days of Summer”
“The Hangover”
“It’s Complicated”
“Julie & Julia”
“Nine”

Prediction Score: 4/5
Reaction: I thought A Serious Man may trump Nancy Meyers' flick, but maybe it's more Oscar's cup of tea than the HFPA. Stuhlbarg managed to get in so I wouldn't say the film is looking *that* weak, but there's a long way to go until February 2nd.

Actor, Drama
Jeff Bridges, “Crazy Heart”
George Clooney, “Up in the Air”
Colin Firth, “A Single Man”
Morgan Freeman, “Invictus”
Tobey Maguire, “Brothers”

Prediction Score: 4/5
Reaction: Disappointed but not surprised at the exclusion of Jeremy Renner, but I'm not gonna worry too much until Thursday's SAG nominations.

Actress, Drama
Emily Blunt, “The Young Victoria”
Sandra Bullock, “The Blind Side”
Helen Mirren, “The Last Station”
Carey Mulligan, “An Education”
Gabby Sidibe, “Precious”

Prediction Score: 4/5
Reaction: I'm seriously concerned at how anybody can honestly believe that Emily Blunt gave a better performance than Abbie Cornish this year. I like Emily, but really?

Actor Comedy/Musical
Matt Damon, “The Informant!”
Daniel Day Lewis, “Nine”
Robert Downey Jr., “Sherlock Holmes”
Joe Gordon Levitt, “(500) Days of Summer”
Michael Stuhlbarg, “A Serious Man”

Prediction Score: 4/5
Reaction: Matt Damon's Informant turn is head-and-shoulders above anything else I've seen by a Leading Actor this year, unless of course you count Christoph Waltz as lead -- which I don't. Michael Stuhlbarg may show up at SAG but it's pretty competitive for those five spots.

Actress, Comedy
Sandra Bullock, “The Proposal”
Marion Cotillard, “Nine”
Julia Roberts, “Duplicity”
Meryl Streep, “Julie & Julia”
Meryl Streep, “It’s Complicated”

Prediction Score: 3/5
Reaction: I liked Duplicity and Roberts in it, though this is completely typical of the Globes. Bullock's nomination here gives her more of a chance of winning in the Drama category but I have no idea how people are going to take to that performance in the long term. I thought she was great but it's feisty in a darker way. She ain't no saintly Erin Brockovich.

Director
Kathryn Bigelow, “The Hurt Locker”
James Cameron, “Avatar”
Clint Eastwood, “Invictus”
Jason Reitman, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Prediction Score: 4/5
Reaction: They liked Nine but not enough to give Marshall a nomination.

Best Supporting Actress
Penelope Cruz, “Nine”
Vera Farmiga, “Up in the Air”
Anna Kendrick, “Up in the Air”
Mo’nique, “Precious”
Julianne Moore, “A Single Man”

Prediction Score: 4/5
Reaction: Very happy for Vera Farmiga, but I'd be vary wary of Academy favourites Judi Dench and Samantha Morton upsetting the apple cart.

Supporting Actor
Matt Damon, “Invictus”
Woody Harrelson, “The Messenger”
Christopher Plummer, “The Last Station”
Stanley Tucci, “The Lovely Bones”
Christoph Waltz, “Inglourious Basterds”

Prediction Score: 3.5/5
Reaction: Great news for Christopher Plummer, who you'd expect to manage a SAG nod as well. He's looking like the only one capable of stopping the Waltz sweep.


Total Prediction Score: 34.5/45 (77%)

Other Nominations:-

Screenplay
Neill Blomkampt & Terri Tatchell, “District 9″
Mark Boal, “The Hurt Locker”
Nancy Meyers, “It’s Complicated”
Jason Reitman & Sheldon Turner, “Up in the Air”
Quentin Tarantino, “Inglourious Basterds”

Original Score
Michael Giacchino, “Up”
Marvin Hamlisch, “The Informant!”
James Horner, “Avatar”
Abel Krozeniowski, “A Single Man”
Karen O and Carter Burwell, “Where the Wild Things Are”

Foreign Language Film
“Baaria”
“Broken Embraces”
“The Maid”
“Un Prophete”
“The White Ribbon”

Original Song
“Cinema Italiano” from “Nine”
“I Want To Come Home” from “Everybody’s Fine”
“I See You” from “Avatar”
“The Weary Kind” from “Crazy Heart”
“Winter” from “Brothers”

Golden Globe Predictions, 2009

Time to predict tomorrow's Golden Globe nominations, which are occasionally inspired and usually much more interesting than other nominees lists, given that they actually acknowledge comedy acting. Here are my predictions with some brief justifications:-

Best Picture (Drama)

An Education
The Hurt Locker
Inglourious Basterds
Precious
Up in the Air

Alternate: Avatar

I don't know if Avatar has been around long enough to have managed a nomination here, which is why I'm not predicting it. These five all seem pretty strong.

Best Picture (Comedy/Musical)

500 Days of Summer
The Hangover
Julie & Julia
Nine
A Serious Man

Alternate: It's Complicated

I think that 500 Days is too well-loved to miss out, and The Hangover too was a smash hit. It's Complicated maybe has the timing but it's quite a strong category this year. We'll see.

Best Director

Kathryn Bigelow - The Hurt Locker
Clint Eastwood - Invictus
Rob Marshall - Nine
Jason Reitman - Up in the Air
Quentin Tarantino - Inglourious Basterds

Alternate: James Cameron - Avatar

I almost dropped QT for Cameron and then decided against it.

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Drama)

Jeff Bridges - Crazy Heart
George Clooney - Up in the Air
Johnny Depp - Public Enemies
Colin Firth - A Single Man
Morgan Freeman - Invictus

Alternate: Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

They love Johnny Depp and Renner isn't a name. Will surely make SAG though?

Best Actress in a Leading Role (Drama)

Sandra Bullock - The Blind Side
Abbie Cornish - Bright Star
Helen Mirren - The Last Station
Carey Mulligan - An Education
Gabourey Sidibe - Precious

Alternate: Penelope Cruz - Broken Embraces

Cruz has an amazing amount of star power at the moment. This movie came out ages ago and has very little buzz, but Bright Star and The Last Station don't have much at the moment either, so she could replace one of either Cornish or Mirren.

Best Actor in a Leading Role (Comedy)

Alec Baldwin - It's Complicated
Matt Damon - The Informant!
Daniel Day-Lewis - Nine
Robert Downey Jnr. - Sherlock Holmes
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - 500 Days of Summer

Alternate: Robert De Niro - Everybody's Fine

Baldwin seems like a co-lead, and he's been nominated by the Globes in that category over on the TV side of things. Everyone else seems good to go, or as De Niro might put it: everybody's fine.

Best Actress in a Leading Role (Comedy)

Amy Adams - Julie & Julia
Marion Cotillard - Nine
Michelle Pfeiffer - Cheri
Meryl Streep - It's Complicated
Meryl Streep - Julie & Julia

Alternate: Zooey Deschanel - 500 Days of Summer

Nobody's been talking about Pfeiffer for a while but they used to love her, and she's pretty luscious in the film. Deschanel's handy but not a likeable character.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Matt Damon - Invictus
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles
Stanley Tucci - Julie & Julia
Christoph Waltz - Inglourious Basterds

Alternate: Alfred Molina - An Education

Will they ignore the Harrelson lead thing?

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Mariah Carey - Precious
Penelope Cruz - Nine
Anna Kendrick - Up in the Air
Mo'Nique - Precious
Julianne Moore - A Single Man

Alternate: Vera Farmiga - Up in the Air

If they can nominate Cruise for Tropic Thunder they can nominate Carey for Precious.

Hottest Track: Yeasayer - Ambling Alp

Delayed NBR Reaction

A bit of a delay since I'm having a busy weekend indulging in food, drink, and.... other things. I scored five out of eleven with one acting winner. Not great.

Best Film
UP IN THE AIR

Top Ten Films
(In alphabetical order) AN EDUCATION, (500) DAYS OF SUMMER, THE HURT LOCKER, INGLOURIOUS BASTERDS, INVICTUS, THE MESSENGER, A SERIOUS MAN, STAR TREK, UP, WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

I keep forgetting how much people liked 500 Days of Summer. Note to self: must say more about what's wrong with this film -- you've got to do a bit of slapping down occasionally. Up in the Air's victory isn't a surprise, but the inclusion of Star Trek and Where the Wild Things Are kind of is. I think some people are expecting fireworks when the new ten-wide Best Picture Oscar category is announced but I still think there's going to be a drone middle-of-the-road set of bait devoid of much interest, perhaps with the exception of Inglourious Basterds. Good news for An Education and The Messenger (each hoping to be included in that ten) but there's a long way to go yet. I don't think Precious was ever going to be the old-school NBR's cup of tea, and that's definitely gonna be a problem at Oscar when it comes to voting for the winner (the new system favours less "offensive" films), but it's still very strong.

Best Foreign Language Film
A PROPHET

Top Five Foreign Films
(In alphabetical order) THE MAID, REVANCHE, SONG OF SPARROWS, THREE MONKEYS, THE WHITE RIBBON

So psyched for A Prophet. Not sure if The White Ribbon can make the Foreign Language lineup at Oscar. It's a very cold, difficult film to like, and if 4 Months didn't make it a couple of years ago then it doesn't bode well for Haneke's film.

Best Documentary
THE COVE

Top Five Documentaries
(In alphabetical order) BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY, CRUDE, FOOD, INC., GOOD HAIR, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

I think The Cove is going to sweeeeep!

Top Independent Films
(In alphabetical order) AMREEKA, DISTRICT 9, GOODBYE SOLO, HUMPDAY, IN THE LOOP, JULIA, ME AND ORSON WELLES, MOON, SUGAR, TWO LOVERS

I find it really disheartening that In the Loop and Julia, two excellent films, are consigned to an Independent championing and clearly not taken seriously enough for the actual top ten, when trash like An Education is clogging up space.

Best Actor
GEORGE CLOONEY, Up In The Air; MORGAN FREEMAN, Invictus

So boring.

Best Actress
CAREY MULLIGAN, An Education

Apart from Mo'Nique she probably had the most buzz of anyone this year and yet people aren't taking her as seriously now. It's unfair because nobody is ever going to live up to that astronomical level of expectation and she's actually really great in An Education and comfortably inside my top five Leading Actresses of the year for the moment.

Best Supporting Actor
WOODY HARRELSON, The Messenger

Probably undervalued but the Globes Lead thing is something he really doesn't need right now. Sure, it might help you get noticed more, but category confusion is bad enough for the people with high-profile films, never mind when you have a tiny little critics darling. Not everyone can have that Amy Adams in Junebug fairytale.

Best Supporting Actress
ANNA KENDRICK, Up In The Air

Destined to be nominated and lose the Oscar.

Best Ensemble Cast
IT'S COMPLICATED

A way to reward Meryl? Alec Baldwin still has a chance (especially since he's hosting) but I reckon It's Complicated is gonna have to be a smash to get him in. I'm thinking he may even get Globe, SAG, and still lose out.

Breakthrough Performance by an Actor
JEREMY RENNER, The Hurt Locker

Breakthrough Performance by an Actress
GABOUREY SIDIBE, Precious

I'd really like for Jeremy Renner to make the AMPAS shortlist but I've got a nagging feeling that he won't. Morgan Freeman has been looking a much weaker candidate in the last month but this has definitely helped his cause more than Jeremy's.

Spotlight Award for Best Directorial Debut
DUNCAN JONES, Moon; OREN MOVERMAN, The Messenger; MARC WEBB, (500) Days of Summer

Best Director
CLINT EASTWOOD, Invictus

Meh. Is Sam Rockwell still campaigning?

Best Adapted Screenplay
JASON REITMAN and SHELDON TURNER, Up In The Air

Best Original Screenplay
JOEL AND ETHAN COEN, A Serious Man

Best Animated Feature
UP

Special Filmmaking Achievement
WES ANDERSON, The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Doesn't this seem like a way to reward both? I liked Fantastic Mr. Fox so much more than Up.

William K. Everson Award For Film History
JEAN PICKER FIRSTENBERG

Freedom Of Expression
BURMA VJ: REPORTING FROM A CLOSED COUNTRY; INVICTUS; THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA: DANIEL ELLSBERG AND THE PENTAGON PAPERS

National Board of Review: Predictions

It's very scary that a year has lapsed since the last time the National Board of Review announced their ten favourite films of 2008. Last year was uninspired (in truth I've yet to be inspired by an NBR choice) with a typical bout of love for Clint Eastwood and Edward Zwick, as well as a ball-rolling canonisation of Slumdog Millionaire. My prediction score last year was six out of eleven (top ten plus winner) and none of the acting winners. Hoping for an improvement...

Best Picture: Bright Star

The NBR rewarded almost every British period drama with its big prize in the eighties and nineties -- A Passage To India, A Room With a View, Howard's End, Sense and Sensibility -- and followed that up with wins for British period drama's like Quills, The Hours, and Finding Neverland. Recent years have seen them embrace more divisive films but I think it's time they returned to unspoken love and wistful landscape. Bright Star needs this endorsement and I reckon Jane Campion's film will get it.

Best Director: Jason Reitman - Up in the Air

Wild guess. Apparently a film with mass appeal and something inoffensively charming. Jason Reitman is building up a fanbase. Expecting major losses to Precious and The Hurt Locker in the critics awards so a mention here would be valuable.

Best Actress in a Leading Role: Meryl Streep - It's Complicated/Julie & Julia

I don't love Meryl's Julia turn but it has many fans. Word is she's dynamite in the Meyers film too. Looks ominous.

Best Actor in a Leading Role: George Clooney - Up in the Air

If he can win for Michael Clayton he can definitely win for this.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role: Marion Cotillard - Nine/Public Enemies

Two juicy roles and they really like to reward stars for multiple turns. If this happens and they continue to campaign Marion as lead the two Actress races are going to be really interesting.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role: Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles

Why not?

Top Ten Films:

The Hurt Locker
Invictus
Julie and Julia
The Last Station
Nine
Precious
Public Enemies
A Serious Man
Up
Up in the Air