On Sunday, the Golden Globes will be broadcasted to a plethora of cinephiles across the planet, and will reward some of the most excellent films, actors, and writers that 2023 brought us. While it’s not always the best precursor for the Academy Awards, it gives the viewers a decent idea of how things could play out when it comes times for both nominations and the Oscars ceremony on March 10th.

While there will be awards given to television shows, frankly, I have no interest in that. I’m all in on the film awards and wanted to offer my ballot of how I’d vote as a voting member of the Golden Globes. These aren’t my predictions of who I think will actually win, but my personal picks.

Best Motion Picture – Drama

Oppenheimer dir. Christopher Nolan

The film of the year is undoubtedly Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. It’s a three hour biopic that captivated the nation with its performances from a loaded cast and its distinct horror or thriller elements in tense moments. It’s in the same camp as films like Miloš Forman’s Amadeus, Oliver Stone’s JFK, and Michael Mann’s The Insider as a film that will have both a lasting cultural and historical importance that can resinate with many generations to come. While this is a somewhat stiff category with The Zone of Interest and Killers of the Flower Moon, Oppenheimer feels like a runaway freight train that’s coming for more than Best Motion Picture – Drama.

Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

The Holdovers dir. Alexander Payne

With how large of a gap there is between Oppenheimer and the rest of the films in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category, I find the Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, to be more intriguing. My vote is for Alexander Payne’s The Holdovers. The performance from Paul Giamatti is a career encapsulating one where he found a role that was perfectly suited for him as a curmudgeonly teacher with witty humor. That coupled with Dominic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph giving great performances and the tight script from David Hemingson makes this a comedic flick that’s very re-watchable. The biggest enemy of The Holdovers will be Poor Things. While I wouldn’t be upset if it won, it’s not my personal choice.

Best Motion Picture – Animated

The Boy and the Heron dir. Hayao Miyazaki

When it comes to animation, there’s no one greater than Hayao Miyazaki. His un-retirement film, The Boy and the Heron, is an emotional tirade that serves as a lesson of how to deal with grief and letting go. It’s never easy, but Miyazaki and John Connolly contextualize this difficult stage of life so well through the relationship of a young boy and a gray heron. Not only do I think it’s the best animated film of 2023, but I think it should’ve earned a nomination in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category. Selfishly, I hope that Hayao Miyazaki never retires.

Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language

Past Lives dir. Celine Song

Of the six films nominated for Best Motion Picture – Non-English Language, three of them were nominated for Best Motion Picture – Drama. They are all beautiful works of cinema and in a decade, or even sooner, will be regarded as all-time classics. My vote goes to Celine Song’s Past Lives. I have to give the vote to a film that gutted me on an emotional level to the point where I was ugly crying in a crowded theater. Greta Lee’s performance, which we’ll get to, is one of the year’s best. Her performance and Song’s script that delves into the lore of the past lives in Korean culture was moving.

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Greta Lee (Past Lives)

More Past Lives representation. Greta Lee gives one of my ten favorite performances of the 2020s decade as she plays the fence of emotions so well. At times, she’s content in her relationship with Arthur. She also conveys the emotion of knowing you can’t have someone when Hae Sung leaves. The script from Song is devastating, but Lee’s performance adds a layer of flattening emotion that makes you cry from the stomach. I adored this performance and found it more moving than Annette Bening in Nyad, Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon and Carey Mulligan in Maestro.

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Emma Stone (Poor Things)

One of this generation’s most talented actresses is Emma Stone. Whether she’s playing a career driven actress in La La Land or an ambivalent daughter in Birdman, she always delivers a good performance. But here’s the thing with Stone in Poor Things — this isn’t just a good performance. This might be the best of her career. Her crass line delivery and Frankenstein-mimicking mannerisms makes this performance jaw-dropping. Don’t get me wrong, Willem Dafoe and Mark Ruffalo are fantastic in this. They’re just not on the level of Emma Stone here.

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama

Cillian Murphy (Oppenheimer)

I mentioned how Greta Lee gave one of my ten favorite performances of the 2020s with Past Lives. Cillian Murphy in Oppenheimer gives quite possibly my favorite performance of the 2020s. His understated acting that never feels farcical was riveting to watch. In the scene after testing the bomb where he’s clearly overrun with emotion, Murphy plays it beautifully. His eyes look glassy while a giant grin takes over his face. He’s not sobbing uncontrollably or blubbering. That was one of many moments that should earn Murphy the Golden Globe for Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical

Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)

In a role that he was born to play, Paul Giamatti kills every aspect of his role as Paul Hunham. The grand scale aspects of the performance are great, but it’s the idiosyncratic that make it great. Whether it’s the lazy eye, the delivery of lines that are packed with literary terms and his obviously un-athletic demeanor, Gimatti blends into this character so perfectly. Da’Vine Joy Randolph (who we’ll get to) and Dominic Sessa are fantastic, but Giamatti rises above both.

Best Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers)

One of the true breakout performances of 2023 was Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers. At first glance of the film, you imagine that she’ll just be an ancillary side character. That’s not the case. She morphs into an emotional character that’s tremendously layered with her family dynamic and loneliness. The idea of The Holdovers is that the trio is outcasts, and Randolph meshes so well with Giamatti and Sessa in the role of a lonely person. Emily Blunt and Jodie Foster are good, but nowhere near what Randolph brings to The Holdovers.

Best Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture

Charles Melton (May December)

Even though I didn’t love May December as much as the masses, I thought Charles Melton was dynamite. A lot like Cailee Spaeny in Priscilla, Melton straddles maturity and youthful innocence so well. The maturity he exudes is a facade to cover up the long trauma he’s endured from being groomed. Going into May December, I assumed the premier performance would be from Moore or Portman. Not from Charles Melton, but he blew me away. It’s a tough vote between Melton and Robert Downey Jr. in Oppenheimer, but right now I’m leaning Melton, slightly.

Best Director – Motion Picture

Christopher Nolan (Oppenheimer)

What’s difficult with the Golden Globes is that there are two Best Picture categories. That makes you feel split on who to pick for director. While I loved The Holdovers, Christopher Nolan directing Oppenheimer was more ambitious than Payne directing The Holdovers. Creating a three hour biopic that enthralls the nation is no small feat. The Holdovers is a great film about family and friendship, however it’s not the same as what Oppenheimer is. Not many directors can pull off creating a film like this. Nolan proved he’s one of the few.

Best Screenplay – Motion Picture

Justine Triet, Arthur Harari (Anatomy of a Fall)

It’s a remarkably strong year for Best Screenplay, and while I loved the scripts for Oppenheimer and Past Lives, Anatomy of a Fall stands out as a one-of-one style screenplay. To transition between an emotion crime mystery to a courtroom drama was exhilarating to watch. The dialogue is tight, but the scene that sticks out was when Sandra Voyter and her husband have a blow-up argument. It’s remnant of the fight from Marriage Story, but dare I say it’s better? I think it’s better. It felt so real because they argued over their futures, their relationship as a whole and how one another hold each other back.

Best Original Score – Motion Picture

Ludwig Göransson (Oppenheimer)

2023 has been a remarkable year for original scores. From Killers of the Flower Moon to The Killer to Poor Things, we’ve heard engrossing scores that will be engrained in cinematic history for decades. And while those three I listed are great, none touch the bombasticity of the score from Oppenheimer. In the same realm as Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ score from The Social Network, Ludwig Göransson puts everything into creating a score that’s on par with the greatness of the film itself.

Best Original Song – Motion Picture

I’m Just Ken (Barbie)

While I didn’t entirely love Barbie, the power ballad that Ryan Gosling delivers is goosebump inducing. This year was great for original scores, but was rather weak when it came to original songs. Three of the six nominees were from Barbie, and while Dance The Night and What Was I Made For? are fine, they’re not on the level of I’m Just Ken. “‘Cause I’m just Ken, anywhere else I’d be a ten. Is it my destiny to live and die a life of blonde fragility?“