Five predictions for Sunday's Golden Globe Awards

Jan. 4—There's a glimmer of excitement in my household this week as we prepare for the launch of our favorite television season: The Awards Shows.

With the enthusiasm that many American families reserve for the Super Bowl, my mother and I love to tune in to the Golden Globes, the SAG-AFTRA awards and the Oscars. We've been doing it since I was in college, exchanging messages on Facebook after a particularly monumental win or a favorite film lost. After graduation, the tradition has mostly held — except for a few years when I was working the desk at Daily Item and had to split my attention between designing pages and predicting winners. Mom is the more frequent theatergoer, mainly due to a 9-to-5 schedule and a sweet date night tradition with my father, but the prediction skills I lack in viewing, I tend to make up for in luck and cultural awareness. We've turned it into a game, predicting winners, speculating on which topics the hosts will joke about or if the people professionally trained to display their emotions will let the facades slip in a moment of disappointment.

On Sunday, we'll be camped out on the couch for the Golden Globes. While I haven't seen all of the nominees, part of my enjoyment comes from the blind guesses — considering reviews from both publications and personal connections. Here are my predictions for several of the major categories:

Best Motion Picture — Drama: "Anatomy of a Fall," "Killers of the Flower Moon," "Maestro," "Oppenheimer," "Past Lives" and "The Zone of Interest."

My guess: In a contest between multiple award winners Martin Scorsese, Bradley Cooper and Christopher Nolan, I'm betting on the film that was a literal pop culture phenomenon: "Oppenheimer." It was universally praised for its cinematography, its all-star cast and Nolan's skilled directorial touch.

Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy: "Air," "American Fiction," "Barbie," "The Holdovers," "May December" and "Poor Things."

My guess: Between personal bias and pop culture craze, my money is on "Barbie." It's going to be a tough film to beat this year for good reason.

Best Motion Picture — Animated: "The Boy and the Heron," "Elemental," "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," "Suzume," "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" and "Wish."

My guess: Despite Disney's usual hold over this category, I think the Mouse is going to lose this one to Sony's "Spider-Man" sequel. I loved this movie for the same reason many audience members did — the stunning visuals, the killer soundtrack and the interesting plot.

Best Television Series — Drama: "1923," "The Crown," "The Diplomat," "The Last of Us," "The Morning Show" and "Succession."

My guess: I like this mix of new shows and past nominees, but it's largely a stab in the dark for me. Netflix's "The Crown" and HBO's "Succession" both have the appeal of being the final seasons, which has a tendency to tip the odds slightly in a show's favor, even if you didn't already consider their wide fan appeal and critical success. However, I'm going to let my personal biases take precedence and hope it's "The Last of Us."

Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy: "Abbott Elementary," "Barry," "The Bear," "Jury Duty," "Only Murders in the Building" and "Ted Lasso."

My guess: Newcomers "Jury Duty" certainly aren't going to make it easy on past powerhouses "Abbott Elementary" and "Ted Lasso," but I'm going to go with my gut and guess "The Bear."