Awards season tidbits

Americana flavours most of this year’s 10 Golden Globe-nominated films.

Lincoln is the story of that country’s Nelson Mandela, while Django Unchained takes the ugliest part of America’s past and repackages it with Tarantino flair.

Argo, about a film set that covered for a CIA extraction, and ­Zero Dark Thirty, about the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, lift the veil on America’s clandestine activities around the globe.

Bringing the focus in a lot closer to home are Moonrise Kingdom, an offbeat memoir of youth, and The Silver Linings Playbook, about rejoining life’s slipstream.

Adding a dash of international seasoning are Ang Lee’s exquisite cinematic version of Life of Pi, and Tom Hooper’s magnificent musical masterpiece Les Misérables.

Though both Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel fit the good film bill, they won’t be catching the big awards this season.

Tonight’s Globes are the official amuse-bouche for the awards season. Best of all, it’s a chance to have a jolly good (educated) guess.

Ang Lee and Steven Spielberg will go to the mattresses for the director award, while Daniel Day-Lewis isn’t going to have any competition for Best Actor, ditto Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty.

As for the comedy and musical category – Hugh Jackman’s Jean Valjean will not be denied and Jennifer Lawrence is going to beat out three veterans – Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Meryl Streep – for her Silver Linings Playbook character, Tiffany.

My guess for best supporting actor – wild as it is – is Tommy Lee Jones in Lincoln. As for the women, I’d love to give it to Amy Adams for her crazy cult-follower performance in The Master, but Anne Hathaway will take it for her heart-rending turn as Fantine.

The TV part of the evening will be more Brit than American with Downton Abbey up for Best Drama and The Hour sitting pretty in the miniseries category.