A new year means a new awards season, which kicks off in earnest Sunday with the 75th annual Golden Globes (NBC, 8 p.m. ET/5 PT) and a heap of awards handed out by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. With no clear front-runners and a potentially wild race to the Oscars in March, USA TODAY predicts who will win (and who should) in the top movie categories.
DRAMA
Call Me By Your Name
Dunkirk
The Post
The Shape of Water
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Will win: The Shape of Water
Should win:The Post
The Shape of Water leads the entire Globes field with seven nominations, giving Guillermo del Toro's Cold War fairy tale the edge in a stacked category. But The Post — boasting six total nods — has the total package, including a standout all-star cast led by legends Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, as well as a whole bunch of timeliness.
COMEDY OR MUSICAL
The Disaster Artist
Get Out
The Greatest Showman
I, Tonya
Lady Bird
Will win: Lady Bird
Should win: Get Out
Like La La Land last year, Lady Bird will benefit from not having to compete with the Oscar-ready dramas. For laughs plus a little something extra, though, Get Out offers biting social satire and a metaphor on racism.
ACTRESS IN A DRAMA
Jessica Chastain, Molly's Game
Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water
Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Meryl Streep, The Post
Michelle Williams, All the Money in the World
Will win/should win: Frances McDormand
Streep and Hawkins are strong contenders because their roles power their projects, but this is McDormand's season to rule — and to snag her first Globe win out of six nominations. Three Billboards completely hinges on her vengeful mom on a mission, and McDormand gives the character weight, complicated emotions and a wickedly dark sense of humor.
ACTOR IN A DRAMA
Timothée Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name
Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread
Tom Hanks, The Post
Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour
Denzel Washington, Roman J. Israel, Esq.
Will win/should win: Gary Oldman
Any other year, this would be Chalamet's trophy to win after his stirring and emotional performance in a coming-of-age story of sexual awakening. Unfortunately for him, Oldman completely transforms, from jowls to paunch, into Winston Churchill, a rousing role that'll likely let the acclaimed British thespian run the table to Oscar.
ACTRESS IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Judi Dench, Victoria & Abdul
Helen Mirren, The Leisure Seeker
Margot Robbie, I, Tonya
Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird
Emma Stone, Battle of the Sexes
Will win: Saoirse Ronan
Should win: Margot Robbie
Ronan is the best thing about the universally beloved Lady Bird, and that translates into an almost certain win for the Irish actress. Consider, however, the acting acumen needed to pull off playing disgraced skate champion Tonya Harding; Robbie's success at squeezing dark humor and deep pathos from a real figure is way more impressive.
ACTOR IN A COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Steve Carell, Battle of the Sexes
Ansel Elgort, Baby Driver
James Franco, The Disaster Artist
Hugh Jackman, The Greatest Showman
Daniel Kaluuya, Get Out
Will win: James Franco
Should win: Daniel Kaluuya
Franco effectively captures the strange mannerisms and can-do indie spirit of The Room auteur Tommy Wiseau, the HFPA loves to fête major stars, plus he's just fun to watch. Yet Kaluuya gets the meatier role to sink his teeth into, bringing a huge amount of depth and fear as well as humor to the role of a young black man terrorized by his white girlfriend's family.
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Mary J. Blige, Mudbound
Hong Chau, Downsizing
Allison Janney, I, Tonya
Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird
Octavia Spencer, The Shape of Water
Will win: Laurie Metcalf
Should win: Allison Janney
A toss-up between two overbearing movie moms lacking a filter. Given Lady Bird's popularity, Metcalf might have the edge as the hard-working, opinionated parent of a free-spirited teen, but Janney's turn as Harding's chain-smoking, foul-mouthed, abusive mother is pure brilliance.
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project
Armie Hammer, Call Me By Your Name
Richard Jenkins, The Shape of Water
Christopher Plummer, All the Money in the World
Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
Will win: Christopher Plummer
Should win: Willem Dafoe
Plummer's eleventh-hour reshoot to replace Kevin Spacey and save All the Money in the World is already the stuff of legend, a feat that will fuel an upset over Rockwell and Dafoe. Of the two favorites, Dafoe deserves it for his heart-tugging role as an embattled but kind hotel manager.