Best Screenplay
Spike Jonze, Her
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope, Philomena
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer, American Hustle
Two ways this could go. Either this becomes a referendum on the looming Oscar Best Picture battle between American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave, or else it'll go to Spike Jonze as the requisite "most famous person in the category" winner. Fun fact: Since 1992, no Best Screenplay winner has come from a movie without a corresponding Best Director nomination, save for Matt Damon and Ben Affleck in 1997 for Good Will Hunting, a fairly clear case of celebrity nullification. Which would mean that Her and Philomena are out of luck.
Predicted Winner: David O. Russell and Eric Warren Singer, American Hustle
Best Original Score
Alex Ebert, All is Lost
Alex Heffes, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Steven Price, Gravity
John Williams, The Book Thief
Hans Zimmer, 12 Years a Slave
Probably between Zimmer and Price here. And while the Globes are usually far more beholden to the more famous people in their midst, they're often more willing than the Oscars to go out on a limb for composers. Given the degree of prominence Price's Gravity score enjoys—and since this is one of the few categories, outside of Best Director, where the HFPA can reward Gravity's technical prowess—I'll say Zimmer can settle for just the nomination.
Predicted Winner: Steven Price, Gravity
Best Original Song
"Altas," The Hunger Games
"Let it Go," Frozen
"Ordinary Love," Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
"Please Mr. Kennedy," Inside Llewyn Davis
"Sweeter than Fiction," One Chance
Since the HFPA in its underrated wisdom saw fit to omit Lana Del Rey's monotone ode to the Roaring Twenties from The Great Gatsby, there really isn't a whole ton of competition for "Let It Go," the increasingly ubiquitous Disney power ballad. Fun fact: No Disney or Pixar animated movie has prevailed in this category since 1999's infamous awards juggernaut for Phil Collins and Tarzan.
Predicted Winner: "Let It Go," Frozen
Best Animated Film
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
This doesn't seem like much of a contest, does it?
Predicted winner: Frozen
Best Foreign Language Film
Blue Is the Warmest Color
The Hunt
The Past
The Great Beauty
The Wind Rises
Almost 100% of the time, the Globe in this category goes to the buzziest title (as opposed to the Oscars, which often goes for the safest choice). Which makes picking a winner here fairly academic.
Predicted Winner: Blue Is the Warmest Color
Best Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl, Rush
Bradley Cooper, American Hustle
Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
The nominations for Abdi and Bruhl are great and should help them both in their push for Oscar nominations, but they make for terrible photo ops and thus have virtually no shot at a win. Bradley Cooper would probably stand a better chance if Dr. Aida Takla O'Reilly were still the president of the HFPA, but alas that was last year. All season, the competition for Supporting Actor has purportedly been between Fassbender and Leto, but that's not entirely true, as Fassbender has barely won anything, save for the Kansas City and Online Film Critics prizes (maybe that non-campaign worked a little too well). Meanwhile, Leto has been cleaning up. Expect that to continue.