By Phil Contrino

The race for the Best Motion Picture - Drama trophy at the upcoming Golden Globes ceremony on Sunday, January 11 is very competitive.

While Slumdog Millionaire is easily one of the most critically praised films of the year, it may not be the obvious choice to win.

It's worth noting that the Globes tend to award big films instead of little films. By this I mean that sweeping epics tend to beat the little indies that could.

In recent years, Atonement has topped No Country for Old Men, The Aviator has edged Million Dollar Baby and so on. Considering that both No Country and Million Dollar Baby went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, that doesn't say much about the weight that this particular Globe award carries in relation to the Oscars.

With that said, Benjamin Button is the one film out of the five nominees (a list that also includes The Reader, Revolutionary Road and Frost/Nixon) that has an epic feel. The Reader is dying a slow death financially and the critical support hasn't been all that inspiring, so it won't win. Revolutionary Road has split a lot of critics, but it is still less of a long shot than Reader. Frost/Nixon should be viewed as a dark horse.

Essentially, this race is Slumdog vs. Benjamin Button. The fact that the Globes are voted on by the Hollywood Foreign Press may help Slumdog's case, since it's set in Dubai and is directed by Danny Boyle, a well-respected British dude.