Believe it or not, the Hollywood awards season is nearly upon us already – as evidenced by the fact that the full list of Golden Globes nominations was recently unveiled. The show isn’t for a few more weeks yet, but we have some early reactions to the nominees.
1. The Stage Is Set For An Epic Oscars Best Picture Race
It can be difficult to glean much from the Best Picture categories at the Golden Globes, because they’re split up into two categories: one for drama and one for comedy/musicals. This is one instance, however, in which the Golden Globes seem to be showing off a blend of nominees that can easily be mashed up for one big, competitive Oscars selection (whereas often the comedy/musical choices don’t have much shot at the Academy Awards’ Best Picture). From the drama category, at least Dunkirk, Call Me By Your Name, and The Post seem like shoe-ins for Oscar nominations; the other two, The Shape Of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri weren’t quite as heralded, but have earned raves. And from the comedy/musical group, The Greatest Showman and I, Tonya look like probable Oscar nominees, and Lady Bird and Get Out have a lot of dark horse buzz.
2. The Big Sick Got Snubbed
This is the biggest story from the Golden Globe nominations, and it’s a very unfortunate one. Kumail Nanjiani’s autobiographical indie comedy The Big Sick was one of the surprise hits of the year, and virtually everyone thought it was on its way to awards season success. Fortunately, it did recently secure a SAG Award nomination – but the Globes left it out, to the detriment of the show. It’s the biggest snub of the year.
3. The Hour Of Margot Robbie Is Upon Us
I, Tonya is perhaps the ultimate movie none of us realized we wanted, but which we won’t be able to get enough of. It’s a dramatic, troubling, informative, and bizarrely hilarious account of Tonya Harding, the infamous figure skater the world was captivated by in the early ‘90s. It’s become a surprise hit late in the year, and it seems to be the role of Margot Robbie’s career. She’s in the running for a Best Actress (comedy/musical) at the Globes, and appears to be a strong candidate for an Oscar in the same category. If she wins this award, look out.
4. A Spacey Project Is Redeemed
This is a touchy subject. But frankly, it was nice to see All The Money In The World get a few Golden Globe nominations. This is a film that was nearly derailed when Kevin Spacey was disgraced following allegations of sexual misconduct. But to his credit, director Ridley Scott got to work to save the project so that the other people who had worked hard on it didn’t suffer for Spacey’s misdeeds. Scott is nominated for Best Director. Michelle Williams is nominatd for Best Actress in a drama, and Christopher Plummer (who replaced Spacey with virtually no notice) is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a drama. It’s just nice to see a major creative project survive
5. Sterling K. Brown Has A Shot At Stardom
Sterling K. Brown has become a television star through his role on the hit drama This Is Us – though that’s not all. As was pointed out when he was declared the favorite for a Best Lead Actor Emmy this past season (an award he went on to win), we were reminded that he won last year’s Emmy Award for Supporting Actor after his performance in The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. He’s a big name, and that’s that. But the Golden Globes have a special power in elevating television to Hollywood highs, placing TV and film awards on equal footing, so a win at the Globes would perhaps help launch Brown to new levels of stardom. He’s nominated for Best Performance In A TV Drama, with a strong chance to win. (It also doesn’t hurt that Aaron Sorkin recently tabbed him as a potential new president in a hypothetical reboot of The West W
ing!)
6. Elisabeth Moss Is The Show’s Biggest Favorite
This is subjective, but looking through all the major categories it’s hard to find a bigger favorite than Elisabeth Moss, who’s nominated for Best Actress in a TV drama for her incredible work in The Handmaid’s Tale. Moss won the Emmy for the same role, and the biggest possible surprise on Golden Globe night would be for her to fall short in this category.
