It was all cheers and tears Thursday morning, as the Hollywood Foreign Press announced nominees for the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards. In the Film categories, Vice, Adam McKay’s acerbic look at the former Vice President Dick Cheney, was the big winner, with six nominations, including for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, three acting noms, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. In TV — surprise! — The Kominsky Method got all the nominations, while This Is Us was shut out.
As soon as nominees were announced, the Internet, as it tends to do, lit up with delighted congratulations for the nominees and red-faced outrage at supposed “snubs.” Below, we’ve done our best to parse through the nominations, and those who didn’t make the cut, for a sober-eyed view of the Hollywood Foreign Press’ biggest snubs — and a few surprises — from the 2019 nominations. (Note, Roma, which many thought was a snub in the Best Motion Picture – Drama category, was not eligible, as it was nominated in the foreign film category.)
The Golden Globe Awards will be handed out on Sunday, January 6, 2019, and televised live on NBC. Killing Eve star Sandra Oh and Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Andy Samberg will host the event.
Film Snubs and Surprises | TV Snubs and Surprises
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Mary Poppins might have just tripped on its way to what was an expected showdown with A Star Is Born for Best Original Song at the Oscars, missing out on a nomination in the same category at this morning’s Golden Globe announcement. The movie has been widely tipped as a lead contender for Best Original Song, for two of its original songs written by composer Marc Shaiman and lyricist Scott Wittman – “Trip A Light Fantastic,” sung by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and “The Place Where Lost Things Go,” sung by Emily Blunt and reprised later in the film. Surprise nominations for “Revelation” from Boy Erased and “Requiem for a Private War” from A Private War seem to have squeezed Poppins out.
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All that awards chatter you’ve been hearing about Black Panther? It turns out the prognosticators are onto something. The movie landed three nominations this morning, including for Best Picture – Drama. It also won expected recognition for Best Score and Best Original Song, for SZA’s “All the Stars.” Expect the conversation around “Can Black Panther be nominated for an Oscar?” to only heat up after today. It was the first time a Marvel Studios film was nominated for a Best Picture Golden Globe.
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Damien Chazelle’s Neil Armstrong biopic, First Man, only managed two nominations – for Claire Foy for Supporting Actress and for its score. The film had lost enough heat since its release in October to fall out of favor with prognosticators, but many were still expecting Ryan Gosling would land a nomination for his quiet and widely acclaimed portrayal of Armstrong. It was not to be. It was also not to be for Ethan Hawke, who plays a priest struggling with his faith in Paul Schrader’s First Reformed, one of the best reviewed films from the first half of the year. Hawke has already picked up Best Actor at the New York Film Critics Circle and the Gotham Awards this season. First Reformed received no nominations this morning.
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Pundits had Sam Elliott as a solid bet for Supporting Actor recognition for his work as Jackson Maine’s older, wiser, soberer brother Bobby in A Star Is Born. He gets what’s arguably the movie’s most heartbreaking scene, and certainly one that feels made for awards-season reels. And yet. This morning, Elliott was ignored by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, with slight longshot Adam Driver sneaking into the category nominations.
(Photo by © Keith Bernstein / © Aviron Pictures)
Well, not exactly a surprise when you consider the HFPA’s affection for glamorous stars. And yet, few were predicting that Pike, who gives what many consider a career-best performance as war journalist Marie Colvin in A Private War, would be able to edge her way into this category, which is roundly thought to be unusually competitive. And Kidman, who de-glammed big time to play a detective in Karyn Kusama’s Destroyer, was also thought a longshot; her performance garnered a lot of attention early in awards season, but the film has been overshadowed as we wait for its limited release. Kidman was considered a surer bet for a Supporting Actress nomination for Boy Erased, which she did not get this morning.
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Kidman and Pike’s gain was Viola Davis and Yalitza Aparicio’s loss. Critics have called Davis’s lead performance in Steve McQueen’s Widows one of the year’s best, while first-time actor Yalitza Aparicio is mesmerizingly good in Roma. Her Cinderella story will have to wait, though, for now.
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What short memories you have, HFPA. Toni Collette’s performance in Ari Aster’s horror film was like nothing we’ve seen on screen this year – disarmingly physical one moment, disturbingly raw the next, and still completely nuanced. The Actress categories are competitive this year, true, but Collette’s work is deserving. At least the folks at the Gotham Awards agree with us – they named the Aussie star Best Actress last month.
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It’s almost irrelevant who gets nominated in this category, given that Alfonso Cuarón has it basically locked up with Roma. Still, this list was one of the morning’s most perplexing. Pawel Pawlokowski’s Cold War was widely thought to be Roma’s biggest challenger and, for some, an outside chance of an upset, and yet it was looked over, while Chang-dong Lee’s Burning, form South Korea, also failed to make the cut. The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun was also on many folks’ Best Supporting Actor longlist for Burning, in which he plays a charismatic and mysterious playboy, and he failed to score a nomination.
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The critics were mixed on this Freddie Mercury biopic – it has been wavering between Fresh and Rotten since its release, and currently sits at 62% on the Tomatometer. Even the film’s most ardent defenders acknowledged it was mostly a standard Behind the Music deal with some incredible concert footage and a killer performance by Rami Malek as Mercury. But this is not the first time the HFPA has been out of step with critics and awards pundits – the Rotten musical The Greatest Showman landed multiple nominations last year.
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Awards juggernaut A Star Is Born showed it was not as unstoppable as some might have thought. While it landed five nominations – one less than Vice, which earned the most of the morning, with six – they came mostly in absolute shoe-in categories, including for Best Actress and Actor in a Drama, Best Director, Best Film, and Best Original Song. The movie failed to fully flex its muscles, however, missing out on expected nominations for Best Screenplay, Best Score, and, as already noted, Best Supporting Actor for Sam Elliott.
(Photo by © Sanja Bucko /© Warner Bros. Pictures)
Crazy Rich Asians secured two nominations this morning, for Best Movie –Musical or Comedy and for star Constance Wu, but Michelle Yeoh, who plays the icy Eleanor Young in the smash rom-com, was shut out of the Best Supporting Actress category. Buzz had been building for her performance, and her Golden Globe chances, over the last few months, but we’re not giving up hope yet for her this awards season: Those who remember the film will know Eleanor may get left out in the rain at times, but she rarely stays there.
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Did anyone see this coming? We didn’t. But we’re not arguing with it: Hedges is excellent as the college student forced into conversion therapy by his parents in Joel Edgerton’s Boy Erased, and his nomination should direct some needed awards-season attention to the film, which failed to score nominations for Best Film – Drama, or for Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe, who had chances in the supporting acting categories.
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On paper, Mary Queen of Scots looked a sure bet to be a big awards-season player: Saoirse Ronan, Margot Robbie, lavish costumes, familial rivalry. And, in a rare and widely celebrated move, colorblind casting for a British period drama! The movie’s first real test came this morning and it didn’t quite make the grade, landing zero nominations. The biggest surprise was perhaps seeing Ronan and Robbie left out of the acting categories — especially Ronan, who many critics say carries the film as the titular monarch.
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Netflix just released its new series about Kominsky (Michael Douglas), a former star looking for a comeback, and his longtime agent (Alan Arkin) in November. The series is Certified Fresh with a relatively modest 78% on the Tomatometer, but scored three nominations: Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy; Douglas for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy; and Arkin for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Say what you may about the HFPA’s Golden Globes – the organization is fiercely loyal to big stars.
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Perhaps it is less surprising that Rae was excluded from the Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy category nominations than the fact that Candice Bergen was nominated for the critically panned Murphy Brown revival, which has a 43% Tomatometer score. Meanwhile, Insecure’s third season is Certified Fresh at 95%. We’re calling it a snub.
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We expected Matthew Rhys’ nomination – the final season of critical favorite The Americans was bound to get some love. But we did not anticipate the other nominees in the category for different reasons: Jason Bateman, Ozark (the buzz around the series has died down); Stephan James, Homecoming (a nice surprise to have young James in the mix given the veterans of the category – see “Snub: This Is Us”); Richard Madden, Bodyguard (perhaps should not have come as a surprise given that the HFPA famously rewards international stars); and Billy Porter, Pose (Porter certainly gave a standout performance in the series and it’s nice to see him recognized). Which leads us to our next point…
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Simmons plays two roles in the Starz spy series: one as low-level bureaucrat Howard Silk who discovers the government agency he works for is a cover for a portal to an alternate universe and, two, his aggro alt-universe counterpart. The first season of the series, created by The Jungle Book screenwriter Justin Marks, was Certified Fresh at a rare 100% and season 2, premiering Sunday, currently also stands at 100%. Simmons was expected to make an appearance in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama category.
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That Culkin deserved the nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television is not in question – the actor has been widely hailed for his performance in the HBO drama about a Murdoch-like clan grappling for control of the family empire. That he would supplant the likes of Joseph Fiennes in awards favorite The Handmaid’s Tale or Atlanta standout Brian Tyree Henry is the surprise here.
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Sterling K. Brown? Milo Ventimiglia? The two This Is Us stars are awards favorites and their exclusion from the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Drama category is startling. Surely the series was worth a Best Television Series – Drama nomination? No? Shocking!
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The Bravo series, based on the real-life story of conman John Meehan (played by Eric Bana) and his mark (Britton as Debra Newell), has generated moderate buzz, but here at Rotten Tomatoes, a series that scores only 64% on the Tomatometer doesn’t immediately suggest award nods. Britton’s nomination in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for the series comes as a surprise.
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Another in the 100% club, with two seasons Certified Fresh at 100%, the NBC series has dominated RT’s seasonal scorecards every season it has aired. And with Danson’s costar Kristen Bell nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy, his exclusion from the Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy category comes as a surprise.
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Again, a 65% Tomatometer score doesn’t suggest awards are forthcoming for a series, but the TNT crime drama based on Caleb Carr’s novels has surprised us all with Best Limited Series nomination and, for star Daniel Brühl, a Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television nomination. It was a series that built buzz as more episodes aired.
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Out with the old? Jim Carrey’s Showtime comedy Kidding and Netflix series The Kominsky Method got the nominations for Best Television Series – Musical or Comedy instead.
The Limited Series nominations left out hipster-fabulous Netflix series Maniac and its stars Jonah Hill and Emma Stone. After … All. That. Hype.
