Streaming services dominated the nominations for the 78th Golden Globe, signaling a shift in power in Hollywood, moving away from traditional film studios and cable and open TV players towards digital beginners. It is a movement that was accelerated during the coronavirus pandemic, when much of the world was stranded at home and theaters remained closed.
One of the main beneficiaries of this change, Netflix, outperformed the competition, with an impressive 42 nominations in the film and television categories, including nods to names like “The Trial of the Chicago 7”, “The Queen’s Gambit” and “The crown.” But he was not the only representative of a new order. Amazon Studios obtained 10 nominations, including nominations for “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and its anthology series “Small Ax”, while Hulu obtained 10 nominations as well, which included nominations for “Palm Springs” and “Ramy”.
Click here for a complete list of nominations.
“Mank,” a black-and-white ode to old Hollywood released by Netflix, received six nominations. This includes nods for best drama, as well as for its director David Fincher and for Gary Oldman’s acting as “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz. “The Crown”, another Netflix production, led the television category with six nominations. The lavish historical drama, which chronicles the private life of Queen Elizabeth II and her family, received nominations for best TV drama, as well as for the performances of several of her cast members. Olivia Colman, who plays the monarch, and Emma Corrin, the actress in charge of channeling Princess Diana, received nominations.
“The Trial of the Chicago 7”, a Netflix political drama acquired from Paramount Pictures when COVID-19 interrupted a planned theatrical release, was the second most nominated film with five nods. “Schitt’s Creek”, fresh from its Emmy sweep, received five nominations, one less than the watermark set by “The Crown”.
“Mank” and “The Trial of the Chicago 7” will face off in the drama category against “promising young woman”, “The Father” and “Nomadland. The Globes recognizes comedies and musicals in a different category, allowing them to better disseminate wealth more widely. Nominees for the best musical or comedy include “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”, “Music”, “The Prom”, “Palm Springs” and “Hamilton”, a filmed version of Broadway’s hit that became a streaming sensation when it reached the Disney Plus last summer.
In the race for the best TV drama, “The Crown” will face “The Mandalorian”, “Ozark”, “Ratched” and “Lovecraft Country”. “Schitt’s Creek” will compete for the honors of best TV comedy with “The Great”, “Emily in Paris”, “The Flight Attendant” and “Ted Lasso”.
On the cinema front, Globes voters named a record for three filmmakers, Chloe Zhao (“Nomadland”), Regina King (“A Night in Miami”) and Emerald Fennell (“Young Promise”). They become the sixth, seventh and eighth women to be nominated for a Golden Globe for direction – joining Barbra Streisand, Jane Campion, Sofia Coppola, Ava DuVernay and Kathryn Bigelow. Zhao is also the first Asian woman nominated for the driving award.
Globes are like Oscar’s drunkest, loudest, and often more entertaining cousin – champagne flows freely, awards are largely focused on acting and directing and less on down-the-line categories such as sound editing or cinematography, which means the Beverly Hilton’s ballroom is an exclusive A-list event, and viewers expect to see their favorite stars ease their inhibitions slightly. This year’s broadcast will be very different, although it will bring back veteran hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. The Globes will unfold virtually this year, so as not to become a coronavirus over-spreading event.
The award has the habit of recognizing emerging talents and new and trendy shows, and the 2021 edition did not disappoint in this respect. HBO Max’s “The Flight Attendant” received two nods after ending its inaugural season this winter, acting debutant Maria Bakalova (“Borat Subsequent Moviefilm”) got a top nomination, and Anya Taylor-Joy, who was successful in “ The Queen’s Gambit, ”She was nominated in turn as a chess prodigy in that series and for her work as a romantic nosy in“ Emma ”.
Taylor-Joy was not the only nominee for multiple acting. Sacha Baron Cohen was chosen for his work on “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and for his chameleon role as Abbie Hoffman in “The Trial of the Chicago 7”, while Colman received a nod to “The Father”, along with his nomination for “The Crown.”
There were some notable scorns. Spike Lee’s critically acclaimed Vietnamese epic, “Da 5 Bloods”, failed to get a nod to better drama and its star Delroy Lindo was excluded; water cooler favorites “Dead to Me” and “Bridgerton” missed appointments; and awards, dear Meryl Streep was not nominated for her comic performance in “The Prom”. Their exclusion paved the way for inconvenience. Tahar Rahim (“The Mauritanian”), Kate Hudson (“Music”) and Jared Leto (“The Little Things”) got nominations despite failing to make lists of many predictors, while Netflix’s “Ratched” sizzled in the dramatic TV race then resist mediocre criticism.
While Oscars are voted on by filmmakers, artisans, performers and other Hollywood players, Globes are decided by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a close-knit group of journalists with about 100 members. Consequently, the Globes are not always a good indicator of how Oscar will play out. Last year, the Globes awarded the top honors to “1917” and “Once upon a time in Hollywood” just to see them fall short of capturing the best Oscar film, where they lost to “Parasite”.
HFPA faced controversy last winter when it revealed that “Minari,” the story of a family of South Korean immigrants living in rural America, would run for the best foreign language film race. A24, the film’s producer, entered the film in this category due to HFPA rules. The group stipulates that at least half of the candidates’ dialogues to the Golden Globe best drama or comedy / musical categories must be in English, a barrier that “Minari” was unable to eliminate, although produced by an American company, features many American Actors , and is directed by Lee Isaac Chung, an American filmmaker. “Minari” achieved a better foreign language indication, but was excluded in all other categories.
The Globes will air on NBC on February 28.