David Pierdomenico
Often viewed as the Silver Standard, the Golden Globes are often the largest precursor and indicator of how the Oscars and Emmys will go (the Gold Standard). Issued by the Hollywood Foreign Press, they remain the first major award show of the year, airing in January. And while a myriad of “award bait” films get released between October and December, only five comedy/musicals and five dramas may be chosen. So what are the biggest surprises and snubs of this year’s nominees?
1. Black Panther for Best Drama
Comic book fans rejoice! At a time when Stan Lee’s death is still very fresh in the hearts of fans, they can celebrate at their beloved genre’s recognition in award season. Black Panther was a game changer not just in its portrayal of a black superhero, but in its overall tone, world building, and compelling villain.
Themes of race, isolationism, duty, and just cause were all beneath the surface of this film, and made it run much deeper than most other films in the MCU. Usually the Best Drama category is filled with period pieces, biopics, and social dramas. So it’s very exciting to see such diversity in genre. Perhaps this bodes well for the future of the comic book films and their quest to be taken seriously by award shows.
2. Not Much Love for First Man
Given how the last two of Damien Chazelle’s films, (Whiplash and La La Land) were nominated for Best Picture, most expected the same for his retelling of the Apollo 11 moon landing. To be fair, Claire Foy was nominated for her brilliant performance as Janet Armstrong, as well as Justin Hurwitz for his original score.
However, First Man seemed to have all the inclinations of getting nominated for other categories as well. It’s the very type of film that would instantly be a shoe-in for winning Best Picture in the past. But perhaps that’s a sign of the changing times. Instead of automatically deferring to the historical drama, films like Black Panther are being nominated instead. And perhaps that’s not a bad thing.
3. 2/5 of Best Drama Being Music Based
Make no mistake, A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody were both brilliant in their own right. And it will be a crime if Rami Malek doesn’t win Best Actor for his spot on performance as Freddie Mercury. Yet, at the same time, it does feel a bit strange that both of these films are included in the Drama category. Yes, they’re technically not musicals so they have to be. But they are very much music based. And their inclusion in Drama is taking up two spots that could have gone to other films. Not to suggest that any two of the Comedy nominees deserve to be booted (except for maybe Crazy Rich Asians, which feels too much like “generic comedy”). It’s just a bit odd.
4. No Love for Horror
It’s no secret that horror has never enjoyed the adoration of any major awards. But with the inclusion of last year’s Get Out, some horror fans had hope that the times were a changing. Especially with so much buzz around films like A Quiet Place, Upgrade and Hereditary this year. While A Quiet Place has been nominated for Best Original Score, many felt its unique plot and almost silent film nature would have been enough to warrant a Best Picture or Best Director nomination. Additionally, Hereditary was a brilliant thriller that built tension for the entire runtime, and gave audiences one of the best performances of Toni Collette’s career. It’s a shame to see that she, and the film itself went unrecognized.
5. The Return of Sacha Baron Cohen
Once Borat became world famous, it seemed as if the jig was up for Sacha Baron Cohen. He had already shown the world his character and that the whole thing was an act. Then with Bruno three years later (which wasn’t received as positively), everyone thought he really was done. From there, he starred a few traditional comedy films, none of which gained much critical or financial success (The Dictator and The Brothers Grimsby). So it came as a huge surprise this past summer when Cohen revealed that he had secretly been filming a new series for the past year with a whole new cast of characters.
In today’s incredibly divisive nation, he set out to answer the question posed in his series’ title Who is America? And it’s every bit as shocking, hilarious, and relevant as you’d expect. In fact the series itself should have been nominated for Best TV Comedy, but to be fair, Cohen himself is and he very much makes up the bulk of the series. The fact that he’s able to maintain a straight face and never break character in these situations that often go off the rails is amazing. Hopefully the release of the series doesn’t spoil the secret of his characters and he’s still able to make episodes, because there’s so much more that he could say.
6. Overlooking Sorry to Bother You
On the mere surface, Sorry to Bother You seems like just another irreverent comedy about a black telemarketer who gains success by using his “white voice” to sell over the phone. But the trailers did the film a disservice because there’s so much more to it than that. It deals with the very real issues of race, class warfare, and income inequality. While addressing these problems, the film goes down a rabbit hole into dark comedy and odd fantasy. Honestly, it’s quite difficult to describe to someone who hasn’t seen it. But it was one of the most unique and creative films of the year!
7. Forgetting to Call Saul
This year marks the first time that Bob Odenkirk has not been nominated for his performance in Better Call Saul. It shouldn’t come as that much of a surprise, since the series has never been nominated for any other Golden Globes, including the other actors. But the fact that Rhea Seehorn isn’t nominated is just downright criminal (no pun intended). Perhaps it’s because this series is a prequel that it’s not taken as seriously. But it’s proven to be the exception in that it’s just as good as Breaking Bad, and in some ways, it’s even better!
Come January 6th, we’ll see if the Hollywood Foreign Press has any more surprises with who ends up winning. Then it’s on to the Oscars. But we’ll have to wait until January 22nd for the nominees, which will most likely have even more surprises, snubs, and drama. But that’s the beauty of these awards shows. They’re like the Super Bowl for film buffs!
