Golden Globe Awards

[flipp525]

flipp525 wrote
Great, we get to watch Sam Rockwell’s thirsty wife making a fool of herself again.

That’s some grade-A cattiness.

Thanks!

[rolotomasi99]

A Private War is a movie that was barely on my radar at all. Has anyone seen it? Is Rosamund Pike a contender? (Or is her nomination just the death knell for more highly publicized candidates like Collette, Davis, Mulligan?)

I have (my full review is in the Official Review of 2018 thread). Yes, Rosamund Pike is a contender. When I got out, I was surprised she wasn't being talked up more for Best Actress because she was outstanding. It's very baity role too: plays a real person, with a disability (she wears an eyepatch and is half-blind for most of the film), suffers from PTSD and alcoholism, has long monologues and the film tackles Very Important Issues. I cheered when her name was announced, a very pleasant surprise.

I second this endorsement. I was surprised by the raw power of her performance. I am sure my heart will be broken when she is not nominated by the Oscars, but at least she is not being completely ignored.

[Sabin]

flipp525 wrote
Great, we get to watch Sam Rockwell’s thirsty wife making a fool of herself again.

That’s some grade-A cattiness.

[FilmFan720]

The reason why both A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody are competing in the drama category is because they are technically not musicals. They have concert sequences and the characters don't break into song for the cinema audience as in all actual musicals - the Astaire films, Gigi, My Fair Lady etc. Mary Poppins Returns fits that bill this year where the songs are sung at the audience. That's the explanation I heard a critic give on YouTube.

Although the Streisand version, with it's concert sequences, won in the musical category. Maybe it had also songs where Streisand and Kristofferson sing to each other off the stage which allowed the film to be nominated as a musical. I can't recall all the songs in that film as I last saw it in 1976 or 1977.

I believe this was a relative recent change that the HFPA made. I can't remember what podcast I heard it on, but they mentioned after "comedy/musical" wins like Joaquin Phoenix or Jamie Foxx, which they felt won more for their dramatic work than their musical or comedic chops, they said that Musical Biopics need to be considered dramas. A Star Is Born, although fictional, fell in that category.

[The Original BJ]

The reason why both A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody are competing in the drama category is because they are technically not musicals. They have concert sequences and the characters don't break into song for the cinema audience as in all actual musicals.

Although that's never been a concern for the Globes before -- Walk the Line, Ray, La Vie en Rose, Flashdance, Fame, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Rose, etc. were all recognized in the Musical category despite not being break-into-song musicals. My understanding is that the studios submitted in the Drama category on purpose, but Mister Tee's point is valid -- although WB certainly imagined A Star is Born contending on the Drama side might allow it to be taken more seriously come Oscar time (especially since it seems poised to win all or most of the Drama-side nominations anyway), one wonders if Bohemian Rhapsody actually lucked out by submitting in what ended up being a weaker field (I'm not sure it would have displaced any of the Comedy/Musical Best Picture nominees, for instance.)

For the record, I'm not sure I agree that all of those films should have been considered musicals, when you get down to it. Flashdance/Fame definitely feel like they fit the genre requirements, but it's always seemed weird to me that people like Jamie Foxx and Marion Cotillard can win Comedy/Musical Globes for performances that are neither comic nor musical.

It's also worth noting how much gray area there is between the two fields in general this year -- Vice, Green Book, and BlackKklansman are all about the same level of funny/serious, for instance.

[Greg]

The reason why both A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody are competing in the drama category is because they are technically not musicals. They have concert sequences and the characters don't break into song for the cinema audience as in all actual musicals - the Astaire films, Gigi, My Fair Lady etc. Mary Poppins Returns fits that bill this year where the songs are sung at the audience. That's the explanation I heard a critic give on YouTube.

By that reasoning, Cabaret is not a musical.

[Reza]

The reason why both A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody are competing in the drama category is because they are technically not musicals. They have concert sequences and the characters don't break into song for the cinema audience as in all actual musicals - the Astaire films, Gigi, My Fair Lady etc. Mary Poppins Returns fits that bill this year where the songs are sung at the audience. That's the explanation I heard a critic give on YouTube.

Although the Streisand version, with it's concert sequences, won in the musical category. Maybe it had also songs where Streisand and Kristofferson sing to each other off the stage which allowed the film to be nominated as a musical. I can't recall all the songs in that film as I last saw it in 1976 or 1977.

[MaxWilder]

Oh, and, as someone who once filed alphabetically for a living -- the blank space between "Black" and "Panther" puts it ahead of "BlackkKlansman" in the system I learned.

Microsoft Excel agrees.

[Mister Tee]

Oh, and, as someone who once filed alphabetically for a living -- the blank space between "Black" and "Panther" puts it ahead of "BlackkKlansman" in the system I learned.

[Mister Tee]

I've now come to grips with the fact that it wasn't a great year, and no saviors are going to swoop in at the last minute. I haven't seen everything, but I've seen six of the ten best film nominees, and none of them approach last year's group.

A Star is Born was obviously going to be their thing, but 1) howcome the last two versions of the film, with the same number of musical interludes, competed under Comedy/Musical and this is drama?; and 2) missing Sam Elliott and screenplay says it's not the juggernaut a front-runner like La La Land was.

It may be the studio wanted Cooper's film to compete in the (generally) more prestigious Best Drama category, but, honestly as I heard the nominees in that group read off, it felt like a second-tier batch. Someone at Awards Watch said it's the first time since 1965 that none of the five nominees in the category secured both directing and screenplay nominations, which feels significant. (Odd Spike Lee couldn't pull off the feat, since screenplay seemed an easier get for him.)

Black Panther's nomination, unaccompanied by much best picture level support (acting/writing/directing), felt a bit "we're supposed to do this, and there's room, so why not, but our hearts aren't in it."

Is this a good showing for Beale Street or not?

It's sure as hell a good one for Vice. This movie seems to be provoking a crazy-divisive response (based on the tweets out there, many from people labeled as critics). A substantial subset hates the movie, and has been loudly proclaiming the film dead in the water for awards. But this, and a few of those podunk critics, suggests that those who like the film are more numerous, just not as loud.

Sight unseen, ugh for Green Book. It's hard to believe the Academy directors' branch would go for something so cornball -- but, there was The Cider House Rules. A lot of people think Ali could win here, since the Globes were one spot he didn't win for Moonlight. And it's not impossible Mortensen could top Bale.

Bohemian Rhapsody in no way deserved Best Drama -- both on quality and categorization (like A Star is Born, it ought to be on the Comedy/Musical team). But it goes down a lot easier than I expected, and I can see why it's been a hit. Malek's performance in the opening half hour or so doesn't work, but he has a bunch of strong scenes in the latter portions of the film. Which is to say, his nomination is not unworthy.

Don't quite get why The Favourite got so much (almost everything, really) but fell short for directing -- unless it's the fact everyone's been so touting the script, the director was underrated/forgotten.

Best actress is sort of chaotic; there are so many candidates, multiple hopefuls were left out here (Colette, Ronan, Jones), yet we still have too wide a field. Glenn Close's scenario is still alive, though we won't know till the TV phase kicks in whether she's just along for the ride or an active possibility to win. And if she doesn't, who does? Gaga? Colman? McCarthy?

Best Actor-Drama seems streamlined for Cooper. I'm happy Dafoe got in for (so far) under-appreciated work. Hawke is indeed an odd exclusion -- normally, the Globes go out of their way to feature critics' winners. I think Hawke can still get an AMPAS nod, but his slim chances at winning were significantly reduced by his.

The supporting actress slate seems fairly likely to carry over to the Oscars, though Claire Foy is the most dubious candidate. The otherwise near-complete shutout of First Man is evidence the Globes were affected by the box-office disappointment -- based on reviews/subject matter, it should have been one of their prime offerings.

I agree with BJ, that Roma's far-from-certain screenplay nod is the strongest evidence HFPA wanted to signal the film is part of the real race (as opposed to the foreign language ghetto). I'm also with Sabin, that I think Cuaron has a chance to join Ang Lee and Julian Schnabel as directing winners for subtitled movies.

The Globes continue their tradition of nominating as many pop stars as they can in the song category. Fill those tables with famous faces.

Not feeling the races gelling at all, which is of course fun for the time being.

[OscarGuy]

Lady Gaga and Queen Latifah should be alphabetized under L and Q respectively.

While I get that Lady and Queen are typically titles, they are not granted to either of these individuals and their names aren't Gaga and Latifah. They are single names even if they are two words.

[flipp525]

Great, we get to watch Sam Rockwell’s thirsty wife making a fool of herself again.

[Sabin]

The Original BJ wrote
It’s a badly-reviewed Netflix beauty pageant movie with Jennifer Aniston, but last week I saw some billboards around town promoting Dolly Parton for Original Song and I thought, you know what? The Globes are absolutely going to go for that.

Well played.

[The Original BJ]

WTF is Dumplin?

It’s a badly-reviewed Netflix beauty pageant movie with Jennifer Aniston, but last week I saw some billboards around town promoting Dolly Parton for Original Song and I thought, you know what? The Globes are absolutely going to go for that.

[Sabin]

The Original BJ wrote
And how bizarre that [Green Book] doesn't get punished for its box office underperformance, while superior efforts like First Man (two noms) and Widows (nada) get hurt for flopping.

It's also possible they just didn't like them. Historically, Widows is not the kind of film that does well with this group.

Vice solidified its standing in the race. I honestly can't find the last time a movie got 6 nominations and failed to get a Best Picture nominations. I had a feeling that Sam Rockwell could get a nomination like Jon Voight for Ali. To be honest, he has more to do than Voight and his impersonation is more meaningful. He's also in the club now.

Best Comedic/Musical Picture is a real race between The Favourite, Green Book, and Vice. I have no idea what's going to win. I guess The Favourite won't win this one because it's not up for Best Director, which is strange because it would appear to be the, y'know.

I have no idea who is going to end up taking Best Comedic/Musical Actor, Christian Bale or Viggo Mortensen. I'd imagine Viggo because he has yet to win and it's an opportunity to give something to Green Book as a whole.

A Star is Born missed a Best Screenplay nomination but it's up against Black Panther and Bohemain Rhapsody (no director, no screenplay), Blackkklansman (no screenplay), and If Beale Street Could Talk (no director). So that race is over. I'm also feeling pretty strong about Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga winning. I just can't imagine they'll break this on-screen couple up.

Best Supporting Actor is probably between Mahershala Ali and Timothee Chalamet, although I'm not sure if I'm just hanging onto this narrative that Timothee Chalamet won last year so he's going to get it this year.

Best Supporting Actress and Screenplay are also crap shoots.

I think they're going to give Best Director to Alfonso Cuaron for Roma.

Also, this might seem silly but I think a film that got a big boost was Isle of Dogs. I was shrugging off a Best Score nomination as an outside possibility, especially for a fairly modestly performing animated film than opened a while ago. Wes Anderson's streak with Alexandre Desplat should continue.

WTF is Dumplin?