The Golden Globes: An Oscar Preview?
The 2021 Golden Globes ceremony took place on February 28th, and it provided a more focused view on what this year's Academy Awards may look like. It is very often a precursor to Oscar success, as many of the people who win the Golden Globe for their films/performances go on to strike gold come Oscar Sunday. Given that my focus is the Oscars, I will mostly be discussing that, but the full list of winners is as follows.
TELEVISION
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- Musical or Comedy
Don Cheadle - "Black Monday"
Nicholas Hoult - "The Great"
Eugene Levy - "Schitt's Creek"
Jason Sudekis - "Ted Lasso" - *WINNER
Ramy Youssef - "Ramy"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Musical or Comedy
Lily Collins - "Emily in Paris"
Kaley Cuoco - "The Flight Attendant"
Elle Fanning - "The Great"
Jane Levy - "Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist"
Catherine O'Hara - "Schitt's Creek"- WINNER*
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series -- Drama
Jason Bateman - "Ozark"
Josh O'Connor - "The Crown" - WINNER*
Bob Odenkirk - "Better Call Saul"
Al Pacino - "Hunters"
Matthew Rhys - "Perry Mason"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series -- Drama
Olivia Colman - "The Crown"
Jodie Comer - "Killing Eve"
Emma Corrin - "The Crown" - WINNER*
Laura Linney - "Ozark"
Sarah Paulson - "Ratched"
Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Bryan Cranston - "Your Honor"
Jeff Daniels - "The Comey Rule"
Hugh Grant - "The Undoing"
Mark Ruffalo - "I Know This Much is True" - WINNER*
Ethan Hawke - "The Good Lord Bird"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Cate Blanchett - "Mrs. America"
Daisy Edgar-Jones - "Normal People"
Shira Haas - "Unorthodox"
Nicole Kidman - "The Undoing"
Anya Taylor-Joy - "The Queen's Gambit" - WINNER*
Best Television Series Drama
"The Crown" - WINNER*
"Lovecraft Country"
"The Mandalorian"
"Ozark"
"Ratched"
Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
"Normal People"
"The Queen's Gambit" - WINNER*
"Small Axe"
"The Undoing"
"Unorthodox"
Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
Helena Bonham Carter - "The Crown"
Julia Garner - "Ozark"
Annie Murphy - "Schitt's Creek"
Cynthia Nixon - "Ratched"
Gillian Anderson - "The Crown" - *WINNER
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television
John Boyega - "Small Axe" - WINNER*
Brendan Gleeson - "The Comey Rule"
Daniel Levy - "Schitt's Creek"
Jim Parsons - "Hollywood"
Donald Sutherland - "The Undoing"
Best Television Series -- Musical or Comedy
"Emily in Paris"
"The Flight Attendant"
"Schitt's Creek" - WINNER*
"The Great"
"Ted Lasso"
FILM
Best Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
"Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" - WINNER*
"Hamilton"
"Music"
"Palm Springs"
"The Prom"
Best Motion Picture -- Drama
"The Father"
"Mank"
"Nomadland" - WINNER*
"Promising Young Woman"
"The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Best Motion Picture -- Foreign Language
"Another Round," Denmark
"La Llorona," Guatamala/France
"The Life Ahead," Italy
"Minari," USA - WINNER*
"Two of Us," France/USA
Best Screenplay -- Motion Picture
Emerald Fennell - "Promising Young Woman"
Jack Fincher - "Mank"
Aaron Sorkin - "The Trial of the Chicago 7" - WINNER*
Florian Zeller, Christopher Hampton - "The Father"
Chloe Zhao - "Nomadland"
Best Original Song -- Motion Picture
"Fight for You" - "Judas and the Black Messiah"
"Hear My Voice" - "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
"IO SI (Seen)" - "The Life Ahead" - WINNER*
"Speak Now" - "One Night in Miami"
"Tigers & Tweed" - "The United States vs. Billie Holiday"
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
Sacha Baron Cohen - "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Daniel Kaluuya - "Judas and the Black Messiah" - WINNER*
Jared Leto - "The Little Things"
Bill Murray - "On the Rocks"
Leslie Odom, Jr. - "One Night in Miami"
Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Any Motion Picture
Glenn Close - "Hillbilly Elegy"
Olivia Colman - "The Father"
Jodie Foster - "The Mauritanian" - WINNER*
Amanda Seyfried - "Mank"
Helena Zengel - "News of the World"
Best Actor in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen - "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" - WINNER*
James Corden - "The Prom"
Lin-Manuel Miranda - "Hamilton"
Dev Patel - "The Personal History of David Copperfield"
Andy Samberg - "Palm Springs"
Best Motion Picture -- Animated
"The Croods: A New Age"
"Onward"
"Over the Moon"
"Soul" - WINNER*
"Wolfwalkers"
Best Actor in a Motion Picture -- Drama
Chadwick Boseman, - "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" - WINNER*
Riz Ahmed - "The Sound of Metal"
Anthony Hopkins - "The Father"
Gary Oldman - "Mank"
Tahar Rahim - "The Mauritanian"
Best Actress in a Motion Picture -- Drama
Viola Davis - "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"
Andra Day - "The United States vs. Billie Holiday" - WINNER*
Vanessa Kirby - "Pieces of a Woman"
Frances McDormand - "Nomadland"
Carey Mulligan - "Promising Young Woman
Best Actress in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
Maria Bakalova - "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm"
Kate Hudson - "Music"
Michelle Pfeiffer - "French Exit"
Rosamund Pike - "I Care A Lot" - WINNER*
Anya Taylor-Joy - "Emma"
Best Actor in a Motion Picture -- Musical or Comedy
Sacha Baron Cohen - "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm" - WINNER*
James Corden - "The Prom"
Lin-Manuel Miranda - "Hamilton"
Dev Patel - "The Personal History of David Copperfield"
Andy Samberg - "Palm Springs"
Best Director -- Motion Picture
David Fincher - "Mank"
Regina King - "One Night in Miami"
Aaron Sorkin - "The Trial of the Chicago 7"
Chloe Zhao - "Nomadland" - WINNER*
Emerald Fennell - "Promising Young Woman"
Best Original Score
"The Midnight Sky"
"Tenet"
"News of the World"
"Mank"
"Soul" - WINNER*
There's a lot to unpack there. Firstly, the obvious ones. Pixar's Soul is winning Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. On top of it being amazing (though not as good as masterpieces like WALL-E, Up, Ratatouille, and Inside Out), the Academy deservedly loves Pixar for its industry-changing films. Given the themes of the film, a win, or at least a nomination, for Best Original Score at the Oscars isn't outside the realm of possibilities.
In terms of the acting categories, Chadwick Boseman's posthumous win for Ma Rainey's Black Bottom solidifies to me that he'll be the third actor (alongside Peter Finch for Network in 1976 and Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight in 2008) to grab a posthumous acting Oscar. So far, he's the frontrunner. The interesting thing was Sacha Baron Cohen's win for the Borat sequel. Either it was a threadbare year for films, or Cohen did new things with Borat. The character has been a fixture of pop culture since the first film was released, and as funny as he can be, he's fairly one-note. Now, given the Academy's track record, it's unlikely that he'll actually score a nomination, though anything is possible. Borat just isn't the kind of movie that the Academy likes to reward. The same goes for its chances at actually scoring a Best Picture nomination. It's highly unlikely.
To really get a glimpse at what films will be nominated, it's much safer to draw from the "Drama" categories, as those are the kinds of films the Academy likes. The last film that might be considered a comedy that won Best Picture is the highly forgettable The Artist back in 2011, and that really won because of the silent movie gimmick. Nomadland has been getting a lot of buzz as the frontrunner for Best Picture. It has the benefit of being timely, which will always help a film's chances. It's about a woman who lost everything in the Great Recession in 2008, and that resonates with more people now in a world ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic which has seen a lot of people lost their livelihoods due to the shutdowns.
That's not to say that it has it in the bag. The Trial of the Chicago Seven has also been garnering a lot of buzz, and, once again, its themes are timely due to the civil unrest in America today. Overall, though, I think it's a fairly safe bet that most, if not all, of the films nominated in the "Drama" category will score Best Picture nominations.
One film to look at as a potential surprise nominee is the megahit musical Hamilton, which was nominated in the "Comedy or Musical" category. Ever since it was released on Disney+ in 2020, there has been a push to have it nominated for Best Picture, with the Academy pushing back, saying that based on the format of the film, it doesn't fit the qualifications for a nod. Objectively speaking, it does, and the Academy may soften up a bit and allow the nomination, especially if there is a big enough push come nomination time.
Actress may be a harder one to pinpoint. Actor has been Boseman's award to lose for quite a while, but the Actress category isn't as clear cut. Again, the winner will most likely be from the "Drama" category, which makes Andra Day the frontrunner for the moment. The Academy may look favorably on McDormand for Nomadland as it's the safe pick for Best Picture at the moment, but McDormand has a pair of Best Actress Oscars already (1996 for Fargo and 2017 for Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), and it's rare that an actor wins more often than that.
The Supporting roles are clearer, but there's no solid frontrunner quite yet. Daniel Kaluuya first burst onto the scene in 2017 with the Jordan Peele masterpiece Get Out, a role for which he was nominated Best Actor. Jodie Foster is another person who could suffer for already having previous Oscar success (Best Actress for The Accused in 1988 and The Silence of the Lambs in 1991), leaving the door open for somebody like Glenn Close, who has received seven Oscar nominations but no wins. If the Supporting Actress list is CTRL+C CTRL+V, then Close could finally get one for being "due" after having lost so many other times.
Aaron Sorkin being nominated for Best Screenplay and Best Director is pretty much a given, and it wouldn't be a huge shock to see him at least win Screenplay. Best Director will most likely go to Chloe Zhao, both because she directed the Best Picture frontrunner, but because she is female and Asian, two groups that have not been represented very highly in the major non-specific categories. Zhao's win would make her the first Asian woman to win Best Director, and the first woman to win the award since Kathryn Bigelow in 2009 for The Hurt Locker.
The Golden Globes aren't a completely sure thing when it comes to Oscar nominations. Many people who get nominations and even wins during the ceremony are left in the cold come Oscar night. While often it can confirm what people know anyway (seriously, Soul is winning Best Animated Feature) it is merely a preview. That's not to knock the hard work people have done to get their awards, but when it comes to the pinnacle of award season, you can't beat the Oscars. Now the picture is clearer.
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Source(s): CNN