What to Expect From the 80th Golden Globe Awards

golden-globes-statuettes

Abbott Elementary is the hottest new comedy to come along in years. Taking a page from The Office’s mockumentary gimmick, the show depicts the daily grind of public school teachers in Philadelphia. Whether this show saves network television or merely delays its impending death, it’s still frothy, wholesome fun, and its second season, currently airing on ABC, has continued the first season’s success.

Abbott is the clear frontrunner at the Globes, where it’s nominated for five awards. The only show that could possibly derail its momentum is The Bear, a Hulu exclusive about a fine dining chef who tries to resurrect his family’s Chicago sandwich shop. The dark horse is Netflix’s Wednesday, about a teenaged Wednesday Addams played by Jenna Ortega. It’s got buzz on its side, but that’s about it; the viral dance craze might not be enough to bring home the gold. 

One of the eccentricities of the Golden Globes—that sets it apart from the other major awards shows—is that the Best Picture race is split into two separate categories: one for Best Drama, and the other for Best Comedy/Musical.

Traditionally, the Golden Globes is a predictor for the Academy Awards. But this year, the split between Drama and Comedy has also split the Oscar frontrunners. On the drama side, we have Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans and James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water. And on the comedy side, we have the multiverse epic Everything Everywhere All at Once and the comedy The Banshees of Inisherin. It’s been a very strong year, and we’ll likely see a dispersal of awards among these four films, rather than a single film that completely runs the table.

So let’s talk about the elephant in the room: did the two-year revamp of the HFPA lead to any meaningful change in what films were represented in the nominations? Broadly speaking, no. The following deserving films were snubbed in the Best Picture race: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Emancipation, The Woman King, and Till. Of these, Emancipation and Till were shut out from nominations entirely. 

The Woman King’s sole nomination was for Viola Davis’ performance as Nanisca, the general and leader of an all-woman warrior group known as the Agojie. The director, Gina Prince-Bythewood, did not receive a nomination.

For all the incredible female acting performances that the HFPA recognized this year, it did a poor job of representing women behind the camera. Not a single female film director received a nomination this year, which isn’t a great look—especially since for the past two years, the Golden Globe winners for Best Director (Chloe Zhao for Nomadland and Jane Campion for The Power of the Dog) were both women.

Historically, Latinos are underrepresented at award shows, but this year, the Globes showed out in the performance categories. In addition to Ana de Armas, who was nominated for playing Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, Jenna Ortega was nominated for her performance as Wednesday Addams in the Netflix series Wednesday, and Diego Luna was nominated for his performance in the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor. 

Selena Gomez also earned her first Globes nomination for her role as Mabel in the Hulu series Only Murders in the Building. It hits especially hard because Gomez was snubbed at the Emmy nominations over her two white male co-stars who were both nominated. This is a redress that places Gomez front and center, where she belongs.

Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro was nominated for his animated film Pinocchio. The director was previously nominated at the Globes for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006, for the Mexican film Pan’s Labyrinth. He won the Golden Globe for Best Director in 2017 for his fantasy film The Shape of Water. Things may be looking up for Latinos getting recognition in the industry.

Speaking of Hollywood loving itself, Ana de Armas netted a nomination for her lead performance as Marilyn Monroe in Blonde. The high-profile biopic has been getting a ton of awards buzz all year, and it’s anchored by de Armas’ transformation into one of the most famous women in all of entertainment.

But then, the movie debuted, and critics and fans both expressed disappointment in the film, alternatively dismissing it as artsy trash and further exploitation of an already exploited woman. De Armas, however, has managed to rise above that criticism, due to the vulnerability of her performance and the iconic status of the legend she’s portraying. And, it bears repeating: Hollywood loves itself, even at its leering worst.

We love Ana de Armas, and we can’t wait to see her on the red carpet, but she probably won’t win. The actress most deserving of that honor is Michelle Yeoh. More on her next.

She’s a decorated, respected name in Hong Kong action cinema, starring alongside Jackie Chan in Police Story 3: Supercop and later co-starring in Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies with Pierce Brosnan. But Michelle Yeoh earned dramatic praise for her role in Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon in 2000. And beginning in 2018, Yeoh continued her run of critically acclaimed roles, with a supporting role in Crazy Rich Asians and another supporting role in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

She capped this with a lead performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once, which, thanks to the movie’s multiverse conceit, allowed her to flex the full range of her acting ability. Barring an upset by Cate Blanchett’s (who, let’s be real, drops an Oscar bait performance every other year), this should be Yeoh’s year.

In 2018, Brendan Fraser claimed that then HFPA president Philip Berk groped him without his consent at a 2003 luncheon. According to Fraser, the HFPA, rather than dealing with it above board, tried to repress the story and minimized Berk’s behavior as having been done in jest.

Fraser is currently the toast of Hollywood for his tragic role in The Whale, as a morbidly obese English teacher who is homebound and cut off from his family. But despite his Globe nomination for Lead Actor in a Drama, Fraser will not be attending the ceremony, saying in an interview with GQ, “My mother didn’t raise a hypocrite.” Will Fraser win the award anyway? Tune in to see the crowd’s reaction if he does.

In past years, the Cecil B. DeMille Award for lifetime achievement in entertainment has gone to such luminaries as Meryl Streep, Morgan Freeman, Top Hanks, and Oprah Winfrey. This year, it’s going to Eddie Murphy, a much deserved recipient, if there ever was one. An incredible standup comedian, sketch artist (who single handedly carried SNL through its lean years), and actor (with critically beloved comedic and dramatic roles), Murphy has done it all.

These lifetime accolades are all happening at once; in 2015, Murphy accepted the Mark Twain Prize for Humor; in 2019, he returned to SNL to host for the first time since 1984. It is too much to hope for another standup special or one last push for an acting Oscar, to really put a bow on it?

Tune in to see the acceptance speech. Will we get serious Eddie or funny Eddie? We’ll probably end up with a bit of both.

Will Smith did not receive a nomination for the lead role in Emancipation—a fact that less than a year ago, would have been seen as a travesty. But thanks to The Slap, it seems like people are not ready to move on from it just yet, even months out from the incident. Smith went above and beyond to promote Emancipation but so far, he doesn’t seem to have won back the hearts of those in charge of handing out awards.

As Smith said in a recent Instagram video, letting people down and disappointing them is his central trauma; no doubt, this setback has rattled him. Many have been wondering over the past year if we have witnessed the end of Smith’s run as one of Hollywood’s best. Or if there is still a chance that, given enough time, he can recover from this? Whichever the case, he might need more time to bounce back before March 4, when Chris Rock’s brand-new stand-up special streams live on Netflix.