Let’s Discuss: The 2019 Golden Globe Nominations — Film Edition
Awards in general have changed over the past several decades. Awards used to be handed out for special situations, usually as proofs of above average merit. Unfortunately, since many companies started handing out these awards annually, most of these ceremonies and winnings are now simply arbitrary consolations so that big companies can pat themselves on the back and say that they are doing a good job. I’ve been extremely cynical of film award ceremonies of the past. Though award season is my favorite time of the year for the vast amount of ambitious and technically above average films that come out, I’m always cautiously optimistic that cast and crew be rewarded for hard work, rather than frothing for the shows themselves. It’s especially frustrating when tons of films are nominated for popularity or diversity’s sake, rather than for achievement in film-making…and this year’s Golden Globe nominations is no exception. Though there are some worthy films that have been nominated, there are many questionable choices here. As the Golden Globes are often considered the pre-Oscars awards ceremony, let’s see what the 2nd rate meritocracy dictates we should remember in 2018 film before the 1st rate meritocracy cements such memory:
Ninja-edit: I’m not going to be going over the television nominations for brevity’s sake, but I may write a separate article on this a little later. There are some notable things to talk about on that side of the visual media spectrum as well. For now, we’re going to just focus on cinema.
Best Motion Picture — Drama
Featuring two films that could arguably be in the musical category, this nominations list is a mixed bag. Black Panther is a good superhero film, but it’s not even the best superhero film of this year. It is a cultural achievement as far as mainstream black cinema is concerned, as it’s the first major black superhero with an almost all-black cast, but this simply seems like a nomination for diversity’s sake and nothing else. Bohemian Rhapsody is a technical mess with one fantastic performance, but both the HFPA and the Academy do seem to love their biopics, and Queen is a celebrated enough band that I suppose I could see why this is nominated. I just wish it was a better film itself. A Star is Born and BlacKkKlansman are in my opinion worthy nominations, with enough acclaim and execution across the board to deserve their spots. If Beale Street Could Talk is a pleasant surprise, as Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight cemented the Wong-kar Wai successor as a crucial voice in American cinema, and if he continues making films such as these, he will have a very memorable filmography. Jenkins is one of the few directors working today who can execute mood within film, truly immersing the audience in what the characters are feeling. While I don’t think it has as great of a chance of winning the globe as the previous two discussed films, I have no doubt it’s worth the nomination. I have not seen this one yet, but I eagerly anticipate it. Snubs: Widows, You Were Never Really Here, First Reformed
Best Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical
Again, Crazy Rich Asians is a competent romantic comedy, but it seems like another nomination for diversity’s sake. Asian American films are underrepresented in Hollywood, so I get it, Crazy Rich Asians is culturally significant. Again, I just wish the film itself was better and more indicative of BEST motion picture here. The Favourite and Mary Poppins Returns are solid nominations in this category, as Yorgos Lanthimos proves to be one of the masters of 2010s dark comedies, and hopefully Mary Poppins Returns proves to be a worthy successor/sequel to the classic musical of multiple generations ago when it opens next weekend. Green Book is not truly a comedy, but it does have buddy comedy elements, and I almost think this and A Star Is Born, which is arguably a musical, could have switched categories here. Finally, I’m excited for Vice, I loved The Big Short, and if Adam McKay’s second politically-driven dark comedy proves to be effective like his first, he may have just found his niche in filmmaking. I have loved his work ever since his raunchy Will Ferrell led comedies, and it’s exciting to see him stretch his directorial range with continuous riveting and fast-paced political dramedies.
Snubs: Sorry to Bother You, Private Life, The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Best Performance in a Motion Picture — Drama
Actor
- Bradley Cooper — A Star Is Born as Jackson Maine
- Willem Dafoe — At Eternity’s Gate as Vincent van Gogh
- Lucas Hedges — Boy Erased as Jared Eamons
- Rami Malek — Bohemian Rhapsody as Freddie Mercury
- John David Washington — BlacKkKlansman as Ron Stallworth
This list actually seems pretty solid and I’m mostly satisfied here. Pretty much all of these performances are great, and I’m particularly rooting for either Lucas Hedges or Rami Malek to clinch this award. I felt their performances carried the most dramatic weight, as both actors carried their films through some notable flaws and basically prevented them from being forgettable. John David Washington’s post-Ballers career is bright, as he definitely succeeds in proving he can act outside of the shadow of his significantly more acclaimed (for now anyways) dad. Dafoe and Cooper are both great actors that have proven themselves over the years, but I don’t find myself rooting for them the same as these other nominees. I haven’t seen At Eternity’s Gate, but Cooper arguably could have been replaced by someone like Oscar Isaac and A Star Is Born would have been fine for it.
Snubs: Ethan Hawke for First Reformed, Joaquin Phoenix for You Were Never Really Here, Nicolas Cage for Mandy
Actress
- Glenn Close — The Wife as Joan Castleman
- Lady Gaga — A Star Is Born as Ally Maine
- Nicole Kidman — Destroyer as Erin Bell
- Melissa McCarthy — Can You Ever Forgive Me? as Lee Israel
- Rosamund Pike — A Private War as Marie Colvin
I am mostly satisfied with this list, except for my disdain for Can You Ever Forgive Me? and the seriously insane snub for Toni Collette, who gave the performance of her life in Hereditary. Melissa McCarthy is okay in the film but it’s just such an aggressively nasty and unapologetically obnoxious film that I’m unable to enjoy it or even admire it from a technical standpoint. Glenn Close is a fine choice, I haven’t seen The Wife but she’s put in her dues with great performances for several decades, but she’s already won an Emmy and other Globes, so I don’t believe this will be her year. Lady Gaga proves that she’s a multi-talented individual in her first major lead role in A Star is Born, so I believe she may have a shot for how well loved she is in pop culture and the fact that she balances her musicianship with genuine heart. Nicole Kidman is probably great in Destroyer, which I haven’t seen, but from the trailers it seems like a performance that is very showy and a kind of “look at me I’m ACTING” role that is tailor made for a nomination. I haven’t seen A Private War either, but I do hope Rosamund Pike wins a Globe or Oscar at some point. She commits to roles even if she’s been in some crazily bad films (see DOOM or 7 Days in Entebbe) and this one is another biopic released near awards season. I don’t think this will be her year either but we will see.
Snubs: Toni Collette for Hereditary, Carey Mulligan for Wildlife, Viola Davis for Widows
Best Performance in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy
Actor
- Christian Bale — Vice as Dick Cheney
- Lin-Manuel Miranda — Mary Poppins Returns as Jack
- Viggo Mortensen — Green Book as Frank “Tony Lip” Vallelonga
- Robert Redford — The Old Man & the Gun as Forrest Tucker
- John C. Reilly — Stan & Ollie as Oliver Hardy
Another showy performance is on this list. I’ve always admired Christian Bale as an actor and human chameleon. He’s like if Gary Oldman decided to destroy his body for every role. I have no doubt he is the favorite of these five for this globe. Lin-Manuel Miranda has risen in the musical sphere since his work in Broadway’s Hamilton, and his Disney collaborations so far have all been wildly successful, so I’m sure he is charismatic and likable in his film, though we will have to see if it’s Best Actor worthy. Viggo Mortensen is a work-horse and someone who is forever nominated for awards but never winning, so he may be the Peter O’Toole figure of the new century, but I wouldn’t be remiss if he won. This just doesn’t seem like the role that will do it. Robert Redford has a little more of a chance here as The Old Man & the Gun is supposedly his swan song before retirement, but we will see if that sticks. I believe John C. Reilly is a great actor, he was particularly great in The Sisters Brothers. I’m surprised he didn’t get nominated for that film, but it’s most likely because Stan & Ollie is a biopic that is more movie related. This is probably the most left-field nomination of this category, and I don’t see him winning for it.
Snubs: Lakeith Stanfield for Sorry to Bother You, Paul Giamatti for Private Life, Tom Waits for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Actress
- Emily Blunt — Mary Poppins Returns as Mary Poppins
- Olivia Colman — The Favourite as Queen Anne
- Elsie Fisher — Eighth Grade as Kayla Day
- Charlize Theron — Tully as Marlo Moreau
- Constance Wu — Crazy Rich Asians as Rachel Chu
Emily Blunt is taking on an incredibly risky job portraying Mary Poppins, but she has enough charisma and integrity that I have faith in her pulling it off. Again, we will see the fruits of this labor next weekend. Olivia Colman has mostly been in supporting roles in film, but her lead turn in British drama series Broadchurch convinced me of her skill as an actress, and I am rooting for her here. I never got to see Eighth Grade, but I’ve seen a ton of acclaim for Kayla Day’s performance that it’d be wholesome if she won as a burgeoning new talent in Hollywood. Charlize Theron in Tully seems like an odd choice here, as I wasn’t really aware of Tully as being a comedy, but I’m not a fan of Jason Reitman after Juno so I don’t really have any feelings one way or another for this nomination. I like Theron but I don’t see her winning here. Finally, Constance Wu’s nomination cements more diversity, but I do believe she is a good actress, if not necessarily more deserving of the award than these other choices. I have not seen her in much beyond the show Fresh Off the Boat but I’m happy her film was a success and I do believe more Asian American representation in film is never a bad thing.
Snubs: Kathryn Hahn for Private Life, Winona Ryder for Destination Wedding, Rachel McAdams for Game Night
Best Supporting Performance in a Motion Picture
Supporting Actor
- Mahershala Ali — Green Book as Don Shirley
- Timothée Chalamet — Beautiful Boy as Nic Sheff
- Adam Driver — BlacKkKlansman as Flip Zimmerman
- Richard E. Grant — Can You Ever Forgive Me? as Jack Hock
- Sam Rockwell — Vice as George W. Bush
Mahershala Ali won pretty much every award except a Golden Globe for Moonlight (he even won the Oscar that year) so it might be a fun revenge if he won for Green Book. However, I believe there are greater odds for Chalamet winning for Beautiful Boy, as he is showing such range in so many different films lately, and offers a fantastic performance here that carries his film. Adam Driver is another great actor putting in several roles with wide range, so even though I don’t think he will win for BlacKkKlansman I would be happy to see him awarded. Richard E. Grant played a snobby, coke-addled douchey conman pretty well, but I felt as if his performance came off a little too disingenuous and overbearing, but I am apparently in the minority on this opinion so we will see what happens for him. Sam Rockwell is fantastic in everything I’ve seen him in but since he recently won everything ever for Three Billboards, I don’t believe he’s going to win here, but I’d be satisfied if he did.
Snubs: Cedric Kyles for First Reformed, Russell Crowe for Boy Erased, Armie Hammer for Sorry to Bother You
Supporting Actress
- Amy Adams — Vice as Lynne Cheney
- Claire Foy — First Man as Janet Shearon Armstrong
- Regina King — If Beale Street Could Talk as Sharon Rivers
- Emma Stone — The Favourite as Abigail Hill
- Rachel Weisz — The Favourite as Sarah Churchill
Amy Adams as Lynne Cheney will probably be a good performance, but I don’t think it will measure up to her turns in the past few years. She gave performances of her career in both Nocturnal Animals and Arrival, so a win for her from a biopic like this would feel very anticlimactic. I usually like Claire Foy but I actually didn’t like her in First Man. She only operated on two emotions: pissed off and nervously frantic, which is understandable for the story…I just feel she was mis-directed. It didn’t help that she went in and out of several accents in the film, from English, to Southern American, to some kind of pseudo Bostonian-New Jersey hybrid thing. Regina King achieved more recent success for the show American Crime, but she’s been a solid character actress for several decades, so she may have a shot under Barry Jenkins’ direction. I think ultimately the vote will be split between the two supporting actress for The Favourite, as both Stone and Weisz are great actresses who seem to be equally snotty and conniving based on the film’s trailers. I would definitely root for Stone, Weisz or King above the first two.
Snubs: Elizabeth Debicki for Widows, Tilda Swinton for Suspiria, Jennifer Jason Leigh for Annihilation
Best Director
- Bradley Cooper — A Star Is Born
- Alfonso Cuarón — Roma
- Peter Farrelly — Green Book
- Spike Lee — BlacKkKlansman
- Adam McKay — Vice
Bradley Cooper’s first directorial outing turned out to be a massive success commercially and critically, and he is beloved in Hollywood and abroad, so maybe his sheer star power, combined with the fact that his debut didn’t suck, may make him a favorite here. However, as for sheer artistic execution and visionary appeal, I believe Alfonso Cuarón has a shot at winning this one for Roma. As one of the “Three Amigos” directors (along with Guillermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu), he has shown to be wildly successful both in Mexican and American filmmaking, and his return to his native language in a black and white slice of life film seems like a cinephile’s dream. I am kind of blown away by the choice in nomination for Peter Farrelly, as Green Book is competent but nothing revolutionary or uber stylized. There were far better choices that could be made here, as I will state below, and I don’t think he will win for this one. Spike Lee proved he still has good films in him with BlacKkKlansman, and though I personally can’t stand the majority of his films, I do think this is a relevant work and worthy of praise, so if he won for this one I would understand. Finally, Adam McKay does show that he becomes a better director and he improves his style with each subsequent film he makes, but I don’t think Vice will be remembered for directing in the face of its incredibly showy lead performance.
Snubs: Panos Cosmatos for Mandy, Ari Aster for Hereditary, Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite
Best Screenplay
- Alfonso Cuarón — Roma
- Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly, and Nick Vallelonga — Green Book
- Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara — The Favourite
- Barry Jenkins — If Beale Street Could Talk
- Adam McKay — Vice
This is a tough category, as pretty much all of these nominees are solid bar one. Again, I think Green Book is being overrated. Due to being a true story, a period piece, and a commentary on racism, I can see its awards appeal, but any film with more than two screenwriters is never a good sign for consistency. I truly don’t know who could potentially win this award. All of the other four nominations seem like they will have great writing. I believe either Roma or The Favourite will clench it though, just because the two films on display will provide more arthousey spectacle to support their writing.
Snubs: Paul Schrader for First Reformed, Ari Aster for Hereditary, Boots Riley for Sorry to Bother You
Best Original Score
- Marco Beltrami — A Quiet Place
- Alexandre Desplat — Isle of Dogs
- Ludwig Göransson — Black Panther
- Justin Hurwitz — First Man
- Marc Shaiman — Mary Poppins Returns
Never before have I been so torn between one music related Golden Globes category. On one hand, Marco Beltrami and Alexandre Desplat both bring unique and impeccable sound design to A Quiet Place and Isle of Dogs, respectively, but this is the same category as Mary Poppins Returns which will most likely win the reward for its legacy value as a musical. I’m not sure why Black Panther and First Man are on here, as I don’t think there scores were particularly memorable and they relied too much on one gimmick (Black Panther’s was hip hop, First Man’s was a theremin.) This category is honestly a mess and it makes me see why other ceremonies differentiate “Score” between things like “audio design” and “audio editing,” and normally I hate such diversified categories, but I suppose the people picking these nominees may not necessarily be the most analytical after all.
Snubs: Jóhann Jóhannsson for Mandy, Jonny Greenwood for You Were Never Really Here, Łukasz Żal for Cold War
Best Original Song
- “All the Stars” — Black Panther
- “Girl in the Movies” — Dumplin’
- “Requiem for a Private War” — A Private War
- “Revelation” — Boy Erased
- “Shallow” — A Star Is Born
What the hell is Dumplin’? Another Black Panther nomination, granted, this song is pretty good. I haven’t seen or heard the song from A Private War, and though Revelation from Boy Erased was a pretty good gospel style tune, I don’t really remember it well. None of these are going to beat “Shallow,” a massive hit that perfectly encapsulated the tone and message of the film. There’s not really much else to say. It will win.
Snubs: Uhhhhh I can’t really think of any memorable original songs from this year sorry. Shallow is the only choice.
Best Animated Feature Film
If this list were to be presented to me a month ago, I probably would have bet that either Incredibles 2 or Isle of Dogs would have claimed the spot on this list. Both are from veteran directors who have shown skill in animation before, and both films have their dedicated fanbases. However, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has taken critics by storm here in the last couple weeks, as it’s one of the most acclaimed animation-based superhero films in the last decade, even moreso than Incredibles 2! Its unique artstyle and biting humor may give it the edge here. Mirai is a compelling case for the anime film genre, but though this market has steadily broadened in recent years, it still remains relatively niche. Finally, Ralph Breaks the Internet is a much less anticipated animated sequel that I frankly don’t see winning here. I am rooting for Spider-Verse to win simply because we don’t see many animated comic book films ever since the MCU took off, and this may provide much needed refreshment for superhero fans.
Snubs: I can’t think of any snubs here…maybe Teen Titans Go! To The Movies? This list is pretty solid.
Best Foreign Language Film
This vote will most likely be split between Roma and Shoplifters. Both are critically acclaimed, with Roma having a ridiculously high Metacritic score, and Shoplifters having been the recipient of this year’s Palme d’Or. Capernaum, which is a dramatic film featuring multiple kids making their acting debut, but I have not heard too much acclaim for this one beyond being a festival success. Girl seems like a political nomination more than anything, as it discusses a transgender girl, but the trans community itself has been super critical of this one for how it depicts certain character actions and rationalities, so I think the controversy may drive votes away from it. Finally, Never Look Away is the obligatory yearly Holocaust film about tensions arising in post-World War II Germany, but other than that I haven’t heard too much about it. I just can’t see anything but the last two nominations winning this one.
Snubs: Burning, Cold War, Birds of Passage
So there you have it. Another year, another mixed bag of nominations from the Hollywood Foreign Press that has some questionable choices and forcefully obligatory entries. But what do I know? I’m just a dude. There are a ton of great films that are not acknowledged here, and I always encourage you to take an effort at seeking out more. You may just find a surprise hidden gem if you don’t limit yourself to what Hollywood tells you is good and acceptable under their conformism.
In closing, to paraphase the first half of this Ron Swanson quote, and leave the second half to the picture below, “I still think awards are stupid…”
