My thoughts on the 73rd Annual Golden Globe Awards Movie Nominations:
No one can ever accuse the Hollywood Foreign Press Association of ageism. With nominations for Jane Fonda (77), Lily Tomlin (76), Al Pacino (75), Helen Mirren (70), Maggie Smith (80), even Sylvester Stallone (69), the HFPA definitely went “Old School” this year. Unfortunately, with all those veterans getting nods, a rookie had to pay the price: 9-year-old Jacob Tremblay, who snagged a SAG nomination for his incredible performance in “Room”, was passed-over in the Supporting Actor category. At least he can tell his friends he was knocked-out by Rocky.
Biggest Globes Snubs (besides Tremblay) include Johnny Depp (“Black Mass”, was on everyone’s Best Actor short list – except mine), Tom Hanks (“Bridge of Spies”) a perennial Globes favorite and his “Spies” director Steven Spielberg. Meryl Streep didn’t get a Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical nomination for “Ricki and the Flash”. This is the first time Streep won’t be up for a Globe in five years. And “The Intern”, along with stars Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway, was also shut-out of the Comedy categories.
Because the Globes have separate Drama and Comedy/Musical categories there are crazy entries in both. But this year is more ridiculous that ever, with only two of the five nominees for Best Comedy/Musicial – “Spy” and “Trainwreck” actually being comedies. “The Big Short” and “The Martian” are clearly NOT comedies and while I haven’t seen “Joy” yet, I feel confident in stating it doesn’t belong in the category either. It’s time someone independent of the studios and PR agencies is given the job of designating the proper category for every film submitting for awards, instead of letting the people behind the films put them where they think they have the best shot of getting a nomination.
Biggest Globes Surprises: “Carol” leads the pack with five nominations. I expected a Mark Ruffalo nomination, but for “Spotlight” not “Infinitely Polar Bear”. Christian Bale, who’s up for Supporting Actor at SAG Awards, joins “The Big Short” co-star Steve Carell in Actor in a Comedy or Musical category. Paul Dano is nominated for his work in “Love and Mercy”, but he also shines in “Youth”. The SAGs honored Helen Mirren with two nominations. The Double Nominee Award for the Globes goes to Alicia Vikander (Lead Actress – Drama: “Carol”, Supporting Actress: “Ex Machina”).
The “Inside Out” score was essentially a nomination lock, but Pixar’s only recognition for the psychological comedy is in Animated Feature. “Mad Max: Fury Road” is up for Drama and Director (George Miller) – which is kinda crazy. And Will Smith’s Best Actor – Drama nomination for “Concussion” officially puts him in the awards ballgame.
But the biggest head-scratcher of them all: “Spotlight” gets Best Drama, Best Director and Best Screenplay nominations, and not a single acting nomination. Just because the entire ensemble was solid doesn’t mean some of individual actors (Keaton, Ruffalo and McAdams) didn’t deserve to be singled-out.