A new era for the Golden Globes has officially begun. The nominations for the 81st Golden Globes were announced today, marking the first year of the Globes without the traditional Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Under new ownership from Dick Clark Productions, 300 journalists from around the world voted on these nominations, a stark difference from the 80 or so who previously voted in years past.
While a new voting body makes this year’s Globes more difficult to predict, this morning’s nominations weren’t too shocking. As expected, there were strong showings for films like “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” and “Poor Things,” while international titles scored some significant nominations. Two new categories launched, along with expanded numbers of nominees in every category. Of course, every award show comes with plenty of snubs and surprises, and this morning was no different. Let’s summarize some of the most notable moments from the film nominations.
INTERNATIONAL TITLES GALORE
Easily, the biggest shock of this new Golden Globes is how international these nominations were. In addition to the Best Picture – Non-English Language nominees, international, non-English language films scored a whopping 13 nominations (19 if we include the nominations for Non-English Language Film). While the Best Picture nominations for “Anatomy Of A Fall” and “The Zone Of Interest” weren’t terribly shocking, no one saw a Best Actress, Musical/Comedy nomination for Alma Pöysti in “Fallen Leaves” coming. Elsewhere, Japan’s “The Boy and the Heron” and “Suzume” both showed up in Best Animated Film, while “The Boy and the Heron” snagged a Best Original Score nomination for Joe Hisaishi, alongside Mica Levi’s work in “The Zone Of Interest.” Exactly half of the Best Picture Drama are films primarily not in English: “Anatomy Of A Fall,” “Past Lives,” and “The Zone Of Interest.” Sandra Hüller and Greta Lee are nominated alongside each other in Best Actress, Drama. Those three films were also nominated for Best Picture – Non-English Language, alongside “Fallen Leaves,” “Io Capitano,” and “Society of the Snow.” The most notable miss here is France’s Oscar submission, “The Taste of Things.” This international representation is indeed a surprising and welcome step forward from the new Golden Globes voting body, which touted itself as the most international and diverse major awards body this morning.
TWO NEW CATEGORIES LAUNCH
Before giving too much credit to these new Globes, let’s first poke fun at one of their new categories: Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. This category seems to be a renamed version of the Academy’s failed attempt at a “Best Popular Film” from years past. Indeed, the nominees represent some, though not all, of the biggest box office stories of the year. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” add to their nomination tallies, while “Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3,” “John Wick: Chapter 4,” and “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” scored the first Golden Globe nominations for their respective franchises. The two biggest animated pictures of the year also made it here alongside their Best Picture – Animated nominations: “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse,” and “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” And finally, one of the year’s more exciting box office stories showed up: “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour.” While this category seems entirely superfluous (isn’t box office its own reward?), having some popular films get some recognition is…fine, I guess. Though sad as it may be, calling “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” a box office achievement this year is quite a stretch relative to its size and potential.
The other new category at the Golden Globes makes much more sense. The nominees for Best Stand-Up Comedian on Television found zero surprising names: Ricky Gervais, Trevor Noah, Chris Rock, Amy Schumer, Sarah Silverman, and Wanda Sykes. This category would be more interesting if it could nominate more up-and-coming comedians rather than already highly successful ones. Still, these nominations mostly work and will hopefully add more star power to their ceremony next month.
BARBENHEIMER LEADS THE NOMINATIONS
“Barbie” scored a whopping nine nominations, tying the record for the second-most Golden Globe-nominated film of all time. That ties “Cabaret,” but Robert Altman’s “Nashville” still holds the all-time nomination record, with 11. The three Original Song nominations for “Barbie” certainly helped, as did acting nominations for Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling. “Oppenheimer” was right behind “Barbie” with eight nominations (and without the added benefit of any song nominations), scoring in every expected category, including acting nominations for Cillian Murphy, Robert Downey Jr., and Emily Blunt. “Killers Of The Flower Moon” and “Poor Things” were right on the heels of Barbenheimer with seven nominations each, including three acting nominations apiece. None of these films missed expected nominations, solidifying themselves as the major contenders in the Best Picture race this awards season.
PAST LIVES SCORES BIG
With an early June release date and without the splash of “Barbenheimer,” many pundits predicted “Past Lives” might falter when the actual awards season arrived. The Golden Globes proved that theory wrong. “Past Lives” scored nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, Best Screenplay, a Best Actress – Drama for Greta Lee, and a nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. This is a phenomenal haul for such a small, personal film. In years past, the Globes had typically leaned toward more broad fare, but this new voting body gave “Past Lives” the boost it needed this morning following its Gotham win to propel it out of the “too small for Oscar” conversation and set it alongside the other mentioned heavy-hitters.
THE COLOR PURPLE STUMBLES
In previous years, a film like “The Color Purple” would be a shoo-in for the Golden Globes. It’s a big, splashy studio musical receiving solid reviews and releasing just in time for Christmas. While the film did score two acting nominations for Fantasia Barrino in Best Actress, Musical/Comedy, and Danielle Brooks in Best Supporting Actress, it failed to score a Best Picture, Musical/Comedy nomination. With an expanded field from five nominees to six, this is a substantial miss for “The Color Purple.” Taraji P. Henson missing in Best Supporting Actress wasn’t too great either. Warner Bros. hopes the film could be a late-dropping shake-up to the awards race, but that has yet to materialize thus far. Without the boost from one of the only prominent awards bodies that explicitly recognizes musicals, the road ahead may be tougher than many predicted.
THE HOLDOVERS AND AMERICAN FICTION MISS SCREENPLAY
Though some pundits believe “The Holdovers” and “American Fiction” could be our respective Best Original and Adapted Screenplay winners at the Academy Awards, neither film scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Screenplay. These are two writer-friendly movies that scored Best Picture and Musical/Comedy nominations and are poised for a strong showing at the Oscars but couldn’t get into a field of six nominees. The last time both Best Original and Adapted Screenplay Oscar winners missed a nomination for the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay was in 2017, when eventual Oscar winners “Call Me By Your Name” and “Get Out” both missed. That’s not too long ago, but they also faced a field of five nominees, not six. With Alexandar Payne also missing Best Director, this was not the best morning for “The Holdovers.”
THE TURTLES MISS ANIMATED FEATURE
In addition to the previously mentioned nominations for “Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse,” “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” “The Boy and the Heron,” and “Suzume,” Disney’s “Wish” and Pixar’s “Elemental” rounded out the Best Picture – Animated category. This is a brutal miss for “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” a much more critically and financially successful film than many of the other contenders vying for an Oscar nomination. “Wish” suffered some of Disney’s worst reviews of the century and floundered at the box office, while “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem” was a pleasant surprise earlier this summer. Will the Academy play it safe and nominate Disney regardless, or go with the more critically acclaimed – and riskier – film?
SURPRISES IN ACTING CATEGORIES
While some pundits predicted Joaquin Phoenix could snag a nomination for Best Actor – Drama for his role in “Napoleon,” they were only half right. He was indeed nominated, but in the Comedy/Musical category for “Beau Is Afraid.” Elsewhere, “Saltburn” found two acting nominations in Barry Keoghan, Best Actor, Drama, and Rosamund Pike, Best Supporting Actress. While the film didn’t find support anywhere else, these are two solid nominations to land for a film many have written off. Nicolas Cage’s performance in “Dream Scenario” scored a mention alongside Phoenix, as did Timothée Chalamet in “Wonka,” something Warner Bros. should be celebrating when the film opens this Friday.
THE HUNGER GAMES MISSES
Despite scoring Best Original Song nominations for the first three films in the franchise, “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes” failed to get Olivia Rodrigo’s “Can’t Catch Me Now” nominated for Best Original Song this year. The film also did not appear among the Cinematic and Box Office Achievement nominees. Instead, the Golden Globes found a surprise nominee for Best Original Song in “She Came To Me,” a small, poorly-reviewed rom-com starring Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway, and Marisa Tomei directed and written by Rebecca Miller. The nominated song, “Addicted To Romance,” was written and performed by Bruce Springsteen, though, so perhaps his megastar status is the answer right there, proving this new Globes isn’t immune to celebrity boosts after all.
RANDOM THOUGHTS
- Netflix scored the most nominations for any studio on the film side with 13 through the combined efforts of “Maestro,” “May December,” “Rustin,” “Nyad” and “Society Of The Snow.”
- “Air” came back to life with nominations for Best Comedy/Musical and Best Actor In A Comedy/Musical for Matt Damon
- Andrew Scott’s Best Actor chances remain alive with a nomination for Best Actor In A Drama for “All Of Us Strangers“
While these nominations didn’t shake up the awards race considerably, it’s a big kick-off to the next phase of the season. “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” continue to dominate the 2023 year, but there’s plenty of time left in the season for the narratives to change. What were your favorite nominations of the morning? What were you shocked to see left out? Do you have faith in the new Golden Globes? Please let us know in the comments section below or over on our Twitter account.
What were your biggest surprises among the Globe nominees? Did any frontrunners change in your predictions? Which Globe win are you most rooting for? Please let us know in the comments section below or on our Twitter account.
