With A Star is Born going 'Drama' where does that leave the 'Musical/Comedy' race at the Golden Globes?
Friday, October 12, 2018 at 1:30PM by Nathaniel R
Perhaps you've heard that both A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody will being competing as Dramas rather than Musicals at the Globes. That's a fairly shocking move since dramatic biopics about musicians generally campaign as "Musical or Comedy" -- think Walk the Line, Ray, Beyond the Sea, Coal Miner's Daughter. Presumably Warner Bros has bought into the stigma that "Comedy or Musical" is the lesser category which is really unfortunate because it's one of the best things about the Globes. The Comedy or Musical prizes are filled with great stuff that Oscar SHOULD have recognized throughout the years.
The Globes really ought to have consistency with who they allow to compete where but since they don't, it's a savvy move on Warner Bros part especially in the field of 'Best Actress, Drama' where Glenn Close's campaign probably felt that the win was all but locked up until Lady Gaga (already a Globe favorite) muscled in. Glenn Close has won two Globes herself so it's not like the Globes don't like her but it's worrying that the Globes have only given her prizes for her TV work. Like Oscar they went in other directions every time she was up for movie roles during her highly popular 1980s run. As for Bohemian Rhapsody it's a strange choice since Rami Malek will probably have a tougher time breaking into Best Actor, Drama...
That said both campaign moves are kind of suspect considering the musical performances. I'm sure there are other examples but the only instance I can think of in recent years when a Dramatic Musical opted to compete as a Drama rather than a Musical at the Globes was Dancer in the Dark (2000). In that case, you could argue that the ploy backfired since the film missed a Best Picture nod that might have been an easier get and Björk lost Best Actress to the Oscar-frontrunner Julia Roberts when she might have won in the Comedy or Musical field which worked out like so:
Renée Zellweger was marvelous in Nurse Betty (yes, you heard me. I didn't always scrunch my face up at her successes) but the film had no other nominations so she was probably beatable.
SO WHERE DOES THIS LEAVE THE COMEDY / MUSICAL CATEGORY? LET'S DISCUSS
Best Picture, Musical or Comedy
probably locked up as nominations go
CRAZY RICH ASIANS
THE FAVOURITE
MARY POPPINS RETURNS
distinct possibilities
EIGHTH GRADE
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN (will they go for it again given the absence of Meryl?)
OCEANS 8
TULLY (please please please)
prominent comedies released this year but not all of them will get campaigns
A SIMPLE FAVOR (pretty please!)
PADDINGTON 2
LOVE SIMON
GAME NIGHT
BOOK CLUB
I FEEL PRETTY (so much better than it got credit for being)
THE HAPPYTIME MURDERS
LIFE OF THE PARTY
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
After the Martian debacle in 2016, the Globes stated that dramas with comedic undertones should henceforth be placed in drama but then last year Get Out was placed in comedy without the Globes protesting (though some fans were miffed). So what about these movies which one could argue have elements of both -- where will they ask to be placed? Studios have until October 31st to make their requests but in the end the Globes, like the Oscars, can reject campaign wishes if they so choose (unlike SAG which always follows studio submissions for placements).
GREEN BOOK - they haven't decided on their campaign
VICE - they haven't decided on their campaign
Best Actress, Musical or Comedy
surely locked up / competing for the win with Gaga out of the way
Emily Blunt, Mary Poppins Returns
Emma Stone, The Favourite
distinct possibilities
Blake Lively, A Simple Favor -if they choose to vote for her in lead
Anna Kendrick, A Simple Favor
Constance Wu, Crazy Rich Asians
Olivia Colman, The Favourite -if they choose to vote for her in lead
Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade
Lily James, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Amanda Seyfried, Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again
Sandra Bullock, Oceans 8
Charlize Theron, Tully - this would be a huge get for a wildly underrated film. We hope they push because she's worthy
will they campaign her?
Joanna Kulig, Cold War -- if we were the Cold War strategists we'd be pushing hard for this placement since the film can't compete for one of the Picture prizes (due to being a foreign language film) but the actors can. It's a tragic story but also a musical.
longshots
Rachel McAdams, Game Night
Amy Schumer, I Feel Pretty
Jane Fonda, Book Club
Diane Keaton, Book Club
Best Actor, Musical or Comedy
This category is so empty that it seems insane, or at least very 'they forgot to hire an awards consultant' ill advised that 20th Century Fox is giving up an easy Rami Malek nomination for Bohemian Rhapsody.
probably locked up as nominations go
none
locked up if submitted in this category
Christian Bale - Vice if submitted in this category though we suspect they'll go drama
Viggo Mortensen - Green Book if he's submitted in this category, which we suspect he will be
distinct possibilities
Robert Redford - Old Man and the Gun - we'd say locked up but he's not exactly a schmoozer and the HFPA loves schmoozers
Henry Golding - Crazy Rich Asians
Lakeith Stanfield - Sorry to Bother You
Mahershala Ali - Green Book - if they ignore the 'supporting' campaign and it's submitted for comedy
long shots
Jason Bateman - Game Night
Nick Robinson - Love Simon
Mark Wahlberg - Instant Family
Paul Rudd - Ant Man and the Wasp
John C Reilly - Holmes & Watson
Will Ferrrel - Holmes & Watson
John C Reilly - Stan & Ollie
Steve Coogan -Stan & Ollie
Ryan Reynolds - Deadpool 2
Reader Comments (69)
I've read that although each studio can submit a movie as a comedy or drama, the HPA has final say and can put a movie anywhere it wants.
Seems dumb for Rami and Bohemian Rhapsody to go to drama when they could easily pick up much needed nominations in the Comedy/Musical categories.
Lady Gaga can deny Glenn Close the Oscar and the Globe now.
Malek would've been an easy win in the C/M Actor Globes,doesn't Gaga out of the way leave the path clear for Blunt,maybe that Oscar nomination is coming.
Awarding Lady Gaga over Glenn Close = Awarding Madonna over Frances McDormand
Good news for Lakeith Stanfield - my favorite performance in any movie so far this year.
OMG imagine if BOOK CLUB earns Golden Globe nominations now.
Does this mean that GaGa will go head to head with Glenn in best actress drama? I am NOT on the let's humiliate Glenn Close train.
I loved Tully but that's definitely a drama, not a comedy.
I might be wrong but I thought a few years ago the Globes changed their rules stating for a movie to be considered a musical it's has to feature music that's non-diegetic. So that's why a film like Straight Outta Compton was considered a drama because all of the source of its music is diegetic while that same year Into the Woods was accepted as a M/C.
ASiB will be fine. This hurts Rami (who would've had a decent chance beating Viggo and Bale) and Glenn the most.
Glenn over in the Drama category like: "I'm not gonna be IGNORED, Globes"
Wouldn’t Lily James be the lead of Mamma Mia? I wouldn’t begrudge her a nomination here.
I saw Bohemian Rhapsody last night. I think Rami Malek will break into the race no matter where they place him.
Boy, that is not the greatest field. I wonder if they can squeeze in something light like Stan and Ollie in?
Redford is in.
I really hope Eighth Grade can do well at the Globes too.
Charlize Theron needs to get in as well.
1) I yearn for the sheer AUDACITY of The Favourite grabbing three Best Actress nominations in the Comedy category... obviously it'll never happen (the studio has probably already wimped out) but I can dream...
2) My instincts tell me this Oscar season isn't going to be a "Cher Moment" for Lady Gaga - great as she is, I predict a huge groundswell of support for Close and Gaga's "novice" status being used as an excuse to vote for Glenn. Plus, with Moonstruck, Cher had one nomination (Silkwood) and a big snub (Mask) behind her - it was already a given within the industry that she was a serious talent. Gaga, on the other hand, has a hugely controversial (ie. some think she's wonderful, others think she's full-on terrible - I'm in the former category) TV role in American Horror Story as her only pedigree. Personal opinions on performance quality notwithstanding, awards seasons politics should see Glenn prevail...
3) Did I miss preview reviews of Mary Poppins Returns? Nathaniel, please don't tell me you're calling the film or Blunt as a lock sight-unseen? You wouldn't do that to us, would you? It's hardly Davis in Doubt or Hudson in Dreamgirls (where we all knew the quality of the role in advance)...
Maybe John C. Reilly can sneak in for The Sisters Brothers? Or is it going drama?
Some game theory to consider. Here's what we can assume:
Lady Gaga or Glenn Close will win Best Actress.
Colman, Foy, King or Adams (?) could (?) win Best Supporting Actress.
If Colman goes lead (and easily wins the Globe) she'll have a 100 percent chance of a Best Actress nomination with a slim chance of winning. She walks away with the more prestigious nomination and no Oscar.
If she goes supporting, she may have a 40 percent chance of winning. Best case: She runs the table and wins. Worst case: She walks away with the less prestigious nomination and no trophy. Meanwhile, her costar Emma Stone emerges with another Best Actress nomination and another Golden Globe, because she went lead.
If you consider the possibility that Colman might not win either award, a Best Actress campaign is the smarter route—IMO.
I'm just thrilled that CRAZY RICH ASIANS has a chance to grab some nominations.
If. If. If. We are just going to have to wait and see.
Ah yes, the three moods- Dramatic, Comedic, and Musical.
I never really understood lumping Comedies and Musicals together. It's like having a category called Drama or Western.
People who have seen Vice seem pretty certain the movie will be placed in Comedy. Which makes sense since it can contend for wins there. Malek is also making a mistake as I think he could win in Comedy (maybe not over Bale though).
And though I worry they'll ignore CRA in the big category I'm more at ease over the idea of Wu, since I have a hard time picturing her being left off the list.
Also, I imagine Green Book knows as a populist and not critics movie it can't risk it and which groups to appeal to the most, so I think Comedy in the Globes will be their decision. Along with Ali leading there (like Zeta Jones in Chicago or Bale in Big Short)
Good news for Blunt. If she's good in "MARY POPPINS RETURNS", she's likely to win the Globe which will generate higher Oscar buzz. An Oscar Nod Is Born for Blunt?
I would LOVE to see Wu gets some awards attention. Surely the Globes is the best (most likely?) place to honour the lead of the biggest non franchise hit of the year (is it?) so far.
Some of the late entries to the Best Actress field seem very strong. Richard Lawson has seen Mary, Queen of Scots and has said he wouldn't count out Saoirse Ronan, and Roberts seems to have a good chance as well, particularly given that some thought she should have been nominated for Wonder last year. I'm not positive Glenn Close will be nominated.
Kermit -- Emily Blunt doesn't need us to know reviews for Mary Poppins Returns. This is the Globes and it's both a Comedy and a Musical Performance AND they already love Blunt. She's a lock for the nom. for the win she'll need a positive response to the film. I talked to someone in the industry today who'd seen it (not with the film) and they said it was spectacular... but we'll see.
I saw Glenn’s Drama win as crucial to winning over Gaga. I now think A STAR IS BORN swill be the first film in... 21 years (?) to win both Actor and Actress at the Oscars.
For us, it really depends on who is willing to give us expensive jewelry, a suck up brunch with stars present and fawning over us, plus free vacations.
GaGa's going to do what Madonna should have.
I feel like Amy Adams (and not Glenn Close) is going to get the "overdue" narrative this year and sail to her supporting actress win. I would be down with a Glenn Close win, but there are a lot of ladies who are getting career-best reviews, and people actually like their films as a whole (A Star is Born, The Favourite, Widows, etc.). I don't see The Wife getting anything outside of Close.
I'm assuming BlacKkKlansmen is going Drama? Obviously it's a serious film but didn't they market it as a comedy?
Green Book would be smart to go Comedy, and I think it belongs there. I don't know what to make of Vice.
How the actual f*** is Lady Gaga now favourite to win best actress, at best she was solid in a star is born, if she wins and close loses I may have to abandon cinema entirely !!
Nat: I'm definitely in the camp that argues they should maybe split in three: Drama, Diegetic Musical or Dramedy (basically a spill-over second prestige category) and Non-Digetic Musical or Comedy.
A Simple Favor. Anyone?
Miranda could bump up to lead with that slim category. Though if bale Mortensen Ali Redford are all there it will be beefed up.
I'm still processing this.
Oh my gawd. Are awards (especially from the HFPA!) really important to marketing and subsequent box office these days? So much so that producers engage in category fraud like this nonsense? For instance, VENOM has made $237M in one week and it's nobody's critical darling.
Steve G - thank you. Lily James made that whole movie work; despite the brown eyes, I truly believed she was a young Donna (as portrayed by Meryl). Plus, she rocked those costumes and inspired a new generation of hippie chicks.
This is the surest sign yet that Star is a major threat at the Oscars. The next surest sign comes Monday when the movie more than doubles its box office and word of mouth becomes becomes deafening.
Speaking of musicals, will someone buy Nathaniel a ticket for the Sutton Foster/Gavin Creel one-night only event at the Roundabout in November? (I would, but the tickets are like $500.) I just want to hear him rave about it...
Regarding Emma Stone, do we think she's getting in for Maniac?
Career best reviews and the Globes did nominate and award the aforementioned Gaga.
Mmm, probably the people behind Bohemian Rhapsody don't know what they are doing, but people in the A Star Is Born campaign camp know exactly what are they doing for Lady Gaga.
The only 2 actresses who have narrative for the win are Close and Gaga; and Gaga is campaigning since day 1, telling everyone about how Cooper believed in her and all those stories. I thing the Globe and the Sag are going to Gaga, and in the end those are the shows that matter with the audiences, she will be teary in her speeches (for sure) and will serve looks for months in the red carpet. Meanwhile Close's campaing is still quite.
In the Picture category on the other hand, GG are not a safe bet for the Oscar, ASIB is going to have a lot of noms at the Oscars, so, if they win or lose the Globe, they can easily calibrate their strategy to frontrunner or fan favorite underdog.
Ps. I only have seen ASIB, Gaga is great but not Academy Award winning kind of performance for me. BUT the songs, my God, they have 3 or 4 songs that could be great winners.
Ps2. Bradley Cooper has his acting Oscar in the bag.
I would be shocked if SAG went for GaGa. Those are all actors, not People Magazine staff.
Don't make me do a beat down on how Lady GaGa should not be rewarded over Glenn Close for competently singing. Those are called Grammys!
I also heard Poppins is fantastically entertaining. Can't wait.
I realize this is about GG Musicals going Drama ... but why is no one talking about how g*dd*mn awful First Man is? Seriously, it's possibly the worst movie I have seen in 2018 ... and I saw Game Night.
Write my words (and I'm going to make a print-screen): JULIA ROBERTS will win the SAG!
.
"Ben is Back" TIFF reviews say she's a powerhouse and she deliver a better performance than Erin Brockovich's. The world has already been in love for her in the 90's, so... I guess the spark is still alive.
* Gaga will win the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Actress - Drama.
* Close will win the BAFTA and the Critics' Choice Awad.
* Julia Roberts will win the SAG.
* Emily Blunt will win the Golden Globefor Best Actress - Comedy or Musical
I’m not buying the Glenn Close hype yet. I remember similar hype for Albert Knobbs and that didn’t pan out. Sure she got a nom but wasn’t that close to a win
Slightly off topic but - Paddington 2, specifically Hugh Grant better get a Globe nomination. That is a terrific film and is everything Mary Poppins 2 is hoping to be.
How could be and I think will be:
Critics awards:
Leading Field:
60-80% Glenn wins or 50-60% Colman/Stone wins; Gaga will be with 5-10% wins
Supporting Field: 80-90% Adams wins, 10-20% Colman wins, 10-20% Stone wins, 10-20% Foy wins
Tv shows:
Leading fields:
50-100% Glenn wins, 10-20% Gaga / Colman / Stone wins
Supporting Fields:
90-100% Adams wins
Glenn wins the Oscar for Best actress (stand up ovation!) plus NYCCA + LAFCA + NSFCC
Gaga wins the Oscar for Best original song with Cooper (stand up ovation!)
Adams wins the Oscar for Best supporting actress (stand up ovation!) plus NYCCA + LAFCA + NSFCC
Colman has no substantial threat in supporting except Adams' overdue narrative which she very well could be snubbed for. Regina King for the win is Black twitter hysteria.
I’m not convinced with Blunt. Trailer was pretty painful; a razzie could be headed her way as easily as a globe nod.
re: the Rami move, the decision to go drama (although bizzarre) says a lot about their confidemcd in the film and performance. Very intrigued to read reviews. and for some reason I think Globes are more likely to go for a great musical performance by a beloved cultural icon in a populist film/hit than most other awards bodies are.
My initial take on this news was that the A Star is Born people are hoping that the Globes will want to award Cooper and Gaga at all costs and that, if the film is listed as a Drama, they stamp out potential competition and stay the frontrunner.
Mya's point about diegetic music is interesting though. Maybe they're just following the rules...?
Just wanted to add: I'm curious where the confidence in Close's nomination is coming from. It's a very competitive year with a lot of latecomers still to come. The only time I've heard people mention The Wife is in regards to Close's presumed nomination.
I'm getting skeptical...