The Golden Globe Nominations!

by Nathaniel R

HFPA president Meher Tatna introduced Terry Crews, Danai Gurira, Leslie Mann, and Christian Slater to announce the nominations for the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards. We didn't quite get the shakeups we wanted for players that needed the high profile boost of the Globes (like Toni Collette or Carey Mulligan) to boost their dark horse Oscar prospects but the Globes gonna Globe and there's as much to praise (Charlize Theron!) as their is to shake your fists at (Bohemian Rhapsody in Best Picture, wtf?).

In not so great news (unless you love it of course) Vice led the nominations with 6 honors, with The Favourite, Green Book, and A Star is Born tied as runner-up to most nominations with 5 each. UPDATE: We've shared Team Experience reactions to the snubs and nominated directors, and talked the fate of First Man and Widows, but here was our first quick take on the nomination after the jump along with some commentary...

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Kevin Hart is Oscar's Host

by Murtada Elfadl

It has been a whirlwind 24 hour news cycle for the Oscars. First The Hollywood Reporter published a report that no one wants to host the show because it’s a thankless job. That article is irrelevant now, except for some prime shade at Neil Patrick Harris. Then reports started appearing that if he can fix scheduling with an upcoming movie, Kevin Hart is the designated host. Hart himself confirmed he got the job on Instagram a couple of hours later. Then almost immediately there was backlash because of homophobic jokes that he had made in the past. He has said in interviews after he was taken to task about the jokes that he won’t make them again.

This will mark Hart’s first time at the helm of the biggest show business awards ceremony, though he has previously hosted ceremonies like the BET Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards, and the MTV Movie and TV Awards. He has been lobbying for the job for many years now. Frankly I have no opinion on Hart as a comedian and host. I have not seen any of his films and the few times I saw him as a presenter on the Oscars he seemed to have lots of energy though most of his jokes were about being short. Hopefully he can find a few other topics for this year’s big show. I think that he is a safe choice for The Academy because he’s both a comedian and a movie star (his movies make money), though definitely more exciting than another late night network star.

Tell us what you think about Hart as Oscar host?

Toni Collette is a high-wire artist. Also loves "Roma"

by Nathaniel R

The Film Experience had the pleasure of a lengthy one-on-one chat with the inimitable Toni Collette yesterday after a screening and reception for her new horror classic Hereditary. We'll publish the whole interview in a few days but we thought we'd share a tidbit she thoughtfully e-mailed afterwards. You see during our chat, we had mentioned that they (the proverbial they) always say that actors are an insecure lot but this couldn't possibly be true of her. Wouldn't you have to be supremely confident about your gifts to attack high-wire material like Hereditary or the new miniseries Wanderlust? If you stop to think about it both of those provocative projects, one about multi-generational family trauma and the other about long-term intimacy and sexuality, essentially live or die based on the complexity of the central performance. 

Our conversation took a detour after that so she sent us this note...

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Soundtracking: FYC 5 Original Song Outliers

by Chris Feil

In lieu of a regular deep dive into the soundtrack of one film, Soundtracking is indulging in some For Your Consideration tracks before the season narrows down to a few contenders. Naturally, all of the talk for original songs this season has been gobbled up by A Star Is Born with some hopes being thrown towards the likes of Mary Poppins Returns, Black Panther, and even Radiohead's Thom Yorke for Suspiria. I'll unpack the field once Oscar reveals its shortlist on December 17 (remember that quiet news item that the Academy will be announcing song and score shortlists all at once along with such categories as visual effects?).

But the outsiders deserve some love too, so allow me to champion a few solid tracks...

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81 days til Oscar

by Nathaniel R

Diane & Warren / Don & Meryl at the 1981 Oscars

You know what I feel is tragic about online Oscar history, dear readers? It's the lack of abundance of Oscar night photos before, say, 2000. Oh sure you can usually find photos of the winners holding their Oscars but try finding complete gowns of all the Best Actress nominees if you (hypothetically) wanna fantasize about ordering custom doll sets of every vintage. You're out of luck for any year prior to the explosion of 24/7 media coverage and constant Oscar coverage. Take the 1981 Oscars for example...

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