Globe chaos: A deep dive into the Comedy or Musical nominees

By: Patrick Gratton

At long last, the second phase of the awards race is well underway. This past week we had Globe and SAG and Critics Choice nominations and then the Oscar shortlists. Normally all of this takes place earlier but this season is elongated and fragmented to. Originally, I though that the abnormality of this race would give way to industry groups following the critic’s leads and anoint, say, Riz Ahmed, Carey Mulligan, Paul Raci, and Youn Yuh-jung, as frontrunners following the critical tallies. Clearly I was wrong, The HFPA saw this possible route, and instead chose violence. 

First things first, let’s just contextualize the Comedy or Musical designation within the framework of the Golden Globes themselves. The drama/comedy division of Picture and Lead Acting awards by genre started in 1951, when the HFPA awarded both A Place In the Sun and An American In Paris as their "Motion Picture, Drama" and "Motion Picture, Comedy or Musical" winners. The HFPA would later divide Motion Picture Comedy and Musical into separate categories in 1958, only to reinstate the category as we know it in 1963...

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We Got the Link

• The Guardian Vanessa Redgrave and Miriam Margoyes in conversation. Wow, love them both
• Variety this year's nominees for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... The Go-Gos, the most success female rock band of all time, FINALLY make the list -- the recent documentary surely helped -- but who knows if they'll actually get voted in because the competition is pretty fierce: Tina Turner, Carole King, Dionne Warwick, Iron Maiden, Kate Bush, LL Cool J, etcetera and only 5 will be chosen
• People Halle Berry putting the trolls commenting on her love life in their place. Queen.

Tina Turner, Priyanka Chopra, and bad news for an animated film we were looking forward to after the jump...

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César Nominations: Gay drama "Summer of 85" Leads

by Nathaniel R

Summer of '85

Oops. This headline is misleading due to a miscount. The nomination leader at the César's (i.e. the French oscars) is a film called Love Affair(s). But François Ozon's gay coming of age drama Summer of '85, which has a bit of an international profile given its festival run, is not far behind with an impressive 12 nods. Two of us, the lesbian drama and France's Oscar finalist (and Golden Globe nominee) this year, didn't fare as well, receiving only four nominations (two of which are in Best Actress). Because the Oscar calendars were so different than usual this year, none of these films will be eligible for Oscar submission next year from France (usually you get a lot of late year titles from home countries which are submitted the following year to the Oscars but that can't be the case next season due to the extended eligibility peeriod). Hopefully some of these titles will make their way to us here in the US soon.

The César Awards will be held on March 12th this year. If a film has a link it goes to our review or coverage of the film or filmmaker. Here are the nominations...

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Review: Golden Globes surprise "Music"

By Abe Friedtanzer

Surely the biggest shock from any awards announcement last week was the inclusion of Music at the Golden Globes. I hadn’t heard of it at that point, and its unexpected appearance will definitely lead to far more people seeking it out than otherwise would have when it arrives on VOD this Friday after a one-night-only IMAX release today. What to make of Sia’s directorial debut? Well, that’s a complicated question.

Music (Maddie Ziegler) is the name of a teenage girl on the autism spectrum who is mostly nonverbal. The steady routines she has established are upended by the death of her caring grandmother (Mary Kay Place), which brings Music’s half-sister, Zu (Kate Hudson), back into the picture after considerable struggles with the law and addiction. Her kindly neighbor Ebo (Leslie Odom Jr.) and building super George (Hector Elizondo) look after Music as well as they can, but the premise here is clear: much as she seems unsuited for the task, Zu has no choice but to step up...

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