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...

Click to read more ...

Showbiz History: Bill Murray on David Letterman, Janet Jackson at the Superbowl

6 random things that happend on this day, February 1st, in showbiz history

1929 One of the earliest movie musicals Broadway Melody premieres in Los Angeles. The following year it would win Best Picture at the 2nd annual Oscars, the first sound film to do so...

Click to read more ...

AFI Honors: Bridgerton, Ma Rainey, Chicago 7, Nomadland, etc...

Like the National Film Registry but in a more 'in the now' kind of way the American Film Institute offers up a top ten list each year meant to denote American screen entertainments that are "culturally and artistically representative" of the artform that year. This year's jury included luminaries like Oscar winner Marlee Martlin, Oscar nominees Cynthia Erivo and Rian Johnson, Honorary Oscar winner Wes Studi, 2021 Kennedy Center Honoree Debbie Allen, Emmy winner Amy Sherman-Palladino, Director Lulu Wang, film historians like Molly Haskell, Mark Harris, and Leonard Maltin, and many more including critics from Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone, TV Guide, and The Washington Post. Here's what they came up with after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Thoughts on "The Father"...

by Eric Blume

It's difficult to write reviews these days, because it feels like no film is ever actually "released", and all of us are scrambling to find what movies are even available, how they're available, if they're VOD, or on a streaming service, etc.  Sony Pictures Classics might have made a fumble mostly holding back from view director Florian Zeller's The Father, taken from his own play, starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman:  if more people could see it, everyone would be talking about it.

The Father is one of those Movies They Don't Make Anymore, i.e., a damn adult drama that challenges your mind and heart.  This is a film where the entire creative team treats the audience with dignity and respect, trusting that you're listening and paying attention, and they will reward you with literate ideas, high drama, and an emotional experience.  But The Father is more than just that:  the storytelling and the visual conceit of the film are surprising and demanding, and it is not a passive undertaking for the viewer...

Click to read more ...

Where are we at in the Oscar race? Screenplays, Directors, Pictures

by Nathaniel R

Looking at the calendar this morning on this blessed Inauguration Day, we realized with great alarm that the SAG, Globe, and Critics Choice nominations are just two weeks away so it's time to update all the Oscar charts again...

BEST PICTURE
What if we only get 7 nominees this year?

Click to read more ...