Dramatic period pieces will vie for the top comedy-musical awards and song-stuffed movies are poised to dominate the dramatic categories. Welcome to the 76th annual Golden Globes.
Category confusion often reigns at the Globes. Remember when laughers like 鈥淭he Martian鈥� and 鈥淕et Out鈥� competed as comedies? But the Globes, reliably the frothiest, quirkiest and most entertaining stop in the awards-season march to the Academy Awards, might feel especially upside down this year.
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The night, to be broadcast live Sunday on NBC, may ultimately belong to Bradley Cooper鈥檚 鈥淎 Star Is Born鈥� revival. It鈥檚 the favourite for best picture (drama), best actress (Lady Gaga), best song (鈥淪hallow鈥�) and best actor (Bradley Cooper). The film鈥檚 stiffest competition may come from another music movie: the Freddie Mercury biopic 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody,鈥� whose star, Rami Malek, some believe could pull off the acting upset over Cooper.
Despite their copious tuneage, the campaigns of both 鈥淎 Star Is Born鈥� and 鈥淏ohemian Rhapsody鈥� elected for the more serious dramatic category. For 鈥淎 Star Is Born,鈥� it鈥檚 a kind of power move to firmly establish itself as the Oscar front runner many believe it is.
Oscar voting, as it turns out this year, commences Monday, the morning after the Golden Globes. If 鈥淎 Star Is Born鈥� runs away with the Globes, it will enter the nominations period of the Academy Awards as the favourite by a wide margin.
With 鈥淎 Star Is Born鈥� (along with 鈥淏lack Panther,鈥� 鈥滻f Beale Street Could Talk鈥� and 鈥淏lacKkKlansman鈥�) up for best picture as a drama, that鈥檚 left a few humour-tinged movies many would peg as dramas 鈥� 鈥淭he Favourite,鈥� 鈥滸reen Book鈥� and 鈥淰ice鈥� 鈥� to give the comedy/musical side of the Globes a bit more heft than usual.
Of those, 鈥淰ice鈥� comes in with the most nominations of any film (six), but the chances of 鈥淭he Favourite鈥� are probably the best on Sunday. 鈥淭he Favourite,鈥� Yorgos Lanthimos鈥� triangular power struggle in Queen Anne鈥檚 court, is the most decorated film of the bunch in an awards season that, despite any other fluctuations, has been rigid in its acclaim for the powerhouse trio of Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone.
Emily Blunt, nominated twice this year by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (best actress for 鈥淢ary Poppins Returns鈥� and best supporting actress for 鈥淎 Quiet Place鈥�) could give Colman 鈥� named the lead of 鈥淭he Favourite鈥� 鈥� a run for her money. But Colman鈥檚 tragicomic performance as Queen Anne has made her the definite front-runner and potentially Lady Gaga鈥檚 stiffest competition come the Oscars when the two best-actress contenders will presumably go head to head.
The awards season of 鈥淕reen Book鈥� has been marred by backlash, so Peter Farrelly鈥檚 1960s road trip tale probably has the most to gain from a strong showing at the Globes. The film鈥檚 best actor (comedy) contender, Viggo Mortensen, may not be able to challenge Christian Bale鈥檚 Dick Cheney, but the HFPA 鈥� which overlooked Mahershala Ali for 鈥淢oonlight鈥� 鈥� may right that wrong with an award for his supporting performance in 鈥淕reen Book.鈥�
But if the lines of comedy, musical and drama are particularly blurred at this year鈥檚 Globes, they are even more so between film and television.
There are as many movie stars nominated in the TV categories as there are in the film ones. Among them: Julia Roberts (鈥淗omecoming鈥�), Jim Carrey (鈥淜idding鈥�), Amy Adams (up for both 鈥淰ice鈥� and 鈥淪harp Objects鈥�) Michael Douglas (鈥淭he Kominsky Method鈥�), Benedict Cumberbatch (鈥淧atrick Melrose鈥�), Penelope Cruz (鈥淭he Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story鈥�), Patricia Arquette (鈥淓scape at Dannemora鈥�), Hugh Grant (鈥淎 Very English Scandal鈥�) and Laura Dern (鈥淭he Tale鈥�).
Their shows and others (鈥淭he Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,鈥� 鈥滲arry,鈥� 鈥滲odyguard,鈥� 鈥滽illing Eve鈥�) will be in the mix, and the victors may well muddy another awards show boundary: that between host and winner. Sandra Oh, the star of 鈥淜illing Eve,鈥� is favoured to win best actress in a drama series, potentially giving her a welcome respite from hosting duties alongside Andy Samberg.
Oh and Samberg will have the challenge of marshalling a broadcast that last year fell 11 per cent in viewership for NBC. That ceremony, when women attendees wore black, was atypically solemn for the Globes, and rife with protest, coming as the first major awards show of the post-Harvey Weinstein #MeToo era.
But for a Globes full of head-scratchers, Samberg and Oh 鈥� each hailing from different realms of comedy and drama 鈥� are a fittingly, charmingly incongruous pair.
Jake Coyle, The Associated Press
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