The Golden Globe nominations have been announced for the 2020 ceremony. The Globes are somehow the second most popular film awards ceremony of the year next to the Oscars, despite the fact that they’re largely kind of a joke. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s reputation is far from pristine, and sweeping nominations for movies like The Tourist play into the notion that they mostly just care about celebrities.
Regardless, the show itself is super fun to watch, and the speeches given by those onstage can boost a film or actor’s visibility in the run-up to the Oscars. Last year we all thought the HFPA was being classic HFPA by giving Bohemian Rhapsody and Green Book its top two awards, only for those two films to basically run the table at the Oscars. So what do we know?
On to the 2020 Golden Globe nominations. Marriage Story leads the pack with 6 nominations overall, including Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor (Adam Driver), Best Actress (Scarlett Johansson), and Best Screenplay. Once Upon a Time in Hollywood is close behind with 5 nominations including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy (side note: huh?), Best Actor (Leonardo DiCaprio), Best Supporting Actor (Brad Pitt), and Best Director and Screenplay for Quentin Tarantino. Also scoring 5 nominations is Martin Scorsese‘s The Irishman, including Best Motion Picture – Drama and Supporting nods for Joe Pesci and Al Pacino despite a bewildering snub for Robert De Niro in the Best Actor category.
And yes, Joker remains a significant part of the awards conversation with nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Actor (Joaquin Phoenix), Best Original Score, and even a Best Director nod for Todd Phillips. We also saw Netflix’s feel-good drama The Two Popes pick up major nominations, Parasite scored key Picture and Director nods, and I continue to believe 1917 is a major threat as the film scored nods for Best Picture – Drama and Best Director for Sam Mendes.
On the comedy side of things, I was pleasantly surprised to see Knives Out so heavily nominated, including acting notices for Daniel Craig and Ana de Armas. And if even the HFPA doesn’t spring for Cats, I think we can now safely put that film’s awards chances to rest.
In terms of snubs, Noah Baumbach was left out of the Best Director category, and it appears the HFPA was no fan of Little Women as Greta Gerwig‘s new adaptation piked up only a single nomination for Best Actress for Saoirse Ronan. I don’t expect these will repeat at the Oscars, but again, what do we know?
Over on the TV side of things, Netflix’s limited series Unbelievable and HBO’s Chernobyl picked up the most nominations, while awards stalwarts like Barry and Fleabag and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel continued to score expected nods. The HFPA has a knack for showering praise on brand new shows, and this year that was split between Apple TV+’s The Morning Show and Netflix’s Ryan Murphy series The Politician.
One of the most striking snubs on the TV side is the complete lack of nominations for Ava DuVernay‘s critically acclaimed Netflix limited series When They See Us, which took home two Emmy awards earlier this year and picked up a swath of nominations from that voting body. And it appears the HFPA is also no fan of HBO’s critically acclaimed Watchmen, as that series was also entirely shut out. Take a look at the full list of Golden Globe nominations below and click here for my current Oscar predictions. The ceremony will be hosted by Ricky Gervais and airs live on NBC on January 5th.
