Awards Season Starts Today, the Golden Globe Nominations are Here

It’s not unusual for most people not to have seen or even heard of most of the movies nominated for awards in any given year; the Oscars even considered adding a category for movies people had actually seen in addition to their current top honor, “Best Holocaust Drama Released in Late December on 12 Screens in Brentwood.”

This year, however, you’ve really never heard of the nominated films because even those twelve screens were closed for most of the year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Here’s a look at what dramas are nominated.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• THE FATHER (Trademark Films; Sony Pictures Classics)
• MANK (Netflix; Netflix)
• NOMADLAND  (Highwayman / Hear/Say / Cor Cordium; Searchlight Pictures)
• PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN (LuckyChap Entertainment / FilmNation Entertainment; Focus Features)
• THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7 (Marc Platt Productions / Dreamworks Pictures; Netflix)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• VIOLA DAVIS    MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
• ANDRA DAY    THE UNITED STATES VS. BILLIE HOLIDAY
• VANESSA KIRBY    PIECES OF A WOMAN
• FRANCES MCDORMAND    NOMADLAND
• CAREY MULLIGAN    PROMISING YOUNG WOMAN

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA

• RIZ AHMED    SOUND OF METAL
• CHADWICK BOSEMAN    MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM
• ANTHONY HOPKINS    THE FATHER
• GARY OLDMAN    MANK
• TAHAR RAHIM    THE MAURITANIAN

Even the movies that were on Netflix don’t sound familiar, and you can’t go five minutes without seeing an ad for something on Netflix. I do recall hearing about The Trial of the Chicago 7 at one point, but I’m still assuming Mank will win because it’s the sort of “Hollywood are the real heroes” stories that awards voters love.

There were so few movies released this year that the Golden Globes had to nominate comedies for Best Comedy or Musical.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

• BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM (Four By Two Films; Amazon Studios)
• HAMILTON (Walt Disney Pictures / RadicalMedia / 5000 Broadway Productions / NEVIS Productions / Old 320 Sycamore Pictures; Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
• MUSIC (Pineapple Lasagne Productions / Landay Entertainment; Vertical Entertainment / IMAX)
• PALM SPRINGS (Party Over Here / Limelight Productions; NEON / Hulu)
• THE PROM (Netflix / Dramatic Forces / Storykey Entertainment; Netflix)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

• MARIA BAKALOVA    BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
• KATE HUDSON    MUSIC
• MICHELLE PFEIFFER    FRENCH EXIT
• ROSAMUND PIKE    I CARE A LOT
• ANYA TAYLOR-JOY    EMMA.

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

• SACHA BARON COHEN    BORAT SUBSEQUENT MOVIEFILM
• JAMES CORDEN    THE PROM
• LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA    HAMILTON
• DEV PATEL    THE PERSONAL HISTORY OF DAVID COPPERFIELD
• ANDY SAMBERG    PALM SPRINGS

Of course Hamilton is going to win. There’s nothing in the world rich white people like more than Hamilton. Personally, I would probably give it to Palm Springs, which managed to be a funny and deep tale on a premise you probably rolled your eyes at when you heard it.

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

• THE CROWN – NETFLIX (Left Bank Pictures / Sony Pictures Television)
• LOVECRAFT COUNTRY – HBO (HBO / Afemme / Monkeypaw / Bad Robot / Warner Bros. Television)
• THE MANDALORIAN – DISNEY+ (Lucasfilm Ltd.)
• OZARK – NETFLIX (MRC Television)
• RATCHED – NETFLIX (Fox21 Television Studios)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

• OLIVIA COLMAN    THE CROWN
• JODIE COMER    KILLING EVE
• EMMA CORRIN    THE CROWN
• LAURA LINNEY    OZARK
• SARAH PAULSON    RATCHED

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA

• JASON BATEMAN    OZARK
• JOSH O’CONNOR    THE CROWN
• BOB ODENKIRK    BETTER CALL SAUL
• AL PACINO    HUNTERS
• MATTHEW RHYS    PERRY MASON

I think this comes down to Ozark and The Crown, even though neither of those shows thought to go “Hey, remember Boba Fett and Luke Skywalker. They were pretty cool. What if we make them even cooler so adults watching with their kids feel like kids again?”

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

• EMILY IN PARIS – NETFLIX (Darren Star Productions / Jax Media / MTV Studios)
• THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT – HBO MAX (HBO Max / Berlanti Productions / Yes, Norman Productions / Warner Bros. Television)
• THE GREAT – HULU (Hulu / Civic Center Media / MRC)
• SCHITT’S CREEK – POP TV (Not A Real Company Productions / Canadian Broadcast Company / Pop TV)
• TED LASSO – APPLE TV+ (Apple / Doozer Productions / Warner Bros. Television / Universal Television)

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

• LILY COLLINS    EMILY IN PARIS
• KALEY CUOCO    THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT
• ELLE FANNING    THE GREAT
• JANE LEVY    ZOEY’S EXTRAORDINARY PLAYLIST
• CATHERINE O’HARA    SCHITT’S CREEK

BEST PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A TELEVISION SERIES – MUSICAL OR COMEDY

• DON CHEADLE    BLACK MONDAY
• NICHOLAS HOULT    THE GREAT
• EUGENE LEVY    SCHITT’S CREEK
• JASON SUDEIKIS    TED LASSO
• RAMY YOUSSEF    RAMY

Schitt’s Creek is going to sweep everything this year. That show became a cultural phenomenon and they’re going to reward the final season with bags full of award statues. And I get that you love Jane Levy but you’re going to have to live with the fact that you nominated Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist for an award for the rest of human existence. Hope it was worth it.

Of course, the old expression in Hollywood is “you win and Oscar, you buy a Golden Globe,” so it might come down to who has the best “For Your Consideration” campaign. So don’t count out Emily in Paris, Netflix loves to spend money on awards.