NEW YORK (AP) – After widespread criticism led the Golden Globes organization to lose its televised awards ceremony and review its membership, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) went ahead with the announcement of nominees for its film and television awards despite skepticism from the entertainment industry.
As it has for many years, the HFPA convened reporters at the Beverly Hilton on Monday to announce its picks for the 79th Golden Globes. But this time, there was no immediate celebrity celebrations or fanfare. Hollywood mostly shrugged.
The HFPA, which typically has a handful of movie stars announcing nominees, instead called Snoop Dogg, who read the list in sunglasses and a red hat during a live broadcast on the Globes YouTube page. Most of the movie studios, PR firms and top-notch talent haven’t gotten very involved with the group this year, which removed its usual requirement that films be submitted for consideration. Critics have said it is too early for the HFPA to return to business as usual. Some would prefer the Globes to go forever.
But the press association did its best to maintain its awards season position on Monday, handing out nominations for such figures as Will Smith (“King Richard”), Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”), the great revelation of “West Side. Story “Rachel Zegler, Leonardo DiCaprio (” Don’t Look Up “), Denzel Washington (” The Macbeth Tragedy “), Ben Affleck (” The Tender Bar “) and Lady Gaga (” House of Gucci “).
Nominations for Best Drama Film were for Jane Campion’s gothic western “The Power of the Dog,” Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi epic “Dune,” the family drama “CODA,” the tennis biopic about Reinaldo Marcus. Green “King Richard” and Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical tape “Belfast.”
The nominees for best musical or comedy film were: Adam McKay’s apocalyptic comedy “Don’t Look Up”, Paul Thomas Anderson’s comedy set in the San Fernando Valley during the 70’s “Licorice Pizza”, “West Side Story “by Steven Spielberg,” Tick, Tick … Boom! ” by Lin-Manuel Miranda and “Cyrano” by Joe Wright.
“Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog” tied with seven nominations each. Netflix dominated the cinema sections with a total of 17 mentions. HBO’s “Succession” led the television side with five nominations, including for best drama series and best actor in a drama series for Jeremy Strong.
Multiple Latinos were nominated this year. In addition to Zegler and Miranda, among others, Anthony Ramos was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy or Musical for “In The Heights”, Javier Bardem for Best Dramatic Actor for “Being the Ricardos”, Ariana DeBose for Best Supporting Actress for “West Side Story” and Oscar Isaac for Best Actor in a Limited TV Series for “Scenes from a Marriage.”
Pedro Almodóvar’s “Mothers Parallel” appears in the section for best foreign film, and Disney’s “Encanto”, located in Colombia and with a broadly Latino cast, in the best animated film.
Typically, such honors would unleash a flurry of delight among the nominees and their studios, who would tout their triumphs on social media and in phone calls with journalists. On Monday morning, no nominees immediately celebrated, at least publicly.
The press association claims that in the nine months since its 2021 gala, it has been reformed. “HFPA 2.0,” said newly elected President Helen Hoehne. The group has added a diversity director, revised its board of directors, added 21 new members, including six black journalists; brought in the NAACP for a five-year partnership, and updated its code of conduct.
“This has been a year of change and reflection for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association,” Hoehne said Monday.
All of this came after the Los Angeles Times detailed some of the HFPA’s unethical behavior and revealed that its 87 voting members did not include any black journalists. The studios said they would boycott the Globes and more than 100 public relations firms said their clients would not participate in the event until the HFPA implemented “profound and lasting change.” Tom Cruise sent his three Balloons back to the group’s headquarters.
NBC, the longtime Globes television network, has said it will not air the awards in 2022 because “a change of this magnitude takes time and work.” The Globes have still set a date for January 9, but have not shared details on what kind of ceremony it would be. The Critics Choice Awards have sought to fill the void, even looking to reserve the usual Globes venue at the Beverly Hilton for television broadcast. That offer fell through, but the Critics Choice Awards, which would also announce their nominees on Monday, will also be on January 9 and will air on TBS and CW.
Much of the power of the Golden Globes has always resided in its live television broadcast, one of the most watched non-sports programs of the year in the United States. The Globes also serve as a promotional tool for many award hopefuls hitting theaters in December. But this year, few expect to see commercials and TV commercials touting a movie’s Golden Globe nominations.
