Golden Globes: The big party is canceled

Film awards

Los Angeles (AP) – In a “normal” year Hollywood would now be excited for the Oscars, the Golden Globes would be yesterday’s news. But because of Corona, everything is different in this trophy season.

The 93rd Academy Awards will not go on the virtual stage at the end of February as usual, but rather at the end of April. Instead, the Association of the Foreign Press is now handing out the Golden Globes for the 78th time on Sunday (February 28). So much later than in previous years: Usually the relaxed Globe Gala opened the prizes at the beginning of January.

Despite tight deadlines and postponements, the pandemic has a firm grip on Hollywood’s price season. Will the red carpet be rolled out? Are celebrities attending the ballroom at the Beverly Hilton Hotel? How does the usually star-studded party now run under strict Corona conditions?

That is known in advance: For the fourth time, the comedians Tina Fey and Amy Poehler are moderating the show – but for the first time on separate stages. Poehler holds the position in Hollywood, Fey joins it live from the New York Rainbow Room a good 4,000 kilometers away. A good dozen stars are invited as “presenters”, as the gala organizers revealed. The married couple Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones are supposed to help distribute the trophies in New York. Other celebrity support comes from Joaquin Phoenix, Renee Zellweger, Margot Robbie, Awkwafina, Anthony Anderson and Tiffany Haddish.

And where is Helena Zengel? One thing is certain: As a Globe nominee, the twelve-year-old Berliner is part of the show like all the other contenders. The young actress is to be switched on from her hometown. The nominees should participate remotely worldwide, it was said in advance in industry circles. “We are then in a very nice hotel – I think it will be a really great night,” said Zengel in a dpa interview. “I’ll definitely get popcorn!” She wanted to fall asleep to stay up during the night and then got off school on Monday.

Zengel has a chance for her supporting role as an orphaned girl raised by an indigenous people. Two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks plays a news messenger in the US western in 1870, who takes Johanna into his care. At the Globe Awards, Zengel takes on experienced colleagues Amanda Seyfried, Olivia Colman, Glenn Close and Jodie Foster. But that’s not all: the student is also in the running for the prestigious Screen Actors Guild Award from Hollywood’s Actors’ Association (SAG) – and the industry even gives her good chances of an Oscar nomination.

With six nominations, the biography “Mank” about the author Herman J. Mankiewicz, who wrote the classic “Citizen Kane” with Orson Welles, is one of the Globe favorites. The court thriller “The Trial of the Chicago 7”, the family drama “The Father” and the road movie “Nomadland” also have several chances of winning.

Viola Davis (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”), “Frances McDormand (“ Nomadland ”) and Carey Mulligan (“ Promising Young Woman ”) are top candidates for the trophy for best drama actress. The 83-year-old Anthony Hopkins (“The Father”) could finally win a trophy with the eighth Globe nomination of his career. The British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen, on the other hand, has three chances to win, as a producer and leading actor in the satire “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and for his supporting role in the drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7”. The “Black Panther” star Chadwick Boseman, who died of cancer last August, is posthumously nominated for his last role as jazz trumpeter in the music film “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”.

In the directing division, the Globes are already making history. Most women are completely ignored there, now three directors – in addition to two men – have been nominated in one fell swoop: China-born Chloe Zhao for “Nomadland”, British Emerald Fennell for “Promising Young Woman” and US actress Regina King for her Directing debut “One Night in Miami”. Over seven decades, only five women received this honor, most recently in 2015 “Selma” director Ava DuVernay. Barbra Streisand was the only winner with “Yentl” (1984).

The Globes are often seen as an Oscar barometer at the start of the trophy season, but the forecast is no guarantee. A small group of almost 90 long-established journalists from the Association of Foreign Press will decide on the Globe winners. The Oscar Academy has more than 9,000 members.

The Globes also traditionally distinguish between dramas and comedies / musicals. A year ago, the war drama “1917” and the Tarantino film “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” won the Top Globes, while the social satire “Parasite” won four trophies at the Oscars. The Oscar for best film went to South Korea for the first time and to a non-English language production.

Even with her nomination, Helena Zengel made it to Hollywood Olympus. Few child stars have had a chance to win in the Globe story. In 2020, the then twelve-year-old Roman Griffin Davis was nominated for “Jojo Rabbit”, in 2015 Quvenzhané Wallis (aged twelve) for “Annie”. Tatum O’Neal (“Paper Moon”), Macaulay Culkin (“Kevin – Alone at Home”) and Anna Paquin (“The Piano”) also received nominations as young stars.

In terms of age, however, the Berlin student could not undercut the youngest Globe winner of all time. In 1980, when he was nine, the American Ricky Schroder won the male “New Star” of the year trophy for the sports drama “The Champ”. This junior division was abolished a few years later.

Frances McDormand in the film “Nomadland”, which was nominated for the Golden Globe in the “Best Drama Film” category. Photo: Uncredited / Searchlight Pictures / AP / dpa© Uncredited (dpa)

Frances McDormand in the film “Nomadland”, which was nominated for the Golden Globe in the “Best Drama Film” category. Photo: Uncredited / Searchlight Pictures / AP / dpa

Gary Oldman as Herman Mankiewicz in a scene from “Mank”. The film was nominated for the Golden Globe in the “Best Drama Film” category. Photo: Nikolai Loveikis / Netflix / dpa

Carey Mulligan in a scene from the film “Promising Young Woman”, which was nominated for the Golden Globe in the “Best Film Drama” category. Photo: Uncredited / Focus Features / AP / dpa

Olivia Colman (l) and Anthony Hopkins in a scene from “The Father”. The film was nominated for the Golden Globe in the “Best Film Drama” category. Photo: Sean Gleason / Sony Pictures Classics / AP / dpa

Golden Globes - «The Crown» — Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown”. The royal families series is one of the favorites in the running for the television Golden Globes. Photo: Sophie Mutevelian / Netflix / AP / dpa© Sophie Mutevelian (dpa)

Olivia Colman as Queen Elizabeth II in “The Crown”. The royal families series is one of the favorites in the running for the television Golden Globes. Photo: Sophie Mutevelian / Netflix / AP / dpa