Watching the kickoff of awards season
Are you ready for awards season? Is Hollywood? With a growing sexual harassment scandal cloaking the entertainment industry, the 75th annual Golden Globes will be a training ground for the rest of 2018’ s red carpets. Here’s what to look for at Sunday’s show ( NBC, 8 ET/ 5 PT), where movies including The Post will compete with The Shape of Water.
1 The red- carpet blackout
Get ready for a sea of black. Fashion watchers won’t see the typically colorful and glittery Globes gowns this year, with stars planning to don black to protest gender and racial inequality. On a practical level, that means there has been a run on black gowns and tuxes in Los Angeles, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Also of note: Will anyone wear Marchesa, formerly a red- carpet staple, from designer Georgina Chapman, the estranged wife of Harvey Weinstein?
2 Seth Meyers is hosting for the first time
After spending Christmas with his in- laws in New Mexico, Meyers is steaming his tux for his first stint as the Globes emcee, following fellow comedians Ricky Gervais, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. Over the past year, Meyers has made a name for himself with his incisive political takedowns, and the late- night host has promised he won’t go easy on Hollywood’s systemic problem with sexual predators on the glitzy night. “We’re certainly not going to ignore it, but we want to talk about it in a way that’s cathartic, as opposed to reminding us all how awful it is,” he told USA TODAY.
3 Oprah’s getting honored!
Move over, George Clooney: It’s Oprah Winfrey’s turn to receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award, a honor granted annually by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association to “a talented individual who has made an incredible impact on the world of entertainment.” The star of upcoming A Wrin
kle in Time joins such past winners as Denzel Washington, Sidney Poitier and Meryl Streep. Oprah and a captive live audience, together again? We’re here for that.
4 Wonder Woman is coming, and so is Mrs. Maisel
The HFPA likes to go its own way, and this year it made both puzzling and exciting decisions. The organization didn’t nominate Gal Gadot or
Wonder Woman, but invited the actress to present. No female directors were nominated — not even Greta Gerwig, who directed the nominated Lady
Bird. The group was so impressed by director Ridley Scott’s eleventh- hour replacement of Kevin Spacey in All the
Money in the World that nominations were handed out for Michelle Williams, Scott and Christopher Plummer. And, happily, the show is honoring new breakout shows such as The Mar
velous Mrs. Maisel and SMILF.
5 The supporting- actor category is super- tight
The Globes don’t always indicate which stars will end with Oscar gold. But the exposure winners get certainly doesn’t hurt. It’s widely expected that Gary Oldman will scoop a bestactor Globe for playing Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour, and Frances McDormand will snag a statue for her performance in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. But the supporting- actor category is anyone’s game. Will Willem Dafoe triumph for
The Florida Project? Could Armie Hammer’s Oscar odds improve with a win for Call Me By Your Name? Might Plummer win for his quick work as J. Paul Getty? Let the games begin.