Dayton Daily News

Golden Globes tonight may shed light on Oscars

- By Michael Cavna

The Golden Globes Awards ceremony will be held tonight in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Seth Meyers will host what could be an eventful show. The awards honor TV and movies, which makes it unusual. That and the alcohol that is served.

Here’s a look at one category, the contenders for Best Animation for a film, to show how the Golden Globes may predict the Academy Awards. (The nomination­s for the Academy Awards will be announced Jan. 23, and that ceremony will be held March 4.)

When honoring animated fifilms, the Golden Globes align with the Oscars far more often than not — particular­ly when Pixar has a strong contender.

Given the critical acclaim and commercial success of Disney/Pixar’s “Coco,” it bears watching whether any of the four other animation contenders has a true shot at toppling the Day of the Dead fifilm at the Globes this weekend.

“Coco” has everything lined up in its favor, including a 97 percent certified “fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes. The fifirst Pixar feature film to predominan­tly feature characters of color has also grossed more than a half- billion dollars worldwide, including a record-breaking run in Mexico. It doesn’t hurt, too, that the film is also nominated for best original song, for “Remember Me.”

Plus, since the Globes began recognizin­g best animated features in 2007, Disney has won the category nine out of 11 times. The most notable upset was in 2015, when Dream-Works’ “How to Train Your Dragon 2″ beat Disney/Marvel’s “Big Hero 6.” (Worth noting: That same year, “Train Your Dragon 2″ also topped the fifirst Day of the Dead movie ever to be nominated: Fox’s “The Book of Life.”)

This time, the big Fox/ Dream Works contender is “The Boss Baby,” which nearly matched “Coco” at the domestic and global box offiffice. But the crowdpleas­er received middling to tepid reactions from reviewers, i ncluding an average critical score of 50 on Metacritic, compared with “Coco’s” 81.

Meanwhile, Fox/ Blue Sky’s nominated “Ferdinand” has performed competentl­y at best at the box office ($ 129 million globally) while scoring merely a 58 on Metacritic. (“Ferdinand” is also nominated for original song, for “Home.”)

That leaves two visually striking but relatively littleseen nominees from European filmmakers.

The fifirst is GKIDS’ “The Breadwinne­r,” the beautiful Afghanista­n-set tale that i s notable for being the only nominated animated film led by three female creatives - its director and two writers. ( Its producers, meanwhile, include Angelina Jolie and multiple-Oscar nominee Tomm Moore, who directed “The

When honoring animated films, the Golden Globes align with the Oscars far more often than not — particular­ly when Pixar has a strong contender.

Secret of Kells.”)

The other contender is the Kickstarte­r-supported “Loving Vincent,” a Van Gogh biopic that is most notable for being a fully painted fifilm that employed scores of artists sitting at their canvases - a feat in and of itself. Because the Globes have never chosen a non- wide- release film as best animated feature, though, both “Vincent” and “Breadwinne­r” must be seen as particular long shots. The Hollywood Foreign Press Associatio­n voters prefer big crowd-pleasers that have grossed at least a half- billion bucks globally. All of which sets up “Coco” as the clear winner in what could be a runaway — and a harbinger of Oscars gold.

 ?? CONTRIBUTE­D ?? What movie might dare keep Pixar’s “Coco” from entering the winner’s circle at the Golden Globes tonight?
CONTRIBUTE­D What movie might dare keep Pixar’s “Coco” from entering the winner’s circle at the Golden Globes tonight?

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