Dick Cheney biopic ‘Vice’ tops Golden Globes nominations

‘A Star Is Born,’ ‘Mary Poppins Returns’ also popular among movies; See Page B2 for the scoop on television nominations

NEW YORK Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic “Vice” seized control of the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards with a leading six nominations, narrowly edging Bradley Cooper’s tearjerking revival “A Star Is Born,” the interracial road-trip drama “Green Book” and the period romp “The Favourite.”

“Vice” topped all contenders Thursday in nominations announced at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., including best picture, comedy and best actor nominations for Christian Bale’s nearly unrecognizable performance as the former vice-president. It also earned nominations for Amy Adams, Lynne Cheney, Sam Rockwell’s George W. Bush and both the screenplay and direction by McKay, the veteran comedy filmmaker who once skewered politicians as a “Saturday Night Live” writer.

For even the often-quirky selections of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a collection of 88 mostly less-known freelance film journalists, the strong support for “Vice” (which arrives in theatres on Dec. 25) was a surprise. Even its categorization of the film — a highly critical portrait of Cheney as a power-hungry, behindthe-scenes tyrant — as a comedy raised some eyebrows, just as Globes recent comedy selections “Get Out” and “The Martian” did.

“It’s a movie that's a lot like the times we live in. there’s part of it that’s absurdist and comedic and then there’s another part of it that’s darkly tragic and dramatic, but they are definitely both there,” said McKay by phone from London. “But I do know I’m glad we’re in that category because we will take ‘Mary Poppins’ out. I'm not competitive with the other movies but I am competitive with ‘Mary Poppins.’ Dick Cheney is going for her.”

But it was far from a runaway win for “Vice” since the press association typically spread its awards around. Oscar front-runners “A Star Is Born,” “Green Book” and “The Favourite” trailed close behind with five nominations each.

Curiously, the Hollywood Foreign Press doesn't consider foreign-language films for best film, so Alfonso Cuaron’s acclaimed Netflix drama “Roma” was left out of the Globes’ top category. It was still nominated for best screenplay, best director and best foreign language film.

For the first time, the Globes nominated three films directed by African-American filmmakers for best picture, drama: Ryan Coogler’s superhero sensation “Black Panther,” Spike Lee’s urgent white nationalist drama “BlacKkKlansman” and Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation “If Beale Street Could Talk.” The other nominees are “A Star Is Born” and the Freddie Mercury biopic.

All earned nods in other categories, too, including Rami Malek’s prosthetic tooth-aided performance as Mercury, and the leading turn by John David Washington in “BlacKkKlansman,” who said his father, Denzel, woke him up for the nominations announcement.

“I had flashbacks when I was watching the (NFL) draft when they never called my name,” said Washington, a former football player. “When I heard them say my name, it happened in slow motion.”

While Sam Elliott’s supporting performance in “A Star Is Born"”was unexpectedly overlooked, the Warner Bros. hit (which elected to compete on the more hefty drama side of the Globes despite its many songs) earned the expected nods for Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, as both actor and director, and the song “The Shallow.”

Up for best picture comedy alongside “Vice” are Yorgas Lanthimos’ wild palace power struggle “The Favourite,” Peter Farrelly’s divisive crowd-pleaser “Green Book,” the upcoming Disney sequel “Mary Poppins Returns” and the rom-com hit “Crazy Rich Asians.”

The Oscar path for both “Green Book” and “The Favourite” appeared to be solidified, with nods for all of the leads for each: Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali for “Green Book”; and Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone for “The Favourite.”

The Jan. 6 ceremony will be broadcast live on NBC.