THEY LEFT WHO OUT?
Surprises, snubs in Globe noms
By now, Clint Eastwood has to think it’s personal between him and the Hollywood Foreign Press.
The organization’s Golden Globe award nominations were announced Monday. And among a handful of surprises, the biggest was the omission of Tom Hanks in the category for best dramatic actor as pilot Chesley (Sully) Sullenberger in Eastwood’s Sully.
The combination of carrying a box office hit and, well, being Tom Hanks, made Hanks a favourite to crack the category. Instead, Viggo Mortensen made it for the littleseen comedy/drama Captain Fantastic.
The announcement echoed a similar snub two years ago, when Eastwood’s Oscar-bound hit American Sniper was shut out of every Golden Globe category.
Aside from a handful of other omissions, the Golden Globe noms went pretty much as expected. Damien Chazelle’s La La Land, a romantic musical with Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling, led the way with seven. That movie and the two other awards season favourites — Moonlight and Manchester by the Sea — all scored “Big Four” for best picture, best director, best screen play and acting nominations.
And while they have no apparent love for Eastwood, the members of the Hollywood Foreign Press have apparently given a full pardon to the once scandal-plagued Mel Gibson. His Second World War drama Hacksaw Ridge earned a best dramatic picture nod, a best director nomination for Gibson and best dramatic actor for erstwhile Spider-Man Andrew Garfield.
Also getting its due, Lion — the true story of an Indian-born Australian adoptee who traces the traumatic events of his separation from his birth family. The movie was nominated for best dramatic picture, with acting nominations for Dev Patel and Nicole Kidman.
On the TV side, the GGs gave plenty of attention to The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story (nods to Courtney B. Vance, John Travolta, Sarah Paulson and Sterling K. Brown) and best television limited series.
But questions, we’ve got questions. Like West world, nominated in the same category, managed one acting nomination for Than die Newton. No Anthony Hopkins. No Evan Rachel Wood. No Jeffrey Wright.
Winona Ryder is up for best actress for Stranger Things. Wasn’t that series all about the kids? Where are they?
Game of Thrones star Kit Harington? This wasn’t Jon Snow’s year (despite the series being all about him this season).
In a bit of a surprise, the Gilmore Girls reboot got no attention. It got plenty of hype, had the reviews, and is the kind of thing that’s on the GGs’ radar.
And anyone who didn’ t notice that Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s Negan on The Walking Dead wasn’t villain of the year wasn’t paying attention.
While we’re talking about Eastwood, another film legend, Martin Scorsese, was also ignored. His new film Silence (yet to open, but in awards competition) was ignored, as were actors Adam Driver and Liam Neeson.
Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival has had plenty of raves and some early critics’ award nominations and wins, but was acknowledged only with a best dramatic actress nomination for Amy Adams.
And while we’re mentioning Adams, the Foreign Press apparently loved Nocturnal Animals — at least enough to give best director and best script nods to fashion-mogul-turned-film-maker Tom Ford.
Nothing for actors Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal, though. (Bad guy Aaron Taylor Johnson did get a supporting nod.)
Disney/Pixar’s Finding Dory — one of the year’s biggest box office successes — was completely shut out. Two of Disney’s titles, Moana and Zootopia, were among the five films nominated for best animated features. The other animation nominees for this year are Sing and two stop-motion films: Kubo and the Two Strings and My Life as a Zucchini.
Jimmy Fallon will host the 74th annual Golden Globes on Jan. 8, 2017 in Los Angeles.