FIRM FAVOURITES
Adam McKay’s Dick Cheney biopic Vice staged an awardsseason coup, landing a leading six nominations from the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards to narrowly edge more expected favourites like Bradley Cooper’s revival A Star Is Born, the interracial drama Green Book and the period romp The Favourite.
Vice topped all contenders in the nominations, including best picture, comedy and best actor nominations for Christian Bale’s nearly unrecognisable performance as the former vice president. It also earned nominations for Amy Adams’ Lynne Cheney, Sam Rockwell’s George W. Bush and for 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 lesser-known freelance film journalists, the strong support for Vice was a surprise. Even its categorisation of the film — a highly critical portrait of Cheney Cheney in Adam McKay’s ‘Vice’. as a power-hungry, behind-thescenes tyrant — as a comedy raised some eyebrows, as did Globes recent comedy selections Get Out and The Martian.
A Star Is Born, Green Book (out now in the UAE) and The Favourite trailed close behind with five nominations each.
On the television side, awards were even more widely dispersed among the likes of the spy thriller The Americans, Bill Hader’s hitman comedy Barry, the Julia Roberts-led conspiracy thriller