SNUBS
“Get Out”
Nine months ago, the idea that “Get Out” should have gotten MORE Golden Globe nominations than the two it picked up today would have seemed odd: wasn’t it a horror movie released in February? Why would it be in the awards race? But Jordan Peele’s phenomenon has become a potential frontrunner in the awards race, and given it was competing in the comedy category, it’s hard not to feel that its two nominations is a bit underwhelming. Admittedly, with the supporting cast failing to get much traction, there were only so many it realistically could have picked up. But missing with Screenplay and Director is definitely a sign, at least, that the HFPA didn’t respond to it as much as they might have done. Or perhaps it was a response to Universal putting the film, somewhat against Peele’s wishes, in the Comedy category?…
Jordan Peele and Greta Gerwig in Best Director
Peele wasn’t the only director of a universally beloved hit who lost out in Best Director: Greta Gerwig, helmer of “Lady Bird,” also missed out. It’s admittedly a tough category this year, with heavyweights like Ridley Scott, Christopher Nolan and Steven Spielberg all nominated, but it’s a little telling that the two helmers who weren’t older white men were the ones who were left out. Still, there’s often some wobbliness in this category in terms of how it lines up with the Academy (see Tom Ford’s random “Nocturnal Animals” nod last year), and Peele and Gerwig are still likely nominees at Oscar time unless “All The Money In The World” really does turn out to be a stone-cold masterpiece.
“The Big Sick”
Although it often leads to silliness, one of the things that we do like about the Golden Globes is its dedication to recognizing comedy, a genre that’s all too often overlooked during awards season. Which makes it all the more baffling — indeed, the biggest single snub this year — that “The Big Sick” went completely ignored by the HFPA. It was glowingly reviewed, a big hit, and has long been seen as a Best Picture dark horse by many, and yet the film didn’t come away with a single nod — not in Best Picture, not for Kumail Nanjiani in Best Actor, not for Holly Hunter or Ray Romano, and not for its excellent screenplay. Did the screeners not arrive? Or were the HFPA simply not on the film’s wavelength?
“The Florida Project”
Sean Baker’s thrilling, empathetic and vibrantly human “The Florida Project” is a terrific piece of filmmaking, but beyond being a universally-loved indie, it appears to be a film that’s gained enough traction to be a serious awards contender, even a Best Picture nominee for the Oscars. The Spirit Awards and Gothams have lauded it, the Critics Guild circles have bestowed it much love, but it’s momentum stalled a little bit today with the Globes. “The Florida Project,” earned only one nomination: William Dafoe for Best Supporting Actor. Granted, Dafoe seems to be the overall frontrunner and could walk away with the Academy Award, but many would love to see a scenario where “The Florida Project” is a major contender across some of the bigger categories too.
“Wonder Woman”
Critically acclaimed, universally beloved (minus our review which was a bit cooler on the movie), a big box-office bonanza and pop and populist. Everyone loved “Wonder Woman” this year, Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins’ direction. Earlier in the summer, it seemed possible that the super heroine movie could actually penetrate the awards season. And if anyone was going to celebrate and nominate the film it would be an institution like the Golden Globes. But, nope, “Wonder Woman” got zilch. Perhaps it’s not the biggest surprise considering the glut of traditional awards bait dramas out there, but certainly fans and Warner Bros. will be disappointed. The HFPA snub may mean it’s a wrap for “Wonder Woman” awards-wise for the rest of the season.
Michael Stuhlbarg
It’s wonderful that “Call Me By Your Name” continues to be a big awards season player, and it’s great that Armie Hammer is being recognized for his excellent work in the film, but it’s a real shame that it seems to be coming at the cost of a nomination for his co-star Michael Stuhlbarg. The actor’s been doing stellar work for years now, and really should have been nominated for “A Serious Man” eight years ago, but thanks to his powerful final monologue in Luca Guadagnino’s film, has been getting awards buzz since Sundance. But with Hammer going Supporting rather than Lead for the movie, and getting a Globes nod over Stuhlbarg, we worry that the actor with the smaller role’s going to miss out. Of course, it’s a very HFPA move to go for the handsome movie star rather than the character actor, so we’re still keeping our fingers crossed.
Tiffany Haddish
Given the Globes’ focus on comedy, and her well-deserved recent critics group win, we’d hoped that Tiffany Haddish’s firecracker supporting turn in “Girls Trip” might turn up here. But with the Supporting categories stretching across genre boundaries, Haddish missed out. She’s still gathering steam, but word is that Universal haven’t been pushing the performance much, and it’ll likely need some work to happen, given how un-Academy like the movie is.
“Phantom Thread” mostly forgotten
We suppose it’s not a huge surprise given the Hollywood Foreign Press’ populist tendencies, but the much loved “Phantom Thread” by Paul Thomas Anderson was mostly shut out. Yes, Daniel Day-Lewis scored a nomination for showing up like he always does and Jonny Greenwood got a nice surprise with a Best Score nod, but there was nothing for Paul Thomas Anderson whom many agree directed the shit out of “Phantom Thread.” Lesley Manville is astonishing in the film too and she failed to score a Best Supporting Nomination. Vicky Krieps is great too, but that category was simply too crowded, especially since the Globes apparently fell in love with “All The Money In The World” this year.
“Last Flag Flying” and Steve Carell
No one was expecting Richard Linklater’s “Last Flag Flying” to dominate award season, but Amazon has money to spend and with “Wonderstruck” striking out with critics and audiences, their one hope was Steve Carell’s melancholy and lonely lead performance; the hear and soul of the movie arguably. Lots of awards talk was thrown around for Carell around the time of the New York Film Festival when the movie first premiered, but but there’s only so many slots. With Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington getting in, it means Carell (and Jake Gyllenhaal mentioned above for “Stronger”) was left on the outside. But who knows how the Oscars will go; they did leave out Tom Hanks for “Captain Phillips” a few years back. Of course, the upside for Carell is that he did score a Best Actor in the comedy/musical category for “Battle Of The Sexes,” but there’s little hope for that translating to the Academy Awards, frankly.
“Twin Peaks”
Possibly not a huge surprise. Did the HFPA even watch David Lynch’s sprawling, hilarious, epic and mind-blowing “Twin Peaks: The Return” all the way through? It’s esoteric for sure, but critically-adored in some circles (ours). Yes, it was nice to see Kyle MacLachlan nominated for Best Actor and that’s possibly the one hat tip the Hollywood Foreign Press decided to bestow the show as some kind of recognition, but otherwise, “Twin Peaks,” Lynch’s dazzling return to television, was totally shut out.
“The Good Place”
Few comedies have been as critically adored as Mike Schur’s inventive, hilarious “The Good Place,” and its addition to Netflix over the summer seemed to see it gaining ground among audiences (leading to a swift third-season renewal), but the show seems to have real problem getting an awards foothold. It was totally ignored by the Emmys earlier in the year, and the Globes failed to nominate it at all for a second time this year. Perhaps it’s just a victim of changing circumstance — as a network comedy, some might see it as old fashioned next to shows like “Master Of None” and “SMILF.” Then again, “Will & Grace” was nominated, so *shrug emoji*.
“The Leftovers”
We’re not exactly surprised that “The Leftovers” wasn’t included by the Globes this year — the HFPA are neophiles when it comes to TV, always leaning on the shinier, newer shows where they can, and Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta’s masterpiece has never been rewarded by the organization. But even so, given the slightly lukewarm quality of the TV nominees this year, it’s kind of a bummer to see the show, and the work of Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon and Christopher Eccleston, ignored in favor of nods for “Outlander,” “13 Reasons Why” and “The Good Doctor.”
“Transparent”
The Hollywood Foreign Press tends to become dazzled by new TV shows. In a way, it’s great and more progressive than the Emmys that are more inclined to nominate a veteran series that has been around forever over and over again and ignores all the new shows making noise. So, Globes rightly flipped for Amazon’s “Transparent” in its first season; it won best Best Series, Musical or Comedy over “Orange Is The New Black,” “Girls” and “Jane The Virgin,” and Jeffrey Tambor won Best Actor in the Musical or Comedy category too. It was nominated in both categories again for season two and season three (S2 also earned Judith Light a nomination). This year? “Transparent” was totally shut out. One supposes much of this could be due to the sexual harassment allegations against Jeffrey Tambor who apparently quit the show in the fall in protest of what he called trumped up charges (though apparently he’s technically not gone yet and the studio is still deciding on what action to take). But honestly? Season 4’s quality dipped pretty heavily, but again, maybe that had nothing to do with it.
Thoughts? What do you think were the biggest egregious snubs and surprises of the 2018 Golden Globe nominations?