+the scene
( © Netflix)

Biggest Highlights From The 77th Golden Globe Nominations!

Written by Katie Marzullo. Published: December 10 2019

 

Award Season is upon us, fam, and with this morning’s announcement of the nominees for the 77th annual Golden Globes, the race to the Oscars is beginning to take shape. It’s also the final word on the past year in television, giving us a glimpse of what was and what’s in store for the future.

 

It seems that the biggest news this morning is more focused on what was NOT nominated than what was, but with so much content churned out this year, it’s no surprise that some things got left behind, though some omissions are indeed headscratchers. Let’s unpack it – here are a few quick highlights from the Golden Globe nominations!

 

- Streaming reigns supreme once more, as Netflix dominates in both the film and television categories this year, with 17 nominations each. Cable TV had a decent showing, but broadcast television was shut out altogether!

 

- Netflix’s Marriage Story, the little character study that could, came out on top in the film category, collecting 6 nominations. Yes, even more than Martin Scorsese’s epic The Irishman (5) and Quentin Tarantino’s self-proclaimed magnus opus Once Upon a Time… In Hollywood (5). Noah Baumbach’s examination of a broken down marriage has been cleaning up on the film festival circuit, and its performance at the Globes this morning makes it a surprising frontrunner come Oscar time, especially for its stars Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson, who were each nominated in the acting categories as well.

 

 

 

- Incidentally, The Irishman could have easily tied Marriage Story in nominations if they had given a nod to the actual star of the film, Robert DeNiro. Yep, in one of the biggest snubs of the year, both Al Pacino and Joe Pesci were nominated for their work in the film (as well as Scorsese for director), but DeNiro was left out in the dust. Go figure. However, DeNiro has a producing credit on the film, so he doesn’t walk away completely empty-handed.

 

- Even if DeNiro had been nominated, and even though Adam Driver seems to be a shoe-in for Best Actor based on the other awards he’s been racking up this month, he’ll have to beat out Joaquin Phoenix, who was, as expected, nominated for his transcendent performance in Joker. It’ll be interesting to see which way the pendulum swings on this one. The HFPA typically goes against the grain and rewards the underdog, but it’s hard to determine which of the two, Driver and Joaquin, is the underdog in this scenario…

 

 

- Even though his actors, his screenplay, and his movie as a whole all got recognition, Marriage Story’s Noah Baumbach came up empty-handed in the Best Director category. But he is in good company, as Greta Gerwig (Little Women) and Taika Watiti (JoJo Rabbit) were both left off the list as well (in Taika’s case, in both the Directing and Acting categories).

 

- Other snubs include FX’s “Pose”, which got an obligatory nomination for Billy Porter, which is great but its other stars like Indya Moore and the series itself should have been recognized; nominating Porter seems a little “safe”. Meanwhile, despite tons of recognition for Lupita Nyong’o elsewhere, Jordan Peele’s Us got a big goose egg too. And perhaps most notable of all, “Game of Thrones” got only one measly nomination – a Best Actor nod for Kit Harington. Some consider this a “snub” but that only applies to those that are deserving… (cough cough)

 

- With "GoT" out of the running for Best Drama Series, it leave an opening for Apple TV+ to score its first big win in the streaming wars with the nomination of its original series "The Morning Show". It joins HBO's "Succession", which, true to its name, appears to be the new perennial awards season darling for the network now that "GoT" is over.

 

- While Baumbach, Gerwig, and Waititi were notably absent from the Directing category, Parasite helmer Bong Joon-ho made it in. The sleeper horror hit was not nominated in the Best Drama Film category, but it is up for Best Original Screenplay and Best Foreign Language Film.

 

- The Best Actress in a Comedy/Musical category hosts some exciting names, including Awkwafina (The Farewell), Ana de Armas (perhaps the least-known name in the all-star cast of Knives Outm, a feat in itself), and Beanie Feldstein (Booksmart). These fresh faces will face off against veteran heavyweights Cate Blanchett (Where’d You Go Bernadette?) and Emma Thompson (Late Night).

 

 

- On the TV side of things, “The Crown” didn’t lose a single step in its complete cast overhaul for Season 3, with the series itself plus new castmembers Olivia Colman, Tobias Menzies, and Helena Bonham Carter all picking up nominations. The Netflix series ties HBO’s “Chernobyl” and Netflix’s “Unbelievable” with the most nominations in TV categories with 4 each.

 

- Can we get an amen for the true Queen, Meryl Streep? With her nomination for her role in Season 2 of HBO’s “Big Little Lies”, the powerhouse breaks her own Golden Globes record with 34 nominations. Whew!

 

You can check out the full list of nominees here. The 77th annual Golden Globes will take place on January 5, 2020, on NBC!