(New York) The movie Dune by Denis Villeneuve received three nominations for the Golden Globes gala. The Sci-Fi Epic is nominated for Best Dramatic Film alongside Jane Campion’s Gothic Western The Power of the Dog, to the family drama CODA, to biopic on tennis by Reinaldo Marcus Green King richard and the autobiographical story Belfast by Kenneth Branagh.
Denis Villeneuve was also selected in the category of best achievement. He will fight for big names such as Kenneth Branagh (Belfast), Jane Campion (The Power of the Dog), Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Lost Daughter) and Steven Spielberg (West Side Story). Dune is also in the running for Best Original Music.
Although many critics have forced the Foreign Press Association in Hollywood to put a stop to its televised Golden Globes gala, but also to review its composition, the organization nevertheless announced on Monday the finalists for its cinema awards and of television, with a certain indifference from the industry.
As has been done for many years, the association had gathered journalists at the Beverly Hilton to announce its finalists for the 79es Golden Globes. But this time around, there was no live morning show or immediate celebrations from big Hollywood stars.
It was Snoop Dogg who churned out the finalist list, but the majority of major studios, PR firms and top artist agents haven’t rubbed shoulders with the association much this year. Many felt it was too early for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) to resume operations as usual – some would even prefer to see the Globes disappear for good.
But the controversial association did its best on Monday to maintain its spot as a “scout” in awards season, dividing the nominations around Will Smith (King richard), Kristen Stewart (Spencer), the new Maria West Side Story Rachel Zegler, Leonardo DiCaprio (Don’t Look Up), Denzel Washington (Macbeth), Ben Affleck (The Tender Bar) and Lady Gaga (House of Gucci).
In the comedy or musical film category, the finalists are: the apocalyptic comedy by Adam McKay Don’t Look Up, the comedy by Paul Thomas Anderson Licorice Pizza, the West Side Story by Steven Spielberg, tick, tick… Boom! by Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Cyrano by Joe Wright.
Belfast and The Power of the Dog tied for most nominations, with seven each. Netflix dominates the number of finalists for films with 17 nominations in total.
No waves
Normally, such accolades would trigger a wave of joy from the finalists and their studios, who would trumpet their triumphs on social media and on calls with journalists. But on Monday morning, no candidate immediately celebrated – publicly, at least.
The association says that in the nine months that have passed since its 2021 gala, it has rebuilt itself. The organization added a diversity officer, reshuffled its board of directors, inducted 21 new members, including six black journalists, brought civil rights organization NAACP into a five-year partnership, and updated its code of conduct.
Because an article from Los Angeles Times had earlier detailed some of the HFPA’s unethical behavior and revealed that among its 87 voting members, there were no black journalists. Studios have said they will boycott the Golden Globes and more than 100 public relations firms have said their clients will not participate until the HFPA quickly implements “deep and lasting change.” Tom Cruise even returned his three Golden Globes.
Longtime Globes broadcaster NBC has said it will not air the 2022 gala because “a change of this magnitude takes time and effort.” The Globes organization still plans to announce the awards on January 9, but has not given any details on the type of ceremony.
Much of the power of the Globes has always resided in its hysterical gala, often one of the most-watched non-sports shows of the year in the United States. The Globes also serve as a promotional tool for many hopeful awards hitting theaters in December. But this year, few expect to see TV commercials trumpeting the Golden Globe nominations.