This year's topsy-turvy awards season finally started to come into focus with Wednesday's nominations for the 78th Golden Globe Awards, which served as a reminder that, despite a global pandemic that brought Hollywood to its knees, there were actually movies in 2020 and some of them were very good.
In the best motion picture drama category, the nominees are "The Father," "Nomadland," "Mank," "Promising Young Woman" and "The Trial of the Chicago 7."
The nominees for best motion picture in the comedy or musical category are "Borat Subsequent Moviefilm," "Hamilton," "Music," "Palm Springs" and "The Prom."
The Globes have a reputation for delivering surprising, if not head-scratching picks, and this year included quite a few, including unexpectedly strong showings for films like the darkly comic thriller "Promising Young Woman" and the upcoming musical drama "Music," directed by the pop star Sia.
In perhaps the morning's biggest surprise, the best director category included a record three women: Emerald Fennell for "Promising Young Woman," Chloé Zhao for "Nomadland" and Regina King for "One Night in Miami." Throughout the entire history of the Globes, women had previously been nominated for best director only seven times. The other nominees in the category are David Fincher for "Mank" and Aaron Sorkin for "The Trial of the Chicago 7."
As expected in a year that saw movie theaters shut down, streaming services made a strong showing, with Netflix, Hulu and Amazon each pulling in major nominations.
The nominations for best actor in a drama included Riz Ahmed ("Sound of Metal"), Chadwick Boseman ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"), Anthony Hopkins ("The Father"), Gary Oldman ("Mank") and Tahar Rahim ("The Mauritanian").
For best actress in a drama, nominations included Viola Davis ("Ma Rainey's Black Bottom"), Andra Day ("The United States vs. Billie Holiday"), Vanessa Kirby ("Pieces of a Woman"), Frances McDormand ("Nomadland") and Carey Mulligan ("Promising Young Woman.")
Globes nominations, which are made by a small group of members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. rather than film industry professionals, are generally not considered reliable harbingers of future Oscar nods. But particularly in a year as uncertain as this one, the nominations can help cement a narrative around which films and performances could go the distance.
The Globes will air Feb. 28 on NBC, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler returning to host what is expected to be a largely virtual ceremony.
