After reforms to respond to allegations of racism and corruption, the Golden Globes organization is betting that duo Barbie and Oppenheimer will regain their sparkle and glamorous side at their 81st ceremony on Sunday.
Those awards, long seen as a stepping stone to the Oscars, have been undermined in recent years by scandals and the decline of their audience. They are offered by new owners and new voting members and want to relaunch themselves.
The Golden Globes have made a new beginning, assures AFP their producer Glenn Weiss.
The ceremony, scheduled for Sunday from 5 p.m. in Beverly Hills, is largely intended to pay tribute to the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, which was a real box office hit last year. In total, the film about the peroxide doll and the one about the father of the atomic bomb received a total of 17 nominations.
They are so different and yet they were both successful, notes Mr. Weiss.
Greta Gerwig vs. Christopher Nolan
Directed by Greta Gerwig, Barbie uses the plastic figure's global aura to deliver a scathing satire of misogyny and highlight women's emancipation.
The film leads the way with nine nominations and is notably nominated for the Best Comedy and Best Screenplay awards. With the highest box office gross of the year, it is also the favorite for a new award created to recognize box office success.
Oppenheimer, which also was a crowd-pleaser last summer, has eight nominations and is named best drama.
This feature film, which won Christopher Nolan as best director, analyzes the life of the scientist, played by Cillian Murphy, who, through his rivalry with a powerful politician in the form of Robert Downey Jr., is responsible for directing American research into the thermonuclear bomb .
The two actors are serious candidates for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor awards.
A double for Bradley Cooper?
In addition to Barbie and Oppenheimer, Bradley Cooper can secure double awards for best director and best actor for his biographical film “Maestro,” in which he plays the conductor and composer Leonard Bernstein, which would be a first.
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Bradley Cooper plays Leonard Bernstein in Maestro, which he also directed.
Photo: Netflix
Indigenous actress Lily Gladstone is aiming for the best actress in a drama film award for her role in Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon.
On the comedy side, it is Emma Stone who is starring in this award for her role as Frankenstein's wife in “Poor Things”, which was named best film at the Venice Film Festival.
Finally, in the television categories, the favorites include the drama series Succession, which depicts the power struggles within a family at the head of a media empire, and the comedy The Bear, which explores the back kitchen of a Chicago restaurant.
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Actor Brian Cox in the series “Succession”
Photo: Macall Polay
An opportunity to restore his image
Completely boycotted by the Hollywood elite and banned from being broadcast on television in 2022, shunned by several celebrities last year, the Golden Globes want to put an end to their bad phase.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which created these awards and has been undermined by corruption and racism scandals, has been dissolved. The new organization greatly diversified the jury and invited critics from all over the world. Enough to convince American broadcaster CBS to broadcast the 81st ceremony on Sunday.
The organization is hoping for renewed interest in its red carpet after the double strike by actors and writers shut down the industry for six months. Many stars who were out of publicity during the social movement may want to make up for lost time and promote their film with the Oscars in mind.
Nominations in the main categories at the Golden Globes (films)
Best Drama Film
Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet
The American Note (Killers of the Flower Moon) by Martin Scorsese
Maestro by Bradley Cooper
Oppenheimer by Christopher Nolan
Past Lives – Our Lives Before by Celine Song
The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer
Best comedy
Air: Courting a Legend (Air) by Ben Affleck
American Fiction by Cord Jefferson
Barbie by Greta Gerwig
Winter break by Alexander Payne
May December by Todd Haynes
Poor Things by Yorgos Lanthimos
Best Drama Actor
Bradley Cooper, maestro
Leonardo DiCaprio, Killers of the Flower Moon
Colman Domingo, Bayard Rustin
Barry Keoghan, Saltburn
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Andrew Scott, Without Ever Knowing Us (All of Us Strangers)
Best Drama Actress
Annette Bening, Unsinkable
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Sandra Huller, Anatomy of a Fall
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Carey Mulligan, maestro
Cailee Spaeny, Priscilla
Best Actor in a Comedy
Nicolas Cage, dream scenario
Timothée Chalamet, Wonka
Matt Damon, Air: Courting a Legend (Air)
Paul Giamatti, winter break
Joaquin Phoenix, Beau is scared
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Best Actress in a Comedy
Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Jennifer Lawrence, The Challenge
Natalie Portman, May December
Alma Poysti, Fallen Leaves
Margot Robbie, Barbie
Emma Stone, Poor things
Best supporting actor
Willem Dafoe, Poor Things
Robert De Niro, Killers of the Flower Moon
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Charles Melton, May December
Mark Ruffalo, Poor Things
The best supporting actress
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple
Jodie Foster, Unsinkable
Julianne Moore, May December
Rosamund Pike, Saltburn
Da'Vine Joy Randolph, winter break
Best Director
Bradley Cooper, maestro
Greta Gerwig, Barbie
Yorgos Lanthimos, poor things
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Martin Scorsese, Killers of the Flower Moon
Celine Song, Past Lives
Best Foreign Language Film
Anatomy of a Fall by Justine Triet
Dead Leaves by Aki Kaurismäki
I, captain of Matteo Garrone
Past Lives – Our Lives Before by Celine Song
The Snow Circle by Juan Antonio Bayona
The Zone of Interest by Jonathan Glazer
Best Animated Film
- The Boy and the Heron by Hayao Miyazaki
- Elementary by Peter Sohn
- Spider-Man: Through the Spider-Verse by Kemp Powers, Joaquim Dos Santos and Justin K. Thompson
- Suzume by Makoto Shinkai
- Super Mario Bros., the film by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic
- Wish: Asha and the Lucky Star by Fawn Veerasunthorn and Chris Buck