[RESUMO]The Golden Globes reach their 81st edition and try to make peace with the market, which in turn will be put to the test during the ceremony by bringing together Hollywood bigwigs and actors and screenwriters who publicly went on strike under one roof last year, which exposed the crises in the film industry and in which the division goes deeper than weak box office.
The Golden Globes want another chance. This once most prestigious film and television award, which begins this Sunday evening at 10 o'clock Brazilian time, cannot now be forgotten after the accumulated controversies surrounding vote buying, bribery, influence peddling, racism, clubism and lack of transparency.
The entire crisis led to the end of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which had awarded the trophy since 1944. The rights are now in the hands of producers Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries. But judging by the guest list and the anticipation for today's ceremony, the allegations may be a thing of the past.
For those who want to follow this first major public meeting of the industry after the strikes of actors and screenwriters that caused hostility in the industry, there will be a screening in Brazil on the pay channel TNT and on the streaming platform HBO Max, live from the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
With eight nominations, “Oppenheimer” is one of the favorites of this 81st edition. The atomic bomb biopic, directed by Christopher Nolan, is competing for the awards for Drama Film, Director, Drama Actor, with Cillian Murphy, Supporting Actress, with Emily Blunt, Supporting Actress, with Robert Downey Jr., Screenplay, Soundtrack and Best Picture and Box Office Category dedicated to those who have done well in the collection, but with some criteria.
Also in the running for best drama are “Killers of the Flower Moon” by Martin Scorsese, “Maestro” by Bradley Cooper, “Vidas Passadas” by Celine Song, “Zona deinterest” by Jonathan Glazer, and “Anatomy of a Fall” , winner of the Palme d'Or, by Justine Triet.
In comedy, Greta Gerwig's “Barbie” is the favorite with nine nominations, boosted by three appearances in the “Best Original Song” category for Billie Eilish's “What Was I Made For?”, “Dance the Night”. , by Dua Lipa, and “I’m Just Ken,” sung by Ryan Gosling.
In addition, it is also about comedy or musical film, direction, comedy or musical actress, with Margot Robbie as a supporting actress, with Gosling, screenplay and best film and box office performance.
Ben Affleck's “Air”, Cord Jefferson's “American Fiction”, Alexander Payne's “The Rejects”, Alexander Payne's “Secrets of a Scandal” by Todd Haynes and others try to wrest the trophy for best comedy or musical film from the blonde doll ” Poor creatures,” by Yorgos Lanthimos.
It's symptomatic of a Hollywood whose major studios are in crisis and whose cinemas are still reeling from streaming and the pandemic that the two favorites of this Golden Globe and probably the Oscar too are two of the biggest box office draws of the year just ended are .
The only one that can eclipse them so far seems to be “Killers of the Flower Moon,” which is under the Scorsese brand. At last year's awards ceremony, another winner of American cinema, Steven Spielberg, won the drama film trophy for “The Fablemans”, but left the Oscar emptyhanded, preferring to enjoy the freshness and popularity of “Everything in Everywhere Once” , a few weeks later.
In the case of “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” Gerwig and Nolan have the support of the box office and also critics, a difficult combination that major names in the industry consider awardworthy in a nostalgic desire to return to a more glorious past for cinema .
Fueled by the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon, in which hyperbolic pink collided with sober black and white, the films monopolized the entertainment of cinephiles and went on to gross $1.4 billion and $952 million respectively at the box office , or R$6.8 billion and R$4.6 billion, respectively. These were the first and third highestgrossing films of 2023.
The crowning finale is the Golden Globe. “Oppenheimer” has all the makings of an awards show crowdpleaser, but “Barbie” could easily be ignored without its impact on pop culture. It's a contrived comedy that promotes a toy.
It's not Oscar material, but rather fertile ground for family dramas, war films, biographies and dense stories. But it brought people to theaters, and that's a priority in an industry where its studio, Warner, and also Disney are celebrating their 100th anniversary in 2023 amid ostracism.
It was also partly due to strikes by actors and screenwriters who monopolized the headlines. Historically, the strikes have been symptomatic of an industry struggling to adapt to new times in which talking about technology, transparency and money is like stirring up a hornet's nest.
It's funny to think that industry bigwigs whose multimillion dollar salaries are under scrutiny in pay campaigns for actors and screenwriters will be sipping champagne with the same ranks in the luxurious ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel tonight.
And if the winners of this Golden Globe repeat at the Oscars, after a 2023 that predicted almost nothing correctly, the producers who took over the award will be able to breathe a sigh of relief. The award is reintroduced, in a superficial but significant reading, as a thermometer for the season.
The title was taken away from her before any intrigue, due to the eccentricity that always surrounded the event, reaching embarrassing levels over time. At the same time, the public and critics began to pay more attention to Hollywood union trophies, such as the PGA for producers and the SAG for actors, which were more precise.
The Golden Globes are still trying to establish themselves as a barometer for the Emmys, however confusing their relationship to the biggest award in American television may be a matter of calendar, with one taking place at the beginning of the year and the other in September different release windows.
In this ceremony the usual truisms are repeated. “Succession” has the most nominations for television with nine and is likely to win almost all of the nominations. The final season of HBO's Family Imbroglio is nominated for best drama series and is also competing in the drama actress category with Sarah Snook, drama actress, Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin and Jeremy Strong, supporting actress, J. SmithCameron and supporting actress. with Matthew Macfadyen, Alan Ruck and Alexander Skarsgård.
Also competing for the prize are the final season of “The Crown” from Netflix, “The Diplomat” from the same service, “The Morning Show” from Apple TV+, “1923” from Paramount+ and “The Last”. of Us,” another one from HBO that was a 2023 favorite.
In the comedies “The Bear”, “Only Murders in the Building” and “Abbott Elementary” from Star+, “Ted Lasso” from Apple TV+, “Na Mira do Júri” from Amazon and “Barry” from HBO. Here the race is more uncertain than in dramas, miniseries, anthology series or television films.
The category includes “Treta” and “Toda Luz que Não Podemos Ver” from Netflix, “Uma Questão de Química” from Apple TV+, “Daisy Jones & The Six” from Amazon, “Companheiros de Viagem” from Paramount+, and “Fargo” , produced by FX.
In addition to the winning prizes, the decisions in each category will also be crucial in testing the Golden Globe's commitment to seriousness and honesty, especially after expanding the voter pool from 90 to around 300 journalists from various countries, including Brazil.
Last year, when it made its big comeback, after a series of scandals broke out around the Foreign Press Association, it was still too early to assess the effectiveness of the measures taken. In 2024, the future of the Golden Globes, for better or worse, should become a little clearer.
Now, again on a Sunday, the awards show is rehearsing a return to spring despite last year's terrible crowds and the likes of Michelle Yeoh and Angela Bassett.
It was necessary to publicly apologize and take tough measures to combat the lack of transparency, three years after the American newspaper Los Angeles Times published a report exposing attempts to buy votes and other unorthodox measures.
New categories were even created to maintain the award's relevance best film and box office performance, which rewards films that grossed at least $150 million, and standup films.
In this way, phrases like “with the Golden Globe winner” are flourishing again in film and series trailers, while the association with the award is no longer a source of shame, but once again becomes quite an achievement. It's as if the change hasn't really changed anything.
The best Golden Globe nominees
MOVIE THEATER
BEST MOVIE DRAMA
- “Oppenheimer”
- “Flower Moon Killer”
- “Conductor”
- “Past Lives”
- “Zone of Interest”
- “Anatomy of a Fall”
BEST FILM COMEDY/MUSICAL
BEST ACTRESS DRAMA
BEST ACTOR DRAMA
- Andrew Scott, “We Are All Strangers”
- Barry Keoghan, Saltburn
- Bradley Cooper, “Maestro”
- Cillian Murphy, “Oppenheimer”
- Colman Domingo, “Rustin”
- Leonardo DiCaprio, “Killers of the Flower Moon”
SERIES
BEST SERIES DRAMA
BEST SERIES COMEDY/MUSICAL
Best miniseries, best anthology or television film
Best Performance in a StandUp or TV Comedy
- Ricky Gervais, “Armageddon”
- Trevor Noah, “Where Was I?”
- Chris Rock, “Selective Outrage”
- Amy Schumer, “Emergency Contact”
- Sarah Silverman, “Someone You Love”
- Wanda Sykes, “I am an Entertainer”