‘Shape’ leads Golden Globe noms – ‘The Post’, ‘Three Billboards’ bag 6 nods each

This news has been read 6315 times!

LOS ANGELES, Dec 11, (RTRS): Guillermo Del Toro’s “The Shape of Water,” Steven Spielberg’s “The Post,” and Martin McDonagh’s “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” were among the big winners as nominations for the 75th Golden Globe Awards were unveiled on Monday.

“Three Billboards,” a revenge drama, “The Post,” a dramatic re-telling of the Pentagon Papers saga, and “The Shape of Water,” a sci-fi romance, earned best film and director nods in addition to picking up nominations for the performances of several of its actors. “The Shape of Water” nabbed a leading seven nominations, while “Three Billboards” and “The Post” picked up six a piece. The other best drama nominees were Christopher Nolan’s World War II epic “Dunkirk” and Luca Guadagnino’s lyrical romance “Call Me by Your Name.”

Unlike other awards shows, the Globes separates its film honors into best drama and best musical or comedy categories. It also hands out hardware to television shows.

On the television front, HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” a water-cooler hit about a murder in a tony Monterey enclave, was also dominant, picking up six nominations. It finds itself facing off against FX’s “Fargo” and “Feud: Bette and Joan,” as well as USA’s “The Sinner” and IFC’s “Top of the Lake: China Girl” in the best TV limited series or movie category.

Netflix’s “The Crown” and “Stranger Things” will duke it out with Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” HBO”s “Game of Thrones,” and NBC’s “This is Us” for the best TV drama Golden Globe. In the best comedy category, ABC’s “Black-ish,” Showtime’s “SMILF,” and NBC’s “Will & Grace” will square off against two buzzy programs from the world of streaming — Amazon’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and Netflix’s “Master of None.”

Family film hits “The Boss Baby” and “Coco” scored best animated film Golden Globes nominations. They will face off against “Ferdinand,” a yet-to-be released animated film, and two adult skewing films “The Breadwinner” and “Loving Vincent.” “The LEGO Batman Movie” and “Despicable Me 3,” two of the year’s biggest animated hits, were shut out.

Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, who starred in “Big Little Lies,” picked up best actress in a TV limited series or movie nominations, along with Jessica Biel (“The Sinner”),Jessica Lange, (“Feud: Bette and Joan”), and Susan Sarandon (“Feud: Bette and Joan”). It’s a sign of the blurring of boundaries between the big and small screen. All five actresses are best known for the work in movies, but television has been offering meatier parts of late.

The same kind of prestige was evident in the best actor in a TV limited series or movie category. Two time Oscar winner Robert De Niro scored a nod for playing disgraced financier Bernie Madoff in HBO’s “The Wizard of Lies,” Academy Award winner Geoffrey Rush was recognized for playing Albert Einstein in the Discovery Channel’s “Genius,” and two-time Oscar nominee Jude Law picked up a nomination for playing a radical pontiff in HBO’s “The Young Pope.”Kyle MacLachlan (“Twin Peaks”) and Ewan McGregor (“Fargo”) rounded out the category.

Hugh Jackman scored a best actor in a musical or comedy nod for his singing and dancing work as circus impresario P.T. Barnum in “The Greatest Showman.” He faces off against tween heartthrob Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver in “Baby Driver,” Steve Carell’s turn as sexist tennis champ Bobby Riggs in “Battle of the Sexes,” James Franco’s work as a delusional director in “The Disaster Artist,” and Daniel Kaluuya’s performance as a houseguest in for a world of hurt in “Get Out.”

This year’s awards are being unveiled at a tumultuous time in Hollywood history. Bombshell reports about Harvey Weinstein’s decades of alleged sexual harassment and abuse have widened to ensnare other industry figures. Kevin Spacey, Brett Ratner, Dustin Hoffman, and Matt Lauer are just a few of the major media and entertainment personalities who are now facing accusations of misconduct.

Despite facing sexual harassment allegations, Rush picked up a nomination for best actor in a TV limited series for “Genius.” Christopher Plummer wasn’t accused of any misdeeds, but the celebrated thespian owes his nod to the harassment scandal. Plummer was a last-minute stand-in for Kevin Spacey, re-shooting his scenes as J. Paul Getty in “All the Money in the World.” He earned a best supporting actor nod. Plummer will face off against Willem Dafoe (“The Florida Project”), Armie Hammer (“Call Me by Your Name”), Richard Jenkins (“The Shape of Water”), and Sam Rockwell (“Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”).

The supporting actress category consists of Mary J. Blige (“Mudbound”), Hong Chau (“Downsizing”), Allison Janney (“I, Tonya”), Laurie Metcalf (“Lady Bird”), and Octavia Spencer (“The Shape of Water”).

Seth Meyers will host the broadcast, taking the reins from his fellow late night TV staple Jimmy Fallon, who emceed last year. The Globes are a looser, boozier affair than the more staid Oscars, with A-list stars downing flutes of Moet between victory speeches. They are also the subject of some controversy for their insular voting body of roughly 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which in the past has shown an appetite for accepting lavish junkets and meals from contending films and studios. The group is comprised of international journalists, and has made efforts to clean up its ethical guidelines in recent years.

Globe winners aren’t always predictive of future Oscars glory. Last year, the organization gave its top musical/comedy prize to “La La Land” and its best drama statue to “Moonlight,” which went on to pick up the Academy Award for Best Picture. However, it failed to recognize the two previous Best Picture Oscar winners, “Spotlight” and “Birdman.”

Here is the list of 2018 Golden Globe nominations:

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Robert De Niro, “The Wizard of Lies”; Jude Law, “The Young Pope”; Kyle MacLachlan, “Twin Peaks”; Ewan McGregor, “Fargo”; Geoffrey Rush, “Genius”.

* Best Television Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: “Big Little Lies”; “Fargo Feud”; “Bette and Joan”; “The Sinner” Top of the Lake: China Girl”.

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Alfred Molina, “Feud”; Alexander Skarsgard, “Big Little Lies”; David Thewlis, “Fargo”; David Harbour, “Stranger Things”; Christian Slater, “Mr. Robot”.

* Best Animated Film: “The Boss Baby”; “The Breadwinner”; “Ferdinand”; “Coco”; “Loving Vincent”.

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy: Pamela Adlon, “Better Things”; Alison Brie, “Glow”; Issa Rae, “Insecure”; Rachel Brosnahan, “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”; Frankie Shaw, “SMILF”.

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Laura Dern, “Big Little Lies”; Ann Dowd, “The Handmaid’s Tale”; Chrissy Metz, “This is Us”; Michelle Pfeiffer, “The Wizard of Lies”; Shailene Woodley, “Big Little Lies”.

* Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy: Anthony Anderson, “Black-ish”; Aziz Ansari “Master of None”; Kevin Bacon, “I Love Dick”; William H. Macy, “Shameless”; Eric McCormack, “Will and Grace”.

* Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television: Jessica Biel, “The Sinner”; Nicole Kidman, “Big Little Lies”; Jessica Lange, “Feud: Bette and Joan”; Susan Sarandon, “Feud: Bette and Joan”; Reese Witherspoon, “Big Little Lies”.

* Best Television Series — Comedy: “Black-ish”; “The Marvelous Mrs Maisel”; “Master of None”; “SMILF”; “Will & Grace”.

* Best Original Score — Motion Picture: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”; “The Shape of Water”; “Phantom Thread”; “The Post”; “Dunkirk”.

* Best Screenplay — Motion Picture: “The Shape of Water”; “Lady Bird”; “The Post”; “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”; “Molly’s Game”.

* Best Motion Picture — Foreign Language: “A Fantastic Woman”; “First They Killed My Father”; “In the Fade”; “Loveless”; “The Square”.

This news has been read 6315 times!