Awards season opens with Globes – Wide-open race to keep viewers in suspense

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This photo provided by Amazon Studios shows Gael Garcia Bernal as Rodrigo in a scene from season two of ‘Mozart in the Jungle.’ Bernal is nominated for a 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a TV Comedy series. The  73rd annual Golden Globe Awards air Jan 10, 2016 on NBC. (AP)
This photo provided by Amazon Studios shows Gael Garcia Bernal as Rodrigo in a scene from season two of ‘Mozart in the Jungle.’ Bernal is nominated for a 2016 Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a TV Comedy series. The 73rd annual Golden Globe Awards air Jan 10, 2016 on NBC. (AP)

LOS ANGELES, Jan 8, (Agencies): Hollywood’s biggest stars turn out on Sunday for the Golden Globes, which kick off the industry’s awards season this year with a show that promises suspense and cheeky humor.

While their record in predicting Oscars glory has been hit-and-miss, many see the Globes as a pretty strong indicator of films and actors destined for an Academy Award on Feb 28.

“It’s an uncanny crystal ball,” said Tom O’Neil, founder of awards tracker GoldDerby.com. “The Globes historically has predicted 75 percent of the Oscars.

“So it’s considered your audition for the Oscar.”

Returning to host what is described as Hollywood’s biggest party of the year will be British comedian Ricky Gervais, who has used previous appearances on the show to dish out politically-incorrect and stinging jokes.

The field is wide open this year as to who will walk away with a Golden Globe, awarded by members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills.

“Some years there are movies like ‘Titanic’ that just seem to have a momentum and everybody seems to like them,” said Timothy Gray, awards editor for trade magazine Variety. “But this year there is genuine suspense.”

Leading the pack of films vying for top honors is “Spotlight,” which tells the story of Boston Globe journalists who uncovered sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.

Pundits see the movie as frontrunner for best drama — but no shoo-in, as it faces competition from “Carol,” a lesbian romance starring Cate Blanchett as a housewife who falls for a store clerk played by Rooney Mara.

Other top contending dramas are the epic survival thriller “The Revenant” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the harrowing kidnap tale “Room” and “Mad Max: Fury Road.”

The frontrunner for best comedy is “The Big Short,” based on a book about the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Also running in that category are the dramedy “Joy,” space blockbuster “The Martian,” zany caper “Spy” and Amy Shumer’s breakout film “Trainwreck.”

In the race for best actor in a drama, DiCaprio appears well ahead for his strong performance as legendary fur trapper Hugh Glass in “The Revenant.”

Critics are widely predicting the 41-year-old actor will take home his first Oscar for the role.

“There is a feeling that it’s his year,” said O’Neil. “All 17 GoldDerby experts have him unanimously out front to win.”

Also nominated for best actor in a drama are Bryan Cranston who plays a blacklisted 1940s screenwriter in “Trumbo,” Eddie Redmayne for the transgender tale “The Danish Girl” and Will Smith for the hard-hitting sports drama “Concussion.”

Drama

For best actress in a drama the nominees are Blanchett and Mara for “Carol,” Brie Larson for “Room,” and Alicia Vikander who plays alongside Redmayne in “The Danish Girl.”

On the television front, two series nominated for a Golden Globe are creating a buzz — “Mr Robot”, about a computer programmer and vigilante hacker, and “Narcos”, Netflix’s take on the infamous Medellin drug cartel.

Expected

Movies aside, all eyes will be on Gervais, who raised eyebrows for his off-color jokes when he hosted the show for three years starting in 2010.

The caustic comedian, who takes over from co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, comes with a reputation of poking fun at everyone from Mel Gibson to Angelina Jolie, as well as the Hollywood Foreign Press, and this year he is not expected to hold back.

Gervais has made his apologies in advance for what he will say.

“Because I can see the future, I’d like to apologize now for the things I said at next week’s Golden Globes,” he tweeted on January 1.

But O’Neil said Gervais’ edgy humor was more likely than not to go down well with an audience mellowed by flowing champagne.

“He’s a brilliant host because he’s an anarchist who loves to rock the house,” O’Neil said. “This is Hollywood’s biggest party of the year and Ricky is perfectly cast as a wild card upon the stage. jz/ec

With free-flowing champagne and blistering jokes that have yet to be told but have already been apologized for, Sunday’s Golden Globes promise a rowdy night featuring Hollywood’s top names and a wide-open awards race to keep viewers in suspense.

The Globes, chosen by Hollywood Foreign Press Association voters, often offer a prescient preview of the more prestigious Academy Awards.

Britain’s acerbic Ricky Gervais will take over hosting duties from comedy duo Tina Fey and Amy Poehler. He has already tweeted a cheeky apology for those who will be offended by his jokes.

With films such as “Spotlight,” “The Revenant,” “The Big Short” and “Carol” vying for Golden Globe wins, the Oscars field may start to shape up.

“This year’s Globes are a free-for-all,” said Tom O’Neil, founder of awards tracker GoldDerby.com. “The Golden Globes is an Oscars audition.”

The nominees cover a varied field of genres and topics. “Spotlight,” about The Boston Globe’s probe into sex abuse by Catholic priests, is the likely frontrunner for best drama while Wall Street misdeeds movie “The Big Short” could win best comedy, O’Neil said.

Globes voters are not members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences who determine the Oscars. But the Globes has honored many films and actors who have gone on to win Oscars. Oscar nominations will be announced on Jan 14.

This year, pundits favor Leonardo DiCaprio in the best actor race for his role as a fur-trapper bent on revenge in Alejandro Inarritu’s Pioneer-era drama “The Revenant.” DiCaprio is up on Sunday against Eddie Redmayne (“The Danish Girl”), Will Smith (“Concussion”), Michael Fassbender (“Steve Jobs”) and Bryan Cranston (“Trumbo”).

“Carol” star Cate Blanchett will contend against co-star Rooney Mara for best drama actress, as well as Saoirse Ronan (“Brooklyn”), Brie Larson (“Room”), and Alicia Vikander (“The Danish Girl”).

Gervais will host the dinner ceremony for a fourth time. In the past, he has skewered everyone from Charlie Sheen and Robert Downey Jr. to Kim Kardashian. Potential targets on Sunday include movie star Mel Gibson, a scheduled award presenter, and the sex scandal surrounding comedian Bill Cosby.

“Because I can see the future, I’d like to apologise now for the things I said at next week’s Golden Globes,” Gervais tweeted last week, adding: “I was drunk.”

Golden Globes are also awarded to TV shows and actors, with contenders including “Game of Thrones,” “Veep,” “Transparent,” and “Empire.”

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