The black comedy The Banshees of Inisherin and the multiverse mash-up Everything Everywhere at Once both received nominations from the Golden Globes as they prepared for their comeback on Monday.
Nominations were read from the Beverly Hilton and broadcast live on NBC’s Today show in an effort to revive the early morning excitement associated with the awards-season custom.
The story of feuding buddies by Martin McDonagh With eight nominations, The Banshees of Inisherin took the top spot, led by the performances of actors Colin Farrell, Brendan Gleeson, Kerry Condon, and Barry Keoghan.
Everything Everywhere at Once by Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, an existential action comedy, finished in second place with six nominations, including ones for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Jamie Lee Curtis.
The Globes nominated several Oscar favourites, like Todd Fields’ T r and Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, while also giving high-profile productions like Top Gun: Maverick and Avatar: The Way of Water recognition. The three films received nominated for best picture, drama, along with Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis.
The nominees for best film, comedy or musical, were: The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Babylon and Triangle of Sadness.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) has historically been derided, sometimes even by their own hosts, for less diverse nominees and off-the-wall picks.
The film nominees Monday included eight people of colour among the 30 individual acting nominees.
No woman was nominated for best director, with nods instead going to Spielberg, Cameron, McDonagh, Luhrmann and Kwan and Scheinert, the filmmaking duo known as ‘The Daniels’. None of the films up for best picture in either category was directed by women.
Among the nominees for best actor in a drama is Brendan Fraser.
Fraser has said he won’t attend the Globes after he said he was groped in 2003 by Philip Berk, a former HFPA member and former president of the organisation.
On the TV side, the ABC public school comedy Abbott Elementary led with five nominations, including best series, musical or comedy, and nods for its stars Quinta Brunson, Janelle James and Tyler James Williams.
The Crown, Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Only Murders in the Building, Pam & Tommy and White Lotus all came away with four nominations.
The show, which will be telecast January 10 and hosted by stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael, is trying to make a comeback.
A Los Angeles Times investigation in early 2021 found that the HFPA then had no black members, a revelation compounded by other allegations of ethical improprieties.
Many stars and studios said they would boycott the show. Tom Cruise returned his three Globes.
Whether Cruise, nominated in the lead actor category, chooses to attend this year will be much discussed ahead of the ceremony. His Top Gun: Maverick, the year’s biggest box-office smash, is nominated for two awards: best film, drama, and best song.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer was among the first to cheer the film’s nominations with a statement of thanks on Monday.
Top Gun: Maverick wasn’t the only blockbuster welcomed by the Globes. James Cameron’s upcoming Avatar: The Way of Water scored nods for both best film, drama, and best director for Cameron.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever bagged two nominations, for Angela Bassett’s supporting performance and Rihanna’s ‘Lift Me Up’.
Arguably, no film got a bigger boost than Damien Chazelle’s silent-film-era epic Babylon.
The film doesn’t open in theatres until later this month, but came away with five nominations, including nods for Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Diego Calva.
Other nominees across categories included Austin Butler (Elvis), Ana de Armas (Blonde), Jeremy Pope (The Inspection), Ana Taylor-Joy (The Menu), Emma Thompson (Good Luck to You, Leo Grande), Dolly De Leon (Triangle of Sadness) and Eddie Redmayne (The Good Nurse).
While enthusiastic statements and social-media reactions often ensued, few nominees publicly celebrated in the first hours after nominations. Social accounts for many of the films, though, did promote their Globe nods.
NBC last year cancelled the telecast for this past January.
Instead, the Golden Globes were quietly held in a Beverly Hilton ballroom without any stars in attendance. Winners were announced on Twitter.
Over the last year-and-a-half, the HFPA has enacted reforms and revamped its membership to now number 96 people, including six Black voting members.
NBC has praised the HFPA for its ongoing reforms but also reworked its contract: The network will broadcast the 2023 show in a one-year deal, making January’s show a possible make-or-break moment.
NBC also shifted the telecast to a Tuesday, from the Globes’ previous Sunday night perch, and will also stream the ceremony on Peacock.
Known for its boozy, celebrity-stuffed broadcast, the Globes long ranked as one of the most-watched non-sporting live programmes of the year. But ratings, like for most award shows, have recently slid for the Globes.
The 2021 show, held amid the pandemic, was watched by 6.9 million, down from 18 million the year prior.
