The early awards in Hollywood’s awards season have been granted to films like “Past Lives” by Celine Song, the Holocaust-themed film “The Zone of Interest” by Jonathan Glazer, and Martin Scorsese’s blockbuster “Killers of the Flower Moon.” But there has always been a struggle.
Barbie and Oppenheimer: The Strongest Contenders for the Oscars
“Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” these two summer films sharing a release date, are perhaps the strongest contenders for this year’s Oscars. When the Golden Globe Awards announced their nominations for the 81st awards on Monday, the scandal-ridden Golden Globes seeking to regain their standing threw their full weight behind these cinematic phenomena of the year.
Golden Globe Nominations
Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie” received nine nominations, equaling Bob Fosse’s “Cabaret” and surpassing Robert Altman’s “Nashville.” The gap between it and “Oppenheimer” was slight, as Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster film secured eight nominations.
The Competition Between Barbie and Oppenheimer
The two films will compete in several major categories, with Gerwig and Nolan vying for Best Director and Ryan Gosling and Robert Downey Jr. competing for Best Supporting Actor.
Each film has its own compelling story. Nolan is considered by many to be the most talented filmmaker of his generation, having never won an Oscar for directing, and his films have not won Best Picture either. Meanwhile, Gerwig and “Barbie” are at the forefront of a Hollywood change that has been male-dominated for a long time. Each film has managed to deliver something wonderfully innovative in an industry where sequels and reboots prevail — all while grossing $2.4 billion in the process.
Upcoming Awards
These discussions will continue until the Oscars ceremony on March 10. But the Golden Globes made it clear on Monday: Barbenheimer, phase two, has begun.
Assistance from the Golden Globes
The major films will assist these awards, which are seeking stability after years of turmoil. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, known for its quirky nominations in the past (remember “Salmon Fishing in Yemen”), has been dissolved, and a new voting body comprising about 300 members has been formed, more than three times the size of the HFPA, which chose this year’s nominees. After the Los Angeles Times reported that the association did not have any Black members, Hollywood boycotted the awards in 2022, and the ceremony was not broadcast. Now the Golden Globes, returning to Dick Clark Productions and Eldridge Industries Limited, have their station on CBS after decades of broadcasting on NBC. (The ceremony will take place on January 7).
There are still many questions. A host has not yet been appointed, with only reports of several stars declining. But for the Golden Globes, Monday’s nominations did little to garner more disdain. The reception was as it always is: a modest celebration of the nominees and gentle mockery of an awards show with a colorful history.
The Golden Globes expanded their categories from five to six nominations, resulting in fewer snubs than expected. However, the biggest surprising omission that morning was the film “The Color Purple,” the musical produced by Oprah, which was left out of the Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy category. (Stars like Fantasia Barrino and Danielle Brooks were nominated nonetheless).
Films that did not open widely in theaters faced difficulty in receiving nominations. Michael Mann’s “Ferrari” and Ava DuVernay’s “Origin” were overlooked.
Instead
From that, the Golden Globe Awards followed the buzz. This included the recognition of Time magazine’s Person of the Year, Taylor Swift, in the Cinematic Achievement Award and New Revenue. (To qualify, a film must have grossed $150 million, including $100 million in the U.S., or be a success in streaming). “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour” achieved this mark, giving the Golden Globe Awards an opportunity to leverage star power in streaming with Swift, the pop star with increasing ambitions in the film industry.
This new award comes after similar efforts from the Oscars, which proposed a “Best Popular Film” award in 2018 that faced immediate backlash from Academy members and was subsequently shelved. Both broadcasts have seen a decline in ratings in recent years and sought to bring box office films into the mix. Last year’s Golden Globe Awards were watched by just 6.3 million people.
This year, however, the Golden Globes and the Oscars may not need to adjust anything to bring blockbuster films into the fold. While several critically acclaimed films are in the running – among them “Killers of the Flower Moon” (7 nominations), Yorgos Lanthimos’ twisted fantasy “Poor Things” (7 nominations), “Past Lives” (5 nominations), and Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” (3 nominations) – no film has emerged as a clear frontrunner over “Barbie” or “Oppenheimer”.
Their path to the Oscar for Best Picture may not be as easy as it currently seems. Since Ben Affleck’s “Argo” (2012), no Best Picture winner has grossed more than $100 million at the U.S. box office. In recent years, hopes for films like “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” to contend for Hollywood’s top cinematic prize have faded, while smaller and independently produced films like “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “CODA” have triumphed.
But Monday’s nominations indicated that “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” are the strongest films of the year. Choose your color palette now.
Follow film writer Jake Coyle on AP at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP
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