The Golden Globe nominations are pretty weird
And the Golden Globe for Most Valuable Plummer goes to . . .
The nominations for the 75th Annual Golden Globes were announced Monday morning, and among them was the 87-year-old acting legend Christopher Plummer for his supporting performance as crotchety billionaire J. Paul Getty in “All The Money In The World.”
Only, Getty was not Plummer’s part until six weeks ago, when sexual harassment allegations first emerged against the original actor Kevin Spacey. The “House of Cards” star was dropped — and his scenes were quickly re-shot with Plummer at the hefty cost of $10 million. That’s one pricey doorstop.
The film also scored nods for Ridley Scott’s directing and Michelle Williams’ supporting turn.
Although the Globes have evolved over the years from a wacky night with tasteless European journalists into a generally accurate horoscope of Oscar fortunes, Monday’s list featured some strange throwbacks to the hilarious Hollywood Foreign Press Association of yore.
After solid reviews and middling buzz, director Guillermo del Toro’s “The Shape of Water” — about a mute woman’s romance with a laboratory sea monster — seemed like a dark horse. Turns out, for the Globes, it’s Secretariat. The flick led the pack with seven nominations, including best motion picture – drama, best director (de Toro), best actress (Sally Hawkins), best supporting actor (Richard Jenkins), best supporting actress (Octavia Spencer), best screenplay and best original score.
Critic darlings and Oscar favorites “Call Me By Your Name” (the LA Film Critics Circle’s best film) and “Lady Bird” (the NY Film Critics Circle’s best film) both walked away with far less. “CMBYN,” an excellent gay romance set in Italy, rightly scored nods for best actor (Timothée Chalamet), best supporting actor (Armie Hammer) and best motion picture – drama. Meanwhile the popular coming-of-age comedy “Lady Bird” earned four nominations: best motion picture – comedy, best actress (Saiorse Ronan), best supporting actress (Laurie Metcalf) and best screenplay (Greta Gerwig).
Gerwig, however, was not recognized for her terrific direction. Five dudes were instead.
Sadly, among that dude quintet was not writer-director Jordan Peele, whose acclaimed box office horror hit “Get Out” received a measly two nominations: best motion picture comedy (a categorization that infuriated many fans) and best actor (Daniel Kaluuya).
Steven Spielberg’s “The Post” — about the Washington Post, not us — was the second biggest taker with six nominations, including best director, best actress (Meryl Streep), best actor (Tom Hanks), best score, best screenplay and best motion picture – drama. It’ll duke it out with fellow draminees “Call Me By Your Name,” “The Shape of Water,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “Dunkirk.”
The movies vying for best comedy are “Lady Bird,” “The Disaster Artist,” “Get Out, “The Greatest Showman” and “I, Tonya.”
Thanks to celebs being funneled an endless supply of booze, the Globes are usually the most enjoyable night of awards season. That will probably still be true — even though Seth Meyers is the stale rye bread of hosts. Just don’t expect ‘em to be Oscar tea leaves this time around.