The contenders were announced Thursday, with the film gunning for awards including best picture and best actor for Christian Bale.<\/b>
\nNEW YORK \u2014 Adam McKay\u2019s Dick Cheney biopic \u201cVice\u201d seized control of the 76th annual Golden Globe Awards with a leading six nominations, narrowly edging Bradley Cooper\u2019s tear-jerking revival \u201cA Star Is Born,\u201d the interracial road-trip drama \u201cGreen Book\u201d and the period romp \u201cThe Favourite.\u201d
\u201cVice\u201d topped all contenders Thursday in nominations announced at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, including best picture, comedy and best actor nominations for Christian Bale\u2019s nearly unrecognizable performance as the former vice president. It also earned nominations for Amy Adams\u2019 Lynne Cheney, Sam Rockwell\u2019s George W. Bush, and both the screenplay and direction by McKay, the veteran comedy filmmaker who once skewered politicians as a \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d writer.
For even the often-quirky selections of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a collection of 88 mostly lesser-known freelance film journalists, the strong support for \u201cVice\u201d (which arrives in theaters on Dec. 25) was a surprise. Even its categorization of the film \u2013 a highly critical portrait of Cheney as a power-hungry, behind-the-scenes tyrant \u2013 as a comedy raised some eyebrows, just as Globes recent comedy selections \u201cGet Out\u201d and \u201cThe Martian\u201d did.
\u201cIt\u2019s a movie that\u2019s a lot like the times we live in. There\u2019s part of it that\u2019s absurdist and comedic and then there\u2019s another part of it that\u2019s darkly tragic and dramatic, but they are definitely both there,\u201d said McKay by phone from London. \u201cBut I do know I\u2019m glad we\u2019re in that category because we will take \u2018Mary Poppins\u2019 out. I\u2019m not competitive with the other movies but I am competitive with \u2018Mary Poppins.\u2019 Dick Cheney is going for her.\u201d
But it was far from a runaway win for \u201cVice\u201d since the press association typically spread its awards around. Oscar front-runners \u201cA Star Is Born,\u201d \u201cGreen Book\u201d and \u201cThe Favourite\u201d trailed close behind with five nominations each.
On the television side, awards were even more widely dispersed among the likes of \u201cThe Americans,\u201d \u201cBarry,\u201d \u201cHomecoming,\u201d \u201cThe Kominsky Method\u201d and last year\u2019s champ, \u201cThe Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.\u201d Leading all small-screen nominees with four nods was \u201cThe Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,\u201d the FX anthology series about the Italian fashion designer\u2019s murder.
For the first time, FX bested heavyweights like HBO, Netflix and Amazon with a network-best 10 nods, even though the exalted second season of its \u201cAtlanta\u201d received only a single nod for Donald Glover\u2019s acting.
Curiously, the Hollywood Foreign Press doesn\u2019t consider foreign-language films for best film, so Alfonso Cuaron\u2019s acclaimed family drama \u201cRoma\u201d was left out of the Globes\u2019 top category. \u201cRoma,\u201d which is expected to earn Netflix its first best picture nomination at the Oscars, was still nominated for best screenplay, best director and best foreign language film.
For the first time, the Globes nominated three films directed by African-American filmmakers for best picture, drama: Ryan Coogler\u2019s superhero sensation \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d Spike Lee\u2019s urgent white nationalist drama \u201cBlacKkKlansman\u201d and Barry Jenkins\u2019 James Baldwin adaption \u201cIf Beale Street Could Talk.\u201d The other nominees are \u201cA Star Is Born\u201d and the Freddie Mercury biopic.
All earned nods in other categories, too, including Rami Malek\u2019s prosthetic tooth-aided performance as Mercury and the leading turn by John David Washington in \u201cBlacKkKlansman,\u201d who said his father, Denzel, woke him up for the nominations announcement.
\u201cI had flashbacks when I was watching the (NFL) draft when they never called my name,\u201d said Washington, a former football player. \u201cWhen I heard them say my name, it happened in slow motion.\u201d
While Sam Elliott\u2019s supporting performance in \u201cA Star Is Born\u201d was unexpectedly overlooked, the Warner Bros. hit (which elected to compete on the more hefty drama side of the Globes despite its many songs) earned the expected nods for Lady Gaga, Bradley Cooper, as both actor and director, and the song \u201cThe Shallow.\u201d
Up for best picture comedy alongside \u201cVice\u201d are Yorgas Lanthimos\u2019 wild palace power struggle \u201cThe Favourite,\u201d Peter Farrelly\u2019s divisive crowd-pleaser \u201cGreen Book,\u201d the upcoming Disney sequel \u201cMary Poppins Returns\u201d and the rom-com hit \u201cCrazy Rich Asians.\u201d
The Oscar path for both \u201cGreen Book\u201d and \u201cThe Favourite\u201d appeared to be solidified, with nods for all of their leads, some of whom are running in supporting categories: Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali for \u201cGreen Book\u201d and Olivia Colman, Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone for \u201cThe Favourite.\u201d
While some critics have taken issue with \u201cGreen Book\u201d for relying on outdated racial tropes, the uplifting drama\u2019s once flagging Oscar campaign has lately received a boost with both better ticket sales and accruing awards love. Farrelly, best known for broader comedies with his brother, Bobby, like \u201cThere\u2019s Something About Mary,\u201d also received a best director nod for his first dramatic film.
Nominees like Constance Wu (\u201dCrazy Rich Asians\u201d), Regina King (\u201dBeale Street\u201d), Lin-Manuel Miranda (\u201dMary Poppins Returns\u201d), Ali and Washington insured a diverse field of nominees. Three decades after last being included in the category for \u201cDo the Right Thing,\u201d Spike Lee was nominated for directing \u201cBlacKkKlansman.\u201d \u201cThe first word that came to mind was \u2018BOOM SHAKALAKA,\u201d\u2018 Lee said in a statement.
But the Globes also didn\u2019t nominate any of the year\u2019s acclaimed female filmmakers for best director, and none of the 10 best-picture nominees were helmed by a woman. At the previous Globes, presenter Natalie Portman pointedly introduced the \u201call-male\u201d directing nominees.
Damien Chazelle\u2019s Neil Armstrong biopic \u201cFirst Man,\u201d which has seen its awards hopes wane in recent weeks, failed to liftoff, scoring neither a best film nod, nor one for Ryan Gosling\u2019s leading performance. (It did land nominations for Claire Foy and its score.) The news was worse for Steve McQueen\u2019s heist thriller \u201cWidows,\u201d which was shut out entirely.
Also left out, to gasps heard across social media, was Ethan Hawke\u2019s performance as an anguished pastor in \u201cFirst Reformed\u201d and Pawel Pawlikowski\u2019s Polish stunner \u201cCold War,\u201d his follow-up to the Oscar-winning \u201cIda.\u201d (The nominees for best foreign language film alongside \u201cRoma\u201d were \u201cCapernaum,\u201d \u201dGirl,\u201d \u201dNever Look Away\u201d and \u201dShoplifters.\u201d) Some of the TV snubs \u2013 \u201cAtlanta,\u201d \u201cThis Is Us,\u201d \u201cBetter Call Saul\u201d \u2013 were even more surprising.
But the Globes also handed nominations to some up-and-comers, including Lucas Hedges (\u201dBoy Erased\u201d), Timothee Chalamet (\u201dBeautiful Boy\u201d) and Elsie Fisher, the 15-year-old star of the coming-of-age tale \u201cEighth Grade.\u201d \u201cWHAT,\u201d said Fisher on Twitter. When reached by phone Thursday morning and told she was trending, Fisher \u2013 whose character is a little-liked YouTuber \u2013 replied \u201cHell yeah!\u201d
The press association made room for one old favorite: Robert Redford who received his 10th Globe nomination for \u201cThe Old Man & the Gun\u201d in what he has said may (or may not) be his final acting performance. Redford was given the group\u2019s Cecil B. DeMille achievement award in 1994.
Glenn Close likewise notched her 14th Globe nomination for her leading performance as a celebrated author in \u201cThe Wife.\u201d Reached Thursday morning, Close said her voice was \u201cgone\u201d after two performances of the off-Broadway play \u201cMother of the Maid\u201d the day before.
\u201cMaybe today it\u2019ll be tequila,\u201d Close said of her celebration plans before thinking better of it. \u201cI have a show tonight. And I\u2019ll probably have to go back to sleep at some point today.\u201d
In film and television, the nominations guaranteed the Globes will boast what it most craves for its famously frothy broadcast: stars. Among them: Julia Roberts (\u201dHomecoming\u201d), Amy Adams (\u201dSharp Objects\u201d), Nicole Kidman (\u201dDestroyer\u201d), Hugh Grant (\u201dA Very English Scandal\u201d), Melissa McCarthy (\u201dCan You Ever Forgive Me?\u201d), Benedict Cumberbatch (\u201dPatrick Melrose\u201d), Emily Blunt (\u201dMary Poppins Returns\u201d), Jim Carrey (\u201dKidding\u201d) and Charlize Theron (\u201dTully\u201d).
Though the major studios like Disney (\u201dBlack Panther,\u201d \u201cMary Poppins Returns,\u201d \u201cIncredibles 2\u2033), Warner Bros. (\u201dA Star Is Born\u201d) and Universal (\u201dGreen Book,\u201d \u201cFirst Man\u201d) are more in the thick of the awards season than usual, indies carried the day. Annapurna Pictures (\u201dVice,\u201d \u201cBeale Street\u201d) and Fox Searchlight (\u201dThe Favourite,\u201d \u201cCan You Ever Forgive Me?) led the studios with 10 nods apiece \u2013 especially welcome news for billionaire heiress Megan Ellison\u2019s Annapurna, which struggled through financial difficulties this fall.
Still, Disney could claim a kind of supremacy. Its soon-to-be-finalized acquisition of Fox would make its movie nominations tally 21 \u2013 a number that climbs higher still when you throw in Fox\u2019s FX. The nod for its \u201cBlack Panther\u201d also marked Marvel Studios\u2019 first best-picture nomination at the Globes, a feat it\u2019s hoping to repeat at the Academy Awards.
The ratings for last January\u2019s broadcast, hosted by Seth Meyers and graced with an impassioned speech by Oprah Winfrey, dipped 5 percent with approximately 19 million viewers. As the first major awards show following the Harvey Weinstein revelations, the usually more frivolous ceremony had an atypical edge of seriousness. In a demonstration organized by the then-just-founded Time\u2019s Up, women wore black on the red carpet.
Whether this year will return the Globes to their more lighthearted celebrations will rest partly with its unexpected pairing of Andy Samberg and \u201cKilling Eve\u201d star Sandra Oh, who is also a nominee for best actress in a TV series drama. They were announced Wednesday as hosts of the Jan. 6 ceremony, to be broadcast live on NBC.
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