Hollywood awards race heats up with Globes nominations

AFP/APP

Los Angeles: Hollywood’s awards season shifts into high gear Monday as nominations for the Golden Globes are unveiled, with hit musical “Wicked: For Good,” Shakespeare family tragedy “Hamnet,” and period horror film “Sinners” leading the field.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s politically charged “One Battle After Another,” starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and the mid-century sports dramedy “Marty Supreme,” starring Timothée Chalamet and Gwyneth Paltrow, are also strong contenders.

The Globes, set for January 11, are widely viewed as a bellwether for the Oscars, and many of this year’s leading hopefuls are already appearing on insider lists for Academy Award nominations.

With separate awards for dramas and comedies/musicals, the Golden Globes widen the field of potential nominees and heighten anticipation.

“The headline this year is: Comedy is where the drama is,” Variety senior awards editor Clayton Davis told AFP.

“Wicked: For Good” will compete for top comedy-musical honors alongside “One Battle After Another” and “Marty Supreme.”

Also in the mix is apocalyptic satire “Bugonia,” the latest offbeat project from Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos, featuring frequent collaborator Emma Stone, who is tipped for a nomination, along with co-star Jesse Plemons.

Davis called “Wicked” — the blockbuster conclusion to the hit Broadway musical’s film adaptation — “the populist choice” for its broad appeal.

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Ariana Grande (Glinda) and Cynthia Erivo (Elphaba) are expected to be awards contenders again, despite Erivo’s surprising omission from the Critics Choice Awards shortlist.

The best actress categories at the Globes and the Oscars will be a “Murderers’ Row,” Davis added, predicting an unusually competitive field.

This year, each main category will feature six nominees, rather than the usual five.

‘Hamnet’ and ‘Sinners’ lead drama races

On the drama side, top contenders explore historical themes.

In “Hamnet,” Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao directs Paul Mescal as William Shakespeare, striving to build his career while his wife Agnes (Jessie Buckley) faces the dangers of plague and childbirth in Elizabethan England.

Based on Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, the film draws from evidence that the couple had a son named Hamnet — a name nearly indistinguishable from “Hamlet” in Shakespeare’s time.

Ryan Coogler’s “Sinners,” starring Michael B. Jordan as twins in 1930s racially segregated Mississippi, blends crime and supernatural horror.

A runaway box office success, the film secured 17 Critics Choice Award nominations on Friday. Davis said he “will not sleep a wink” until Coogler receives an Oscar nod for directing.

Also in contention is Guillermo del Toro’s “Frankenstein,” starring Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi.

Oscar nominations are due January 22, and the Globes picks are expected to help map the road to the Academy Awards.

The Golden Globes will also recognize the best in television, with top Emmy favorites — “Severance” and “The Pitt” for drama, “The Studio” and “Hacks” for comedy, and the limited series “Adolescence” — expected to dominate the nominations.

Actors Marlon Wayans and Skye Marshall will announce the main nominees for the 83rd Golden Globes at 1315 GMT Monday.

Now in their third year of a major revamp, the Globes enjoyed a ratings boost last year under host Nikki Glaser, attracting more than 10 million viewers.

Glaser will return to host the January 11 ceremony in Beverly Hills.