As it has done in many years, the HFPA gathered journalists at the Beverly Hilton for its announcement of the 79th Golden Globes. This time, however, there wasn’t a nationally televised morning show live spot nor any celebrity celebrations. Hollywood shrugged.
Instead of having a few movie stars announce their nominations, the HFPA turned to Snoop Dogg who read them behind sunglasses and a red hat in a live stream on Globes’ YouTube channel. The group has not been engaging with most studios, public relations agencies, and A-list talent this year, as it dropped the requirement that films must be submitted for consideration. Critics say it is too early for the HFPA’s to go back to business as before. Some prefer to see the Globes go for good.
The press association attempted to keep its place in awards season by spreading nominations to the likes of Will Smith (“King Richard”) Kristen Stewart (“Spencer”) and Rachel Zegler (“West Side Story”), Leonardo DiCaprio (“Don’t Look Up”) and Denis Villeneuve’s scifi epic “Dune,” as well as Reinaldo MarcusGreen’s tennis biopic (“King Richard”) and Kenneth Branagh’s autobiographical (“Belfast”).
The best comedy or musical picks were: Adam McKay’s apocalyptic comedy, “Don’t Look Up,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s ’70s ode San Fernando Valley “Licorice Pizza,” Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick, Boom!” and Joe Wright’s Cyrano.
“Belfast”, “The Power of the Dog”, and “Belfast” were tied for the most nominations, with seven each. With 17 nominations, Netflix was the dominant film nominee. With five nominations, HBO’s “Succession,” including the best drama and best actor in a drama for Jeremy Strong, led the TV side.
Normaly, such honors would spark a frenzy of joy from early-roused nominations and their studios — an award triumph to be celebrated on social media and in calls and talks with reporters. No nominee celebrated publicly Monday morning.
According to the press association, it claims it has rebuilt itself in the nine months that have passed since its 2021 event. Helen Hoehne, the newly elected president of HFPA 2.0, stated that it has made significant progress in recent months. The group added a chief diversity officer, restructured its board, inducted 21 new members including six Black journalists, and brought in the NAACP for a five year partnership. It also updated its code of conduct.
Hoehne stated Monday that “This year has been one of reflection and change for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.”
After a Los Angeles Times expose exposed the HFPA’s unethical behavior, and revealed that the 87 voting members of the group didn’t include one Black journalist, all of this happened. Studios declared they would boycott the Globes, and more than 100 PR films stated that their clients would not participate until the HFPA quickly implemented “profound & lasting change.” Tom Cruise returned three Globes to the group.
NBC, Globes’ long-time telecaster has stated that it will not air the 2022 Globes as “change of such magnitude takes time and effort.” They have set a January 9 date, but haven’t given any details on what type of ceremony. The Critics Choice Awards attempted to fill that void by securing the Globes’ home at the Beverly Hilton. The bid was unsuccessful, but the Critics Choice Awards will air on January 9, on TBS and CW.
The Globes’ strength has been largely due to its lively telecast. It is regularly one of most-watched nonsports broadcasts of each year. Many of the award-hopefuls who are hitting theaters in December use the Globes as a marketing tool. Few people expect to see TV commercials and ads promoting a film’s Golden Globes nominations this year.
