NEW YORK (AP) – With nominees appearing in remote videos and hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler in various parts of the country, a 78 Socially Distinguished Golden Globe Distinctions took place amid the pandemic and a storm of criticism .
Fey took to the Rainbow Room stage in New York, while Poehler stayed at the regular Globe House at Beverly Hilton. In their opening statements, they managed to walk back and forth, usually despite the fact that they were almost 3,000 miles apart.
“I always knew my career would end with me wandering around the Rainbow Room, pretending to talk to Amy,” Fey said. “I just thought it would be later.”
They appeared in front of masked participants, but without stars. Instead, the tables were occupied by “the first to respond to smoking and the essential workers,” Fey said.
In a production nightmare, but one that became familiar during the pandemic, the first winner of the night accepted his prize while it was off. It wasn’t until presenter Laura Dern apologized that Daniel Kaluuya, who won Best Supporting Actor for his role as Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” spoke. When he finally arrived, he pointed to and said, “You’re making me dirty!”
The pandemic improvisation was just part of the damage control for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which puts on Globes. After The Los Angeles Times revealed that there were no black members in the HFPA’s 87-member polling station, the media association – which Ricky Gervais called last year “very, very racist” in his hope of a monologue – was subject to increasing pressure to revise itself and better reflect the industry in which it owns.
This year, none of the most acclaimed black films – “Ma Rainey’s Black Ass”, “A Night in Miami”, “Black Judas and the Black Messiah”, “Yes 5 Blood” – were nominated for the better image of the Globes. . Given that HFPA is potentially fighting for its Hollywood life, Sunday’s Globes were part of the apology tournament. Fey and Poehler quickly started the problem.
“Look, a lot of shiny garbage has been nominated, but that’s what happens,” Poehler said. “It simply came to our notice then. But a number of black actors and black-led projects were overlooked. ”
In the first half hour of NBC’s broadcast, members of the media association also appeared on stage to promise change. “We recognize that we have our own work to do,” said Vice President Helen Hoehne. “We need to have black journalists in our organization.”
The show, postponed by two months from the usual perch from the beginning of January, promised a little of the glamor that makes Globes one of the most sparkling and brightest events of the year. Due to the pandemic, there was no parade of stars on the red carpet in front of Beverly Hilton.
When participants would normally run on the red carpet on Sunday night, many stars wore virtually. Queen King, shining in a dazzling dress, stood in front of her yawning dog. Carey Mulligan, nominated for “Promising Young Woman,” said from a London hotel room that she was wearing heels for the first time in more than a year.
Circumstances led to some prize anomalies. Mark Ruffalo won Best Actor in a Limited Series for “I Know It’s True,” with the children celebrating behind him and his wife, Sunrise Coigney, sitting next to him. John Boyega, the winner of the supporting actor for his performance in Steve McQueen’s anthology “Small Axes”, raised his leg to show that he was wearing sweatpants under his more elegant white jacket.
Other awards included Pixar’s “Soul” for Best Animated Film, Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”) for Best Actress in a Comedy Series; and Aaron Sorkin (“The Chicago Trial 7”) for best screenplay. The film, the favorite to win the best dramatic film at the Globes, was sold to Netflix by Paramount Pictures last summer due to the pandemic. “Netflix saved our lives,” Sorkin said.
As the hour of the show approached, the reaction to HFPA threatened to overwhelm the Globes. However, the Globes persisted due to their popularity (the show ranks third most-watched awards show, after the Oscars and Grammys), their profitability (NBC paid $ 60 million for broadcast rights in 2018) and for that they serve as important marketing material for fighting films and Oscar hopes. This may be especially true this year, when the pandemic upset normal buzz rates in a virtual premiere season devoid of the usual frenzy.
The balloons take place on the opening date of the Oscars, which will take place on April 25.
Netflix comes with 42 nominations, including six endorsements for David Fincher’s “Mank” and “Crown,” which also topped the six-nomination TV nominations. “The Trial of the Chicago 7” by Aaron Sorkin, also from Netflix, is also a heavyweight with five nominations.