NEW YORK (AP) – Featuring remote videotapes nominees and hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler on different sides of the country, a very socially detached 78th Golden Globe Awards trudged amid the pandemic and a storm of criticism.
Fey took the stage in New York’s Rainbow Room while Poehler stayed in the Globes’ usual home at the Beverly Hilton. In their opening speech, they managed to move their usually well-timed back and forth, despite being nearly 3,000 miles apart.
“I’ve always known my career would end if I wandered around the Rainbow Room pretending to talk to Amy,” said Fey. “I just thought it would be later.”
They appeared in front of masked attendees, but not stars. Instead, the tables were occupied by “steaming hot first responders and essential workers,” Fey said.
In a production nightmare, but one that rose to prominence during the pandemic, the evening’s first winner took his prize while muted. It was only after presenter Laura Dern apologized that Daniel Kaluuya, who won Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Black Panther leader Fred Hampton in Judas and the Black Messiah, received his speech. When he finally came through, he waved his finger at the camera and said, “You’re doing me dirty!”
Pandemic improvisation was only part of the harm reduction for the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which attracts the Globes. After The Los Angeles Times revealed that there are no black members on the HFPA’s 87-member voting body, the press association – which Ricky Gervais called “ very, very racist ” last year in his hopeful monologue – came under mounting pressure to revise itself and better reflect the industry in which it holds sway.
This year, none of the most acclaimed Black LED movies – ‘Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom’, ‘One Night in Miami’, ‘Judas and the Black Messiah’, ‘Da 5 Bloods’ – was nominated for the Best Picture Award of the Globes. As the HFPA may be fighting for its life in Hollywood, Sunday’s Globes were partly an apology tour. Fey and Poehler quickly raised the issue.
“Look, a lot of flashy crap was nominated, but it does,” said Poehler. ‘That’s their thing. But a number of black actors and black-led projects were overlooked. “
Within the first half hour of the NBC broadcast, members of the press association also appeared on stage to promise change. “We recognize that we have our own work to do,” said Vice President Helen Hoehne. “We must have black journalists in our organization.”
The show, delayed two months from the usual early January bass, promised little of the glamor that makes the Globes one of the frothy and glitziest events of the year. Due to the pandemic, there was no parade of stars on the red carpet outside the Beverly Hilton.
When attendees normally flowed down the red carpet on Sunday evening, many stars posed virtually. Regina King, dazzling 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 over a year.
The circumstances led to some deviations during the award ceremony. Mark Ruffalo won Best Actor in a Limited Series for “I Know This Much Is True” with his kids celebrating behind him and wife, Sunrise Coigney, next to him. Supporting actor John Boyega for his appearance in Steve McQueen’s “Small Ax” anthology, raised his leg to reveal that he was wearing sweatpants under his more elegant white coat.
Other awards included Pixar’s “Soul” for Best Animated Feature, Catherine O’Hara (“Schitt’s Creek”) for Best Actress in a Comedy Series; and Aaron Sorkin (“Trial of the Chicago 7 ″) for Best Screenplay. The film, a favorite to win Best Drama at The Globes, was sold by Paramount Pictures to Netflix last summer due to the pandemic. saved, ”said Sorkin.
As showtime approached, backlash over the HFPA threatened to overwhelm the Globes. Still, the Globes have survived because of their popularity (the show is the third most watched award show, after the Oscars and Grammys), their profitability (NBC paid $ 60 million for broadcast rights in 2018), and because they serve as key marketing material for combat movies and Oscar hopeful. That may be especially the case this year, when the pandemic has disrupted the normal rhythm of buzz in a virtual prize season without the usual frenzy.
The Globes will take place on the original date of the Academy Awards, which will instead be held on April 25.
Netflix comes in with no less than 42 nominations, including a leading six nod to David Fincher’s “Mank” and “The Crown” also top TV nominees with six nods. Aaron Sorkin’s “The Trial of the Chicago 7”, also from Netflix, is also a heavyweight with five nominations.