2019 is really almost over, and that means the good people of Hollywood are about to get desperate for some recognition for whatever they did this year. That’s right—it’s awards season! I honestly love this time of year, because all of these movies are the perfect excuse to sit in a dark room while it’s cold outside. Hey, at least my AMC A-List membership is getting a good workout. This morning, The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced the nominations for the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards, and of course, there were some snubs.
The Golden Globes bring together the best of movies and television, which just means that there are twice as many opportunities for people to get their feelings hurt. Isn’t this fun? While favorites like Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep got their usual nominations, not everyone woke up to a happy phone call from their agent this morning. Here are the biggest snubs from this year’s Golden Globe nominations.
‘Game of Thrones’
Well, well, well. In the last chance for major awards for Game of Thrones, the much-maligned final season came up short. Save for one acting nomination for Kit Harington (long live Jon Snow), season 8 was completely snubbed, which is harsh but fair. yes, the G0T finale was a huge television event, but the only person I know who liked the last few episodes is my overly-active-on-Facebook uncle, who also probably voted for Trump.
‘This Is Us’
This one has to hit hard for NBC. Up until now, This Is Us has had a perfect record of getting nominated for Best Drama Series at both the Emmys and the Golden Globes, but the streak has officially come to an end. But the show didn’t just miss out on the top category—it got a grand total of zero nominations. None for Mandy Moore, none for Milo Ventimiglia, and most surprisingly, none for last year’s Lead Actor in a Drama winner Sterling K. Brown. (And none for Gretchen Wieners, etiher.) The ratings for the show have dipped this season, so I’m sure they were hoping for a little awards boost, but it wasn’t meant to be.
Sandra Oh
After winning a Golden Globe last year for Killing Eve, Sandra Oh was replaced this year with her costar, Jodie Comer. This isn’t a total surprise, because Comer came out of the second season with considerable awards buzz, and won an Emmy this fall for her role. I doubt Sandra is too upset about this, but still, it has to sting a little to go from winning to not even being nominated.
‘Cats’
The first time I saw the trailer for the new version of Cats, I immediately felt like I needed to take a shower. The whole thing looks a little bit *yikes*, and I guess the HFPA wasn’t impressed with the finished product. The movie only manage a nomination for Best Original Song, which is especially rough considering the Globes group the categories as “Comedy or Musical.” That usually means it’s easier for a musical to get nominations, but all the musical love this year went to Rocketman, not Cats.
Robert De Niro
Out of everything on this list, this snub is by far the biggest surprise. The Irishman was one of the prestige movie events of the year, and Martin Scorsese’s gangster epic got nominated in basically every category it was eligible… except Lead Actor. People can complain about the length of the movie all they want, but there’s little debate about the quality of Robert De Niro’s performance. This one nomination isn’t going to ruin his career or anything, but it’s a shock nonetheless.
Female Directors
Hello, and welcome to the diversity portion of the article. Why is this sh*t still happening year after year? It’s now been five years since a woman was nominated for Directing at the Golden Globes, and like most years, there were some prime contenders in 2019. Greta Gerwig’s Little Women, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, and Marielle Heller’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood all got rave reviews from critics, and were nominated here in other categories. Would it really kill the HFPA to do the bare minimum and nominate one woman? Apparently, the answer is yes.
‘Us’
Jordan Peele’s followup to Get Out has been getting big awards buzz all year long, but clearly the Golden Globes don’t really care about that. Us didn’t manage a single nomination, with the biggest snub probably being Lupita Nyong’o. There’s still hope for the Oscars, but at this point, it’s not looking like Us will replicate Get Out’s awards success. In general, this year’s nominations were lacking in diversity, which brings us to the last snub on our list…
‘When They See Us’
Ugh. UGH. Ava DuVernay’s Netflix miniseries about the Central Park Five was a critical smash hit, and the Emmys certainly took note. The show got EIGHT acting nominations, winning one, in addition to a nomination for Outstanding Limited Series. Basically, the Emmys loved this sh*t. Sadly, the Golden Globes apparently forgot about it entirely, and it received no nominations. Sometimes we read into these things too much, but it’s a pretty bad look that a universally acclaimed project about black men, and how our justice system screws over black men, directed by a black woman, can’t get a single nomination. Do better, HFPA.
Images: Shutterstock; Giphy (8)
