‘Mank’, ‘Chicago 7’ Lead A Bizarre 2021 Golden Globes Nominations

The 2021 Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning over ZOOM, making for a weird start that only got stranger due to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s choices. I’ll be completely honest; after a week of Sundance and their awards announcements yesterday, my interest in the Globes is zero. They’ve pretty much been a joke for years and this isn’t going to help.

First of all, props to Netflix which scored six nominations for Mank, David Fincher’s black & white love letter to the making of Citizen Kane. Those include the Best Drama, Best Actor for Gary Oldman, Best Supporting Actress for Amanda Seyfried, and more.  Netflix also had Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 following closely behind with five total nominations.

Also doing quite well in an unsurprising way were Chloe Zhao’s Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat Subsequent Moviefilm which earned three nominations for Amazon Studios.

What you won’t find at all in the Best Picture categories? Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods, which got zero nominations, or Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, which got acting nods for Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman only, or Indie Spirit favorite Miss Juneteenth, also with nothing. And Minari? Also snubbed completely was Netflix drama Malcolm & Marie, which has been receiving critical acclaim for stars John David Washington and Zendaya. The Korean-American drama was relegated to Best Foreign Film, when it damn sure should’ve been in the Best Drama category.

And excuse me, how is Hamilton a movie and why is Lin-Manuel Miranda being nominated for it?

The Golden Globes are totally screwed up, due to having too many categories and far too many nominees. That’s why you somehow get The Prom‘s James Corden somehow nominated for Best Actor in a Musical or Comedy, and Kate Hudson in Sia’s film Music even though most people haven’t seen it.

But with all of these excess nominees, they couldn’t find room for any of the movie predominantly led by people of color. I’m not saying that was a deliberate effort on their part, but it’s definitely not a good look.

The rest of the nominees are below. The Golden Globes will be revealed virtually on February 28th, with Tina Fey and Amy Poehler the unfortunate task of hosting.

BEST MOTION PICTURE – DRAMA
Nomadland
Mank
The Father
Promising Young Woman
The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST MOTION PICTURE – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Hamilton
Music
Palm Springs
The Prom

BEST DIRECTOR
Emerald Fennel, Promising Young Woman
David Fincher, Mank
Regina King, One Night in Miami
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland

BEST ACTOR – DRAMA
Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal
Chadwick Boseman, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Anthony Hopkins, The Father
Gary Oldman, Mank
Tahar Ramin, The Mauritanian

BEST ACTRESS – DRAMA
Viola Davis, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
Andra Day, The United States vs Billie Holiday
Frances McDormand, Nomadland
Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman
Vanessa Kirby, Pieces of a Woman

BEST ACTOR – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Sacha Baron Cohen, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
James Corden, The Prom
Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hamilton
Andy Samberg, Palm Springs
Dev Patel, Personal History of David Copperfield

BEST ACTRESS – MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Maria Bakalova, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm
Kate Hudson, Music
Michelle Pfeiffer, French Exit
Rosamund Pike, I Care A Lot
Anya Taylor-Joy, Emma.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTON PICTURE
Sacha Baron Cohen, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Daniel Kaluuya, Judas and the Black Messiah
Jared Leto, The Little Things
Bill Murray, On the Rocks
Leslie Odom, Jr., One Night in Miami

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTON PICTURE
Glenn Close, Hillbilly Elegy
Olivia Colman, The Father
Jodie Foster, The Mauritanian
Amanda Seyfried, Mank
Helena Zengel, News of the World

BEST SCREENPLAY
Aaron Sorkin, The Trial of the Chicago 7
Chloé Zhao, Nomadland
Florian Zeller and Christopher Hampton, The Father
Jack Fincher, Mank
Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, The Midnight Sky
Ludwig Göransson, Tenet
James Newton Howard, News of the World
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross and Jon Batiste, Soul
Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Mank

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“IO SÌ (SEEN),” The Life Ahead
“SPEAK NOW,” One Night in Miami
“TIGRESS & TWEED,” The United States Vs. Billie Holiday
“FIGHT FOR YOU,” Judas and the Black Messiah
“HEAR MY VOICE,” The Trial of the Chicago 7

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods 2
Onward
Over the Moon
Soul
Wolfwalkers

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Another Round
La Llorona
The Life Ahead
Minari
Two of Us

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – DRAMA
The Mandalorian
The Crown
Lovecraft Country
Ozark
Ratched

BEST TELEVISION SERIES – COMEDY
Emily in Paris
Ted Lasso
The Flight Attendant
Schitt’s Creek
The Great

MINISERIES OR TELEVISION FILM
Normal People
The Queen’s Gambit
The Undoing
Small Axe
Unorthodox

BEST ACTOR TV SERIES – DRAMA
Jason Bateman, Ozark
Josh O’Connor, The Crown
Bob Odenkirk, Better Call Saul
Matthew Rhys, Perry Mason
Al Pacino, Hunters

BEST ACTRESS TV SERIES – DRAMA
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Emma Corrin, The Crown
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sarah Paulson, Ratched

BEST ACTOR TV SERIES – COMEDY
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Nicholas Hoult, The Great
Jason Sudeikis, Ted Lasso
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

BEST ACTRESS TV SERIES – COMEDY
Lily Collins, Emily in Paris
Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant
Elle Fanning, The Great
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek
Jane Levy, Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist

BEST ACTOR – MINISERIES OR TELEVISION FILM
Bryan Cranston, Your Honor
Jeff Daniels, The Comey Rule
Ethan Hawke, The Good Lord Bird
Hugh Grant, The Undoing
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True

BEST ACTRESS – MINISERIES OR TELEVISION FILM
Anya Taylor-Joy, The Queen’s Gambit
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Nicole Kidman, The Undoing
Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Daisy Edgar-Jones, Normal People

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR – SERIES, MINISERIES OR TELEVISION FILM
John Boyega, Small Axe
Brendan Gleeson, The Comey Rule
Dan Levy, Schitt’s Creek
Jim Parsons, Hollywood
Donald Sutherland, The Undoing

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS – SERIES, MINISERIES OR TELEVISION FILM
Gillian Anderson, The Crown
Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Julia Garner, Ozark
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek
Cynthia Nixon, Ratched

Travis Hopson
Travis Hopson has been reviewing movies before he even knew there was such a thing. Having grown up on a combination of bad '80s movies, pro wrestling, comic books, and hip-hop, Travis is uniquely positioned to geek out on just about everything under the sun. A vampire who walks during the day and refuses to sleep, Travis is the co-creator and lead writer for Punch Drunk Critics. He is also a contributor to Good Morning Washington, WBAL Morning News, and WETA Around Town. In the five minutes a day he's not working, Travis is also a voice actor, podcaster, and Twitch gamer. Travis is a voting member of the Critics Choice Association (CCA), Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and Late Night programmer for the Lakefront Film Festival.