As another year draws to a close- and what a year it has been for the entertainment industry- awards season is now in full swing. With the first run of voting from its newly expanded list of 300 voters, the recently announced Golden Globes nominations are front and center in the spotlight. Both for its own eventual winners, as well as what the Golden Globe nominations have to say for the upcoming Oscars fight. Brandon Blake, our entertainment attorney on the ground from Blake & Wang P.A., looks ahead at what might be coming.

Brandon Blake

Globe-al Restructuring

There’s been enough press recently about the restructuring of the Golden Globe committee in recent months, and we’ll spare you further thoughts on the matter. However, it is worth highlighting that most of the new voting committees are now working with film critics, which should have some interesting knock-on effects on this year’s final winners.

In the past, the Globes have been seen as a critical stepping point for Oscar campaigns. More, however, for the boost in publicity and attention a nomination can bring rather than any real correlation between winner’s lineups. In some years they have aligned, as they did in 2017 for The Shape of Water. In others, they’ve missed the mark completely.

With the change in voting lineup, however, we have no prior assumptions to go on. This time, we have a full ‘critics’ group’, if you will, in charge of voting. While it’s bound to still have some impact on the Oscar voting, there’s no longer much overlap in voter bases, either.

Added Momentum

Undoubtedly the nominations and ceremony will still add some momentum for Oscar hopefuls, however. Barbie, for example, managed to secure nine nominations on the comedy side, which should bolster its Oscar hopes. Additionally, it is destined for some prominence as part of the new box office category launched for the Golden Globes- movies with a gross of over $150M. If you’re keeping count, by the way, Barbie’s ironic opposite, Oppenheimer, scored eight nominations, but always had a more tried and tested Oscar path ahead.

Then we have films like Poor Things, which did well from its Golden Globe nominations (seven), too, but has lacked the prominence of other contenders like Killers of the Flower Moon to date. Anatomy of a Fall, Past Lives, The Zone of Interest- these are likely names you already have on your Oscar shortlist. Netflix’s Maestro and May December scored a few nominations apiece as well, and will likely find themselves under some Oscar scrutiny for it.

Others, like Ferrari (from Neon), were passed over, despite having some solid buzz around them. Wonka scored only one nomination, unsurprisingly for Timothée Chalamet. And despite the expanded new categories, there were some other surprising misses in The Color Purple and Saltburn. Joaquin Phoenix gained his expected nomination- but not for Napoleon, but rather for Beau is Afraid.

Overall, it will be interesting indeed to see how the newly expanded voting body for the Golden Globes (and their ultimate choices for winners) stack up against the Oscar forerunners. Until the New Year, however, our picks and speculations will remain just that- speculation- in what has been an interesting, if checkered, year for releases.