Golden Globes: Spielberg, Avatar And The Banshees Of Inisherin Favorites Of A Ceremony Still Marked By Scandal

Hollywood’s “favorite night” is still seeking redemption after two years of pandemic and jury charges.

Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell ©Belga

The intimate “The Fabelmans” by Steven Spielberg, the biopic “Elvis” as well as the second parts of the mastodons “Top Gun” and “Avatar” face off on Tuesday at the Golden Globes, at a ceremony where these awards will try to restore their image, largely tarnished by the scandals surrounding the jury.

This laid-back, glitzy event, long considered Hollywood’s favorite night out, has been a shadow of its former self for the past two years. The fault first of the pandemic, then of accusations of racism, sexism and corruption aimed at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), which forms the jury and which had no black members in 2021.

Shunned by the gratin and deprived of television last year, the Golden Globes are back on NBC. The American channel agreed to broadcast the 80th edition, after a series of reforms of the HFPA to improve its diversity and prohibit its members from accepting gifts from the studios.

Many big names are invited, including director Steven Spielberg, whose semi-autobiographical “The Fabelmans” is favorite for the award for best dramatic film, and actor Eddie Murphy who must be honored for his entire career. .

Absence of mark

But attendance may still be limited this year on the red carpet. Many nominees have not yet confirmed their attendance, and most of the “after-parties” usually organized by the studios to drown their winners under champagne will not take place.

The celebrities who will show up in the Beverly Hills hotel where the ceremony is taking place will have to justify their presence to journalists asking for their opinion on the reforms of the HFPA, observes columnist Pete Hammond, of the specialized site Deadline. “It won’t be exclusively ‘What are you wearing?'”he remarks.

The ceremony must already deal with two absent marks. Brendan Fraser, nominated for his role as an overweight, reclusive teacher in ‘The Whale,’ accuses a former HFPA president of sexually assaulting him and will boycott the event.

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Producer of “Top Gun: Maverick”, Tom Cruise should also be absent, after returning his three Golden Globes to protest against the scandals His feature film will try, with the other huge 2022 box office hit “Avatar: The Way of the Water”to prevent “The Fabelmans” from winning the award for best dramatic film.

“Tar”, which takes place in the world of classical music, and the biopic “Elvis”, about the king of rock’n’roll could also come as a surprise. Their respective stars – Cate Blanchett as the ruthless conductor, and Austin Butler as the remarkable Elvis Presley – are among the favorites for the acting awards.

As for comedies, Irish tragicomedy “The Banshees of Inisherin”, which depicts the abrupt end of a friendship on a small Irish island in the 1920swill compete in eight categories, a first for twenty years.

The film notably confronts the surreal and breathtaking “Everything Everywhere All At Once”which could earn performance awards for Michelle Yeoh, Jamie Lee Curtis and Ke Huy Quan.

A powerful marketing argument

Faced with controversy, the HFPA notably renewed the Golden Globes jury, including 103 new entrants – who are not full members of the association – including many women and people from ethnic minorities. After recent controversies, the prestige of these awards is on the line at this ceremony.

In the past, a success at the Golden Globes was a valuable marketing tool, capable of launching a winning campaign towards the supreme prize of the Oscars. In Hollywood, some members of the industry say privately that they want the awards, which have been “an important cog in the awards season” for 80 years, to return to grace, Mr. Hammond points out.

The movie posters also highlight the Golden Globe nominations again, unlike last year. But for the columnist, their power to influence the Oscars seems to be permanently diminished. “When every article about the Globes talks about scandal (…) it doesn’t make them as credible, I think, for Oscar voters”he concludes.