The Golden Globes nominations were announced this morning, and as always, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association had some surprises—and snubs—up its sleeve. While the Globes have a far lest prestigious reputation than, say, the Oscars, they’re still one of the most-watched awards ceremonies on the way to the Academy Awards, and so they can have a bit of a tangential impact. Those nominated for the Golden Globes can have their profiles raised in the eyes of those voting on such awards, and those who win a Globe have a chance to offer voters a preview of what their acceptance speech might be like—keep in mind, the Oscars are still in part a popularity contest.
So the Golden Globes snubs and surprises are noteworthy, if they don’t really matter all that much. Below, I’ve run down the most egregious offenders in this year’s crop of Film and TV contenders.
‘ROMA’ Left Out of Best Picture
The biggest “snub” of this year’s contenders was leaving ROMA out of the Best Motion Picture – Drama race, despite nominating the film for Best Director, Screenplay, and Foreign Language Film. This is due to a strange and unnecessary rule that allows the HFPA—a group of foreign journalists—to nominate a foreign film for Best Picture. It’s even more egregious when you see that the HFPA did manage to nominate Bohemian Rhapsody in this same category instead. Woof.
Original Score Snubs Nicholas Britell’s ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’
Another pretty WTF decision was leaving Nicholas Britell out of the Best Original Score category for his stunning work on If Beale Street Could Talk. His score is considered one of the frontrunners to win at the Oscars, so being left out of the category here was certainly unexpected.
No Sam Elliott for Supporting Actor
Another major Oscar contender who failed to land a Globes nom was Sam Elliott for his heartbreaking turn in A Star Is Born. Indeed, the Bradley Cooper-helmed film fared well overall, but it missed out here and in Best Screenplay. Is this a harbinger of Oscar things to come or simply a weird HFPA blip?
‘First Man’ Nearly Shut Out
Maybe not necessarily a huge surprise, but First Man really landed with a thud with the HFPA. Director Damien Chazelle’s previous film La La Land won a whopping seven Golden Globes two years ago, and given the pedigree and starpower of First Man the film seemed like a somewhat solid bet. It’s true the picture has faded significantly from the awards race since sputtering at the box office in October, but if ever a film felt in line for a Golden Globes boost it was First Man. Alas, the film only managed two nominations for Supporting Actress and Original Score. It really needed that visibility boost in order to be a serious Oscar player. Stand by for disappointment, First Man fans.
WTF ‘Atlanta’?
Moving into the TV side of things, perhaps the most egregious Golden Globes snub in recent memory is practically ignoring the critically acclaimed second season of Atlanta. The HFPA is known for going gaga over brand new TV series and that was certainly the case this year, but few expected it to be at the expense of something like Atlanta, which scored only one nod in total: Donald Glover for Best Actor. Yikes.
Very Little Love for ‘Westworld’, ‘This Is Us’, or ‘Black-ish’
Oh HFPA, you fickle beast. You giveth and you taketh away. Previous Best Drama Series nominee Westworld was nominated for only one award this year—Supporting Actress for Thandie Newton—while previous heavyweights This Is Us and Black-ish were shut out entirely. Again, we know the HFPA loved to nominate brand new shows (see: The Kominsky Method, Kidding, and Bodyguard), but how quickly they turn their backs on previous favorites is pretty cold.
‘Maniac’ Shut Out
One show that didn’t fit the HFPA’s “Out with the old, in with the star-studded new” trend was Cary Fukunaga’s twisty Netflix series Maniac. The show failed to land a single nomination despite the fact that it was led by Emma Stone and Jonah Hill. Although David Fincher’s Mindhunter was also shut out last year, so it’s pretty clear the HFPA isn’t super fond of Netflix’s auteur-driven series.