LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The Golden Globes begin their Hollywood awards season at a pandemic on Sunday after a year spent in the entertainment industry and seeing celebrities on red carpets with webcams on sofas.
But somehow the show goes on, albeit without the chummy gala dinners, tags of designers, and design gowns associated with the celebration of the best movies and TV shows this year.
Sunday’s concert, which will be broadcast live on NBC television, will be held for the first time on two coasts, with actors Tina Fey hosting from New York and Amy Poehler hosting from Beverly Hills, California. Some of the presenters, including Michael Douglas and his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones, will appear in person, but the nominees will be attending from their homes or elsewhere around the world. .
Tom O’Neill, founder of the awards prediction website Goldderby.com, said Fey and Poehler were perfect guests for unusual times.
“They are snarky, lovable and mean, and they are great entertainment. They’re also good at handling those inevitable fiasco moments, ”said O’Neill.
But Sunday’s show will be a long way from the usual boozy dinner at the Beverly Hills hotel where A-listers chat and exchange hugs with old and new friends.
“The Globes have been more fun than the Oscars in terms of telecast. They’re richer and more fun, and everyone’s drinking and it felt a little more predictable, ”said Alison Willmore, a film critic at entertainment website Vulture.com.
“When there is magic in awards shows, it comes from everyone being in the same room together,” she said.
Not only did the coronavirus infection shut down movie theaters and encourage studios to move dozens of releases to the end of 2021 or 2022, but also award ceremonies were canceled and turned into be social issues.
The Oscars will not take place until April 25, but organizers have said it will be a personal show from many places
O’Neill said meaningful presentations and webcams have given listeners a close-up view of celebrities’ lives and homes.
“It took us deeper into what we always wanted: an unwritten presentation of truth with superstitions,” he said.
The 1930s Hollywood drama “Mank” enters a Sunday concert with six nominations, including for the top prize for best drama.
But pundits say that’s not a guarantee of success. The black-and-white film about screenwriter “Citizen Kane” faces stiff competition from “Nomadland,” a moving documentary drama about American residents who hit the recession, and hippie courtroom drama from the 1960s “The Trial of the Chicago 7. The #MeToo revenge black comedy “Promising Young Woman” and the aging drama “The Father” surround the naming of the drama
Sunday’s show follows a new study of the 90-member Hollywood Foreign News Association (HFPA), which selects Golden Globe nominees and winners and whose options are sometimes eye-catching.
The Los Angeles Times published last week a study that raised ethical questions about the close relationships between the HFPA and film studios. The HFPA says it has strict policies on gifts and benefits.
Reporting by Jill Serjeant; edited by Jonathan Oatis