BEVERLY HILLS, California - The 67th annual Golden
Globes nominations in 25 film and television categories will
be announced Tuesday.
Actors John Krasinski and Diane Kruger and pop singer
Justin Timberlake are among those to help announce the
nominees Tuesday morning at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The
awards ceremony is Jan. 17.
The awards are considered Hollywood’s second-biggest film
honors after the Oscars and are thought to forecast who
will be favored at the Academy Awards in March.
The Golden Globes, put on by the Hollywood Foreign Press
Association, will have a host for the first time since
1995. British comic actor Ricky Gervais will host the show
at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel.
Although 67.4 percent of films which won best picture at the Academy Awards also won a Golden Globe, in recent years the awards have proved an unreliable barometer of Oscar winners.
Rags-to-riches drama “Slumdog Millionaire” is the only film in the past five years to have followed up a best picture statuette at the Golden Globes with victory at the Oscars.
Critics of the Golden Globes have also questioned the relevance of the 85-strong HFPA, saying that the organization’s small size makes it more susceptible to influence by studios and publicists.
But HFPA President Philip Berk dismissed the criticisms of the awards as he prepares to join celebrities including Justin Timberlake and John Krasinski for Tuesday’s nomination announcement set for 5:00 a.m. local time.
“We have heard these petty criticisms before,” Berk said. “They are motivated by pure envy. We’ve been around 67 years and I don’t think we need to justify ourselves.”
So far this year, no one film has emerged as a clear awards season contender, although comedy “Up In the Air,” starring George Clooney as a lonely corporate down-sizer who begins to question his life, received a boost earlier this month after being named best film by the National Board of Review.
The film also grabbed a share of the best actor prize for Clooney, with veteran Morgan Freeman also winning for his portrayal of former South Africa President NelsWon Mandela in Clint Eastwood’s “Invictus.”
“Invictus,” - based on journalist John Carlin’s book “Playing the Enemy” - tells the story of how Mandela used the 1995 Rugby World Cup staged in South Africa to help unify the country in the early post-apartheid years.
Unlike the Oscars, the Golden Globes have two categories for best picture - one for musicals and comedies, the other for dramas.
Other leading contenders for best drama include the Iraq War movie “The Hurt Locker,” director Kathryn Bigelow’s gripping drama about a maverick army bomb disposal expert, and Quentin Tarantino’s schlocky World War II revenge fantasy “Inglourious Basterds.”
“Up In the Air” is expected to feature in the musical and comedy contenders, where it is likely to face stiff competition from “Julie & Julia,” starring Meryl Streep as trail-blazing television chef Julia Child.
However, the favorite may turn out to be “Nine,” director Rob Marshall’s star-studded musical about an Italian film director played by Daniel Day-Lewis struggling to balance the demands of his wife (Marion Cotillard) and mistress (Penelope Cruz). The film’s cast also includes luminaries such as Nicole Kidman, Judi Dench, and Kate Hudson.
Other films expected to pick up nominations on Tuesday include Pixar’s latest delightful animated offering “Up.”
One possible dark horse is James Cameron’s big-budget fantasy blockbuster “Avatar,” which has yet to be released in the United States but has generated strong early reviews following its world premiere in London last week.
Critics have described the latest film from the Oscar-winning director of 1997 blockbuster “Titanic” as a new milestone in movie-making, with the Hollywood Reporter hailing it as “titanic entertainment.”
