The Snubs and Surprises of the 2020 Golden Globe Nominations
By: Keaton Marcus
This article will cover the snubs and the surprises of the 2020 Golden Globes nominations, meaning the ones who came out lucky, and unlucky.
Surprise: “Joker” Get’s Several Nods
One of the major surprises of the night was Todd Phillips’ crime drama, and supervillain origin story, Joker. This controversial, terribly amazing gritty picture earned an impressive four nominations last night. This includes a nab for “Best Motion Picture”, Joaquin Phoenix for “Best Actor”, Todd Phillips for “Best Director” and “Best Original Score”. A couple expected, unexpected, but non-the-less, awesome. This matches our overwhelmingly positive review for the picture, handing it a 90/100 “sweet”, calling it “marvelous, dramatic, horrific and featuring a grand outing for Joaquin Phoenix”. Our first surprise, The Clown Prince of Crime!
2. Snub: Maggie Smith and “Downton Abbey” Are Empty-Handed
Clearly, Maggie Smith was supposed to take the “Supporting Actress” category by storm, and the Golden Globes, didn’t accept it. Smith had a supporting role in this year’s film adaptation of Downton Abbey, which was a massive hit in the box office, and received positive reception. Many also praised the performance from Smith. That isn’t the end for the “study on costume design”, as there a couple Oscar categories that the Crawley’s are eyeing, but it sure is disappointing that the hilarious Maggie Smith didn’t get a nod. The pic received a solid 75/100 “sweet”, dubbing it a “silly, entertaining study of good costume design”.
3. Surprise: Cate Blanchett Takes Best Actress
Yes, Cate Blanchett is a terrific actress, but nobody, and I mean nobody, was expecting her to take a notable nomination for her new book adaptation Where’d You Go, Bernadette. Why? Well, for starters, it was a horrible flop in the box office, and its reviews were clearly less-than-stellar. However, Blanchett does very well deserve the nod from the Golden Globes, and although unexpected, its a nice little gift. On RottenTomatoes, the pic scored a mixed 48% “Rotten” with a dispiriting consensus as well.
4. Snub: Golden Globes Disapproves of Lupita Nyong’o’s Dual Outing in “Us”
Again, a major awards ceremony, has disapproved of a great performance in horror. This time around, Lupita Nyong’o gave us two acclaimed performances in one movie, Jordan Peele’s critical darling, R-rated horror flick Us. The Oscars still holds some chances, but if not, when will the film awards finally let frights into the noms? The low-budget box office hit scored an excellent 93% “Certified Fresh”, top on the list of the best films of the year, and again, another impressive smash for Mr. Peele.
5. Double Surprise: “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood” and “Knives Out” Score Nominations
This is a double threat surprise, one for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and another for murder-mystery Knives Out. Firstly, the former, directed by Quentin Tarantino, received a grand total of five nominations, including for “Best Motion Picture”, Leo DiCaprio for “Best Actor”, Brad Pitt for “Best Supporting Actor”, Tarantino for “Best Director” and “Best Screenplay”. What a list, am I right? It also received a very good review from us, scoring a nearly-excellent 85/100 “sweet”. Secondly, even more unexpected, the latter, helmed by Rian Johnson, nabbed a solid three nominations. It was nominated for “Best Motion Picture”, Daniel Craig for “Best Actor” and Ana de Armas for “Best Actress”. It also received a positive review and it happens to be a comic approach to the murder mystery genre, not very common in award ceremonies.
6. Snub and Surprise: “The Irishman” Nabs Many Nominations, but Rob DeNiro is Award-Less
Rated the best movie of the year with us, The Irishman was obviously expected to nab a great many nominations. It did deliver, at least on that part, earning five nominations last night. This includes for “Best Motion Picture”, Al Pacino and Joe Pesci for “Best Supporting Actor”, Martin Scorsese for “Best Director” and “Best Screenplay”. While this is a terrific number to have, actor Robert DeNiro was surprisingly, and utterly left out of the fun, despite two supporting actors getting nominations. It still remains a mystery why. This is especially half snub since it scored the perfect 100% on Sweet and Sour, which is extremely rare.