Golden Globes Reaction; Oscar Films Update

Oppenheimer was the big winner at the 86th annual Golden Globes Awards, winning five awards including Best Picture--Drama, Best Actor in a Drama (Cillian Murphy), Supporting Actor (Robert Downey, Jr.), Director (Christopher Nolan), and Score. The GGs were duller than usual with an unfunny host (Jo Koy, who spent too much time blaming his bad jokes and delivery on the writers) and an unsuccessful attempt to be more serious. The GGs had always been a big ratings grabber because the attending celebs had access to free booze and tended to let their hair down. But this year, the awards were given a reboot. Dick Clark Productions bought out and disbanded the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, reorganized the electorate to hopefully reflect more diversity and avoid the scandals of the past (such as awarding Pia Zadora an award because her millionaire husband gave the membership some expensive gifts.)

Barbie won the new, made-up category of Cinema and Box Office Achievement, so that Poor Things could triumph in the Comedy Picture category.

Side note: Evidently there was yet ANOTHER award ceremony the night before the GGs in Tinseltown. The Astra Awards presented by the Hollywood Creative Alliance honored Barbie with 8 wins. Oppenheimer got 4. The Hollywood Creative Alliance was founded in 2016 as the Los Angeles Online Film Critics Society and renamed in 2019 to Hollywood Critics Association. In 2023, the organization changed its name a second time, and rebranded its awards as the Astra Awards. These accolades are not to be confused with the Critics Choice Awards, the SAGs, or the Los Angeles Film Critics Association. And what about the Golden Sattelites? Do they still exist?

But the big question is, what does this mean for the big show, the Oscars? Probably that Oppenheimer has the momentum and could crush Killers of the Flower Moon in most categories. 

It's still two weeks till the Oscar noms come out. In the meantime, the Oscars have put out their short-lists for various categories. This helps in the quest to see as many nominees as humanly possible. I have been able to catch some obscure contenders ahead of time. Maybe this year I can see all the short subjects without going to the IFC Center. 

Wes Anderson (right) directs
Benedict Cumberbatch
and Ben Kingsley in
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
Credit: Netflix

Since the last Oscar Nominees update, I've caught American Fiction, American Symphony (Doc. Feature), Society of the Snow (International Film), and several animated, live-action and doc. shorts. Of the live-action shorts, the one that really stands out is Wes Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, one of four brief movies based on short stories by Roald Dahl. I love all of Anderson's work and perhaps this little gem will win him his long-denied Oscar.

2023 Potential Oscar Nominated Films Seen So Far
Oppenheimer (34th Street AMC)
Barbie (Regal Union Square)
Asteroid City (Angelika)
Golda (County Theater, Doylestown, PA)
Killers of the Flower Moon (Regal Kaufman Astoria)
Rustin (Netflix)
The Killer (Netflix)--Tilda Swinton could nab a Supporting Actress nod
Maestro (Paris Cinema mezzanine and again on Netflix)
May December (Netflix)
Past Lives (Amazon Prime)
Poor Things (Regal Kaufman Astoria)
The Holdovers (Regal Union Square)

American Fiction (AMC Empire 25--Times Square)
Anatomy of a Fall (Amazon Prime)

Society of the Snow (Netflix)
Still: A Michael J. Fox Film (Apple TV +)
Les Menus Plaisir--Les Troisgros (Film Forum)
20 Days in Mariupol (Frontline/PBS/Watched on the Passport app)
American Symphony (Netflix)

Short Films
Live Action
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar (Netflix)
The After (Netflix)

Yellow (YouTube)

Animated
Boom (YouTube)
Pachyderm (YouTube)
Once Upon a Studio (Disney +)

Pete (YouTube)

Letter to a Pig (YouTube)

Documentary

How We Get Free (Max)

Island in Between (NY Times/YouTube)

Deciding Vote (New Yorker/YouTube)

The Last Repair Shop (LA Times/Searchlight/YouTube)