LOS ANGELES — Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards will be unlike any other in the 78 years the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has been handing them out.
Due to COVID-19, the event will be mostly virtual for the first time. And with movie theaters largely closed, fewer people have seen the film nominees than ever before, yet more people have seen the television nominees because they’ve been stuck at home.
“It represents a shift in entertainment because for the first time the projects nominated for best TV drama are better than the projects nominated for best film,” said Sandro Monetti, the editor in chief of International Filmmaker Magazine, who has covered the Globes for 20 years. “This is the first virtual Golden Globes, but it remains virtually impossible to pick the winners because the voters for the Globes tend to go their own way.”
Still, Monetti was game to try to predict this year's winners. Here are his picks and insight for the 78th Annual Golden Globes.
Best Television Series — Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Emily in Paris (Netflix), The Flight Attendant (HBO Max), The Great (Hulu), Schitt’s Creek (Pop TV), Ted Lasso (Apple TV+)
"Schitt’s Creek was the big winner at the Emmys in 2020. It swept the board winning absolutely everything, but in the past, Hollywood Foreign Press Association voters have never given Schitt’s Creek a single nomination, let alone a trophy. The Globes tend to look for the shiny new thing rather than the established favorite or show at the end of its run. So I think a couple trophies will go to Ted Lasso, about an American sports coach who takes over an English soccer team with predictable results. Imagine Crocodile Dundee with balls, and you’ve got the fish-out-of-water concept that is Ted Lasso. I think Ted Lasso wins best comedy series."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Don Cheadle (Black Monday), Nicholas Hoult (The Great), Eugene Levy (Schitt’s Creek), Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso), Ramy Youssef (Ramy)
"I also think Ted Lasso wins best comedy actor for its star Jason Sudeikis," Monetti said.
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Lily Collins (Emily in Paris), Kaley Cuoco (The Flight Attendant), Elle Fanning (The Great), Jane Levy (Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist), Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek)
"There's an opportunity to reward Catherine O’Hara of Schitt’s Creek, but I don’t think they will. I think it will go to Kaley Cuoco for The Flight Attendant. She came out of 10 seasons of Big Bang Theory. She produced as well as starred in The Flight Attendant. It’s a career-best performance, and I think she’ll be rewarded."
Best Television Series — Drama
Nominees: The Crown (Netflix), Lovecraft Country (HBO), The Mandalorian (Disney+), Ozark (Netflix), Ratched (Netflix)
"There are five nominees, but 20 were worthy of nominations this year, which means the winner has to be really, really good, and it is. I think this will go to The Crown. This latest season was its best ever."
Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series — Drama
Nominees: Olivia Colman (The Crown), Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Emma Corrin (The Crown), Laura Linney (Ozark), Sarah Paulson (Ratched)
"The Crown not only wins best drama but best actress for newcomer Emma Corrin, who played Princess Diana."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series — Drama
Nominees: Jason Bateman (Ozark), Josh O’Connor (The Crown), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul), Al Pacino (Hunters), Matthew Rhys (Perry Mason)
"Best actor is a difficult choice, but I say we go with The Crown clean sweep and give it to Josh O'Connor for playing Prince Charles."
Best Television Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Motion Picture Made for Television
Nominees: Normal People (Hulu), The Queen’s Gambit (Netflix), Small Axe (Amazon Studios), The Undoing (HBO), Unorthodox (Netflix)
"The Queen’s Gambit was another favorite show of mine and so many millions of people this year. I think The Queen’s Gambit has a great chance of winning Best Limited Series, but there was another series that was even better in that category, and that is Small Axe. I think the Hollywood Foreign Press will realize that Steve McQueen’s series of unforgettable short films deserve the top honor in this category."
Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Nominees: Cate Blanchett (Mrs. America), Daisy Edgar-Jones (Normal People), Nicole Kidman (The Undoing), Anya Taylor-Joy (The Queen’s Gambit)
"The absolute lock of the Golden Globes, the 100% certainty is that Anya Taylor-Joy wins for playing an unconventional chess champ in The Queen’s Gambit."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television
Nominees: Bryan Cranston (Your Honor), Jeff Daniels (The Comey Rule), Hugh Grant (The Undoing), Ethan Hawke (The Good Lord Bird), Mark Ruffalo (I Know This Much Is True)
"It goes to Golden Globes favorite Hugh Grant for The Undoing — a nail-biting, superb suspense series that kept you guessing right up until the last minute largely thanks to Hugh Grant’s performance. This was a real reinvention that showed that the king of romantic comedy can also handle a pulse-pounding suspense mystery drama, and I think he’ll be getting a trophy on Sunday night, which he’ll probably collect from Turkey, where he’s filming a new movie."
Best Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, Hamilton, Music, Palm Springs, The Prom
"The battle is between Hamilton and Borat Subsequent Moviefilm. Hamilton’s roots are more on the stage and belong more in the Tony Awards, but Borat gets the edge here and wins."
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Maria Bakalova (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), Kate Hudson (Music), Michelle Pfeiffer (French Exit), Rosamund Pike (I Care A Lot), Anya Taylor-Joy (Emma)
"My absolute lock here is Maria Bakalova. She plays Borat’s daughter in the film. She’s a Bulgarian actress who in the eyes of Hollywood has come from nowhere, and the Golden Globes always like to reward newcomers who make a big splash, and she’s certainly done that."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Musical or Comedy
Nominees: Sacha Baron Cohen (Borat Subsequent Moviefilm), James Corden (The Prom), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton), Dev Patel (The Personal History of David Copperfield), Andy Samberg (Palm Springs)
It’s between two as far as I see. It’s Sasha Baron Cohen or Lin-Manuel Miranda in the filmed version of Hamilton. You couldn't imagine two more different performances. Both are equally brilliant in their own way. But Sacha Baron Cohen wins. What a year it’s been for him showing both sides of his talent with drama in The Trial of the Chicago 7 as well.
Best Motion Picture – Drama
Nominees: The Father, Mank, Nomadland, Promising Young Woman, The Trial of the Chicago 7
"Mank is the most nominated film at the Golden Globes, but I don’t see it winning any trophies. I don’t think it has enough support to go over the top and be the big winner this award season. Similarly, with The Father, the reward there is the nomination. I don’t see it winning.
It’s a shootout between three. Nomadland has very much been the darling of awards season thanks to its incredibly gifted director Chloe Zhao, who will win Best Director. She’ll sweep for Best Director at all the awards shows this year. Promising Young Woman is in the mix. And we have The Trial of the Chicago 7, Aaron Sorkin’s 1960s courtroom drama, which seems to have so much resonance today. It really is a coin flip between these three, but I say the winner is perhaps the most traditional, and that’s The Trial of the Chicago 7."
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture — Drama
Nominees: Viola Davis (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Andra Day (The United States vs. Billie Holiday), Vanessa Kirby (Pieces of a Woman), Frances McDormand (Nomadland), Carey Mulligan (Promising Young Woman)
"It’s a very strong category, but from the moment I saw Promising Young Woman, I thought that was a career-best performance by Carey Mulligan, who has shown so much promise and skill over the years, and brought all that growing experience to the part. It was faultless, unexpected, ferocious, and I think it will be rewarded, edging out Frances McDormand for Nomadland."
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture — Drama
Nominees: Riz Ahmed (Sound of Metal), Chadwick Boseman (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Anthony Hopkins (The Father), Gary Oldman (Mank), Tahar Rahim (The Mauritanian)
"There’s a strong chance here for Anthony Hopkins in The Father. Riz Ahmed was also sensational in Sound of Metal, but I can’t see past the late, great Chadwick Boseman, and I think it will be a posthumous reward for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom. What a tragedy that’s the last performance from him."
